Ryōgoku

Ryōgoku Station (両国駅, Ryōgoku-eki) is a railway station in Yokoami, Sumida, Tokyo, Japan, operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei).

The Tokitsukaze stable (時津風部屋, Tokitsukaze-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers in Japan, one of the Tokitsukaze group of stables. It was founded in 1769 and was dominant during the Taishō period. In its modern form it dates from 1941 when it was established by Futabayama, who was still an active wrestler at the time. It was known as Futabayama Dojo until it was re-named Tokitsukaze stable in November 1945 when Futabayama retired. (The stable has the names of both Futabayama and Tokitsukaze at its entrance.) Upon Futabayama's death in 1968 the former Kagamisato took charge for a short time, but Futabayama's widow wanted Yutakayama Katsuo to take over, which he did upon his retirement in 1969. He in turn passed control of the stable on to his successor Futatsuryū in August 2002. As of January 2022 it had 17 active wrestlers, two of whom are sekitori. The death of 17-year-old junior member Tokitaizan (real name Takashi Saito) in a hazing scandal on June 26, 2007, eventually resulted in the dismissal and six years in prison for Futatsuryū. This compelled Tokitsuumi, a long time top division wrestler from the stable, to retire from active sumo and take over as the new head of the stable.Tokitsuumi was asked by the Japan Sumo Association to retire in February 2021 after twice violating COVID-19 safety protocols. Tokitsukaze stable was taken over by former maegashira Tosayutaka.

The revenge of the forty-seven rōnin (四十七士, Shijūshichishi), also known as the Akō incident (赤穂事件, Akō jiken) or Akō vendetta, is a historical 18th-century event in Japan in which a band of rōnin (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master. The incident has since become legendary. It is one of the three major adauchi vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta.The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their daimyō (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official named Kira Yoshinaka. After waiting and planning for a year, the rōnin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. They were then obliged to commit seppuku for the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should display in their daily lives. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, during which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity. Fictionalized accounts of the tale of the forty-seven rōnin are known as Chūshingura. The story was popularized in numerous plays, including in the genres of bunraku and kabuki. Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the Genroku era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names were changed. While the version given by the playwrights may have come to be accepted as historical fact by some, the first Chūshingura was written some 50 years after the event, and numerous historical records about the actual events that predate the Chūshingura survive. The bakufu's censorship laws had relaxed somewhat 75 years after the events in question in the late 18th century when Japanologist Isaac Titsingh first recorded the story of the forty-seven rōnin as one of the significant events of the Genroku era. To this day, the story remains popular in Japan, and each year on 14 December, Sengakuji Temple, where Asano Naganori and the rōnin are buried, holds a festival commemorating the event.

Ryōgoku Kokugikan (両国国技館), also known as Ryōgoku Sumo Hall or Kokugikan Arena, is an indoor sporting arena located in the Yokoami neighborhood (bordering to the Ryōgoku neighborhood) of Sumida, one of the 23 wards of Tokyo in Japan, next to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. It is the third building in Tokyo associated with the name kokugikan (including the Kuramae Kokugikan); the current building was opened in 1985 and has a capacity of 11,098 people.It is mainly used for sumo wrestling tournaments (honbasho) and hosts the Hatsu (new year) honbasho in January, the Natsu (summer) honbasho in May, and the Aki (autumn) honbasho in September. It also houses a museum about sumo.The venue is also used for other indoor events, such as boxing, pro wrestling, and music concerts.

Ekō-in (回向院), also known as Honjo Ekō-in, is a Pure Land Buddhist temple in Ryōgoku, Tokyo. The formal name of the temple is Shoshūzan Muen-ji Ekō-in (諸宗山 無縁寺 回向院), reflecting its founding principle of Pariṇāmanā, or the spreading of Amida Buddha's benevolence to all souls of all living creatures.

