Early 20th Century Japanese Cityscape

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

What era do you want to build your town in? I can help. I live in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture and have loved traveling this nation and learning it's history.

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Here's some postcard references of my home, Sasebo, that can be used for an early 20th century Japanese city as they all come from the 1920s and 1930s.


Kameyama Hachiman Shrine
Note the memorial on the right; it commemorates all the workers who died in the construction of the Sasebo Naval District and it's arsenal. Military-related memorials are common at shrines in military towns like Sasebo and even in those without a direct tie.


Kaigun-bashi (Navy Bridge) crosses from the city proper to the military base. In the background are the petty officer's club and the Triumphal Return Memorial Hall. Built in 1924, it commemorates the Japanese navy's participation in World War I when Japanese destroyers protected allied shipping in the Mediterranean. I was married in that hall almost a decade ago.


Sasebo City Hall


Downtown Sasebo in the 1930s; Kaigun-bashi is on the upper left.


Downtown Sasebo; Tamaya department store (left) was erected in 1920 at a towering four stories featured the first electric elevator in Kyushu.


Another view of the same


A Sasebo yukaku, or geisha district. Geisha/Prostitutes were not allowed to leave the confines of their districts while employed