(Voice actor) Ms.Marilyn Lo

The business district and commercial district in the waterfront area of Tokyo is called Odaiba. It is also famous for being the home of the Fuji Television Network, a Japanese commercial broadcasting station. There are many commercial establishments and recreational facilities, so lots of people spend their weekends here. Odaiba originally began when batteries were built to prepare for the warships coming to the Edo bay. A sea ban policy (called sakoku) was implemented in Japan in 1639, and the Tokugawa regime had limited trades with foreign countries. Trade was conducted only with Qin (now China), Korea (now South and North Korea), and the Netherlands, and the location was restricted to Dejima, a landfill site in Nagasaki. However, due to the changes in global situation, countries demanding trades with Japan grew in the 1800s. Among them was the US, who were the strongest demanders of open borders. The US was whaling in the Pacific at the time and they wanted a resupply location to procure fuel and food. Therefore, they demanded to trade. But the Tokugawa regime did not agree to trade. The US became impatient and in 1853, sent Admiral Perry with 4 warships, demanding a negotiation with Japan. They tried to force trading by sending then-state-of-the-art steam ships and showing off the difference of national power. The Tokugawa regime, thinking that they couldn’t make a careless response, promised to answer in a year. Perry left Japan, promising to return. The Tokugawa regime panicked. If cutting-edge warships came to the Edo bay, they would be in trouble. If they declined to negotiate and a war broke out, it was obvious that they would not win. Until then, they had peaceful negotiations with Russia and England, but the US hinted at the possibility of using military force, and that was a big deal. So the Tokugawa regime planned to fill the offshore of Shinagawa and build a battery ground so that Perry won’t be able to enter the Edo bay. With a battery ground, Perry and others would not be able to enter the Edo bay unscathed. But there wasn’t much time for construction. It was Hidetatsu Egawa, governor of Izu (now a part of Shizuoka prefecture) Nirayama, who directed the construction of the ground. And samurais from around the country were mobilized. What happened to the seemingly unrealistic demand of building a battery ground? Were they able to protect the people of Edo?