The Edo-Tokyo Museum (江戸東京博物館, Edo Tōkyō Hakubutsukan) is a historical museum located at 1-4-1 Yokoami, Sumida-Ku, Tokyo in the Ryogoku district. The museum opened in March 1993 to preserve Edo's cultural heritage, and features city models of Edo and Tokyo between 1590 (just prior to the Edo period beginning) and 1964. It was the first museum built dedicated to the history of Tokyo. Some main features of the permanent exhibitions are the life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, which was the bridge leading into Edo; scale models of towns and buildings across the Edo Meiji, and Showa periods; and the Nakamuraza theatre.Designed by Kiyonori Kikutake, the building is 62.2 meters tall and covers 30,000 square meters. The concrete exterior is designed based on a traditional rice storehouse (takayuka-shiki style) and is the same height as the Edo Castle. Kikutake claimed that the building "crystallizes Japanese culture in built form," concerning the structure's traditional references but contemporary execution. There are eight floors, one below ground and seven elevated off the ground by four columns, with an open air plaza at ground level. The first floor has a museum shop, restaurants, and a ticket counter. The primary entrance is on the third floor, reached by a bright red escalator from the plaza. The fifth and sixth floors contain permanent exhibits, with temporary special and feature exhibits on the first and fifth floors. The seventh floor is a library that houses 560,000 texts and cultural items related to Edo and Tokyo.The museum opened thirteen years after the Shitamachi Museum and six years after the Fukagawa Edo Museum, all part of a national trend for building local history museums. The exhibits for all three were primarily designed by Total Media.Formerly owned and operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is accented by the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum across the city in Koganei Park. The Edo-Tokyo Museum is now operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture.

Dewanoumi stable (出羽海部屋, Dewanoumi-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ichimon or group of stables. It has a long, prestigious history. Its current head coach is former maegashira Oginohana. As of January 2022 it had 15 wrestlers.

The Michinoku stable (陸奥部屋, Michinoku-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze ichimon or group of stables. It was established in 1974 by former maegashira Hoshikabuto, who branched off from Izutsu stable. Former ōzeki Kirishima became the current head coach in December 1997. It absorbed Tatsutagawa stable in November 2000 upon the retirement of the stablemaster there. It lost four top members in April 2011 (Hakuba, Toyozakura, Jūmonji and Kirinowaka), who were forced to retire after being found guilty of match-fixing. The retirement of Ryūhō in 2012 left it with no sekitori until Kiribayama reached the jūryō division in 2019. Kiribayama reached the top makuuchi division in January 2020, the first for the stable since Hakuba in 2008. After the death of Izutsu Oyakata in September 2019, all personnel from Izutsu stable moved to Michinoku on 1 October 2019. This expanded the stable to 15 wrestlers, the most senior of whom was yokozuna Kakuryū, who retired in March 2021. As of January 2022, it had 15 wrestlers.

Izutsu stable (Japanese: 井筒部屋, Hepburn: Izutsu beya) was a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Tokitsukaze group of stables. Its last incarnation was in existence from 1972 until 2019. The stable was established in the Meiji era by former yokozuna Nishinoumi Kajirō I, the 16th yokozuna, who became the 7th Izutsu-oyakata. He was succeeded by Nishinoumi Kajirō II, the 25th yokozuna who ran the stable from 1909 until his death in 1931. The latest incarnation of Izutsu stable was in the hands of the same family, having been founded as Kimigahama stable by his grandson-in-law Tsurugamine Akio in 1972 and subsequently renamed Izutsu stable in 1977, after Tsurugamine obtained the stock from former yokozuna Kitanofuji (who would become the head of Kokonoe stable). Tsurugamine Akio had previously attempted to obtain the Izutsu stock from the widow of his old stablemaster, the former maegashira Tsurugamine Michiyoshi, who had run a different version of the stable from 1947 until his death in March 1972, but had been unable to come to an agreement with her. All three of Tsurugamine's sons, Kakureizan, Sakahoko and Terao, were members of the stable, with Sakahoko and Terao emulating their father by reaching the sekiwake rank. Sakahoko took over the stable from his father in 1994. Sakahoko's nephew, Fukuzono Yoichiro, was a wrestler at the stable from 1988 until 2007, reaching a highest rank of Juryo 9. The stable declined from around 20 wrestlers when Sakahoko inherited it to just three as of 2019, of whom the sole sekitori was Kakuryū, who reached the yokozuna rank in March 2014. Sakahoko commented in 2008 that it was difficult to attract new recruits as "there are many heyas nowadays" but that as he was the only coach in the stable, a relatively small number meant he could give each wrestler close attention.Sakahoko died at the age of 58 in September 2019. The stable's wrestlers and tokoyama were temporarily under the care of Kagamiyama, a director of the Japan Sumo Association and fellow member of the Tokitsukaze group, but moved to Michinoku stable, which is run by the former stablemate of Sakahoko, ex-ōzeki Kirishima, and originally branched off from Izutsu in 1974. Demolition of the building that housed Izutsu stable began on 4 November 2020. The Izutsu elder name is being used as of 2020 by the former Toyonoshima of the affiliated Tokitsukaze stable.

Kasugano stable (春日野部屋, Kasugano-beya) is a stable of sumo wrestlers, part of the Dewanoumi ichimon or group of stables. As of January 2022 it had 18 wrestlers. It has been led by former sekiwake Tochinowaka Kiyotaka since 2003. It was one of the most successful stables in 2013, with six sekitori wrestlers, including the Georgian Tochinoshin and the now retired Japanese born (but Korean national) Tochinowaka Michihiro, who used the current head coach's old ring name. It was founded in the mid 18th century by a wrestler named Kasugano Gunpachi. It became inactive for a long time but was led in the Meiji period by a referee named Kimura Soshiro (this is no longer allowed as oyakata must now be former wrestlers). He adopted as his son the 27th yokozuna Tochigiyama, who led the stable for over thirty years. He in turn adopted as his son the 44th yokozuna Tochinishiki, who became the head in 1959 whilst still an active wrestler and later served as the chairman of the Japan Sumo Association. Tochinoumi took over upon Tochinishiki's death in 1990 and led the stable until his retirement in 2003. The stable absorbed Mihogaseki stable in 2013 when its stablemaster (former ōzeki Masuiyama Daishirō II) reached the mandatory retirement age. Kasugano Oyakata was warned by the Sumo Association in 2011 after he beat three of his charges with a golf club for breaking a curfew. In a separate case, a junior wrestler was convicted in 2014 of an assault on another wrestler and given a three year jail sentence, suspended for four years. In March 2017 the victim sued Kasugano Oyakata and the now retired assailant, saying he was still suffering from the effects of the broken jaw he received and that Kasugano failed to exercise appropriate oversight.

On the night of 9/10 March 1945, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) conducted a devastating firebombing raid on Tokyo, the Japanese capital city. This attack was code-named Operation Meetinghouse by the USAAF and is known as the Great Tokyo Air Raid in Japan. Bombs dropped from 279 Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers burned out much of eastern Tokyo. More than 90,000 and possibly over 100,000 Japanese people were killed, mostly civilians, and one million were left homeless, making it the most destructive single air attack in human history. The Japanese air and civil defenses proved largely inadequate; 14 American aircraft and 96 airmen were lost. The attack on Tokyo was an intensification of the air raids on Japan which had begun in June 1944. Prior to this operation, the USAAF had focused on a precision bombing campaign against Japanese industrial facilities. These attacks were generally unsuccessful, which contributed to the decision to shift to firebombing. The operation during the early hours of 10 March was the first major firebombing raid against a Japanese city, and the USAAF units employed significantly different tactics from those used in precision raids, including bombing by night with the aircraft flying at low altitudes. The extensive destruction caused by the raid led to these tactics becoming standard for the USAAF's B-29s until the end of the war. There has been a long-running debate over the morality of the 10 March firebombing of Tokyo. The raid is often cited as a key example in criticism of the Allies' strategic bombing campaigns, with many historians and commentators arguing that it was not acceptable for the USAAF to deliberately target civilians, and other historians stating that the USAAF had no choice but to change to area bombing tactics given that the precision bombing campaign had failed. It is generally acknowledged that the tactics used against Tokyo and in similar subsequent raids were militarily successful. The attack is commemorated at two official memorials, several neighborhood memorials, and a privately run museum.

The Ryōgoku Bridge (両国橋, Ryōgoku-bashi) is a bridge in Tokyo built in 1659 spanning the Sumida River just upstream of its confluence with the Kanda River. Its name, meaning "two provinces", came from its joining Edo (the forerunner of Tokyo in Musashi Province) and Shimōsa Province. The neighborhood at the east end of the bridge, Ryōgoku, derived its name from that of the bridge. The bridge featured in the 2015 anime "Miss Hokusai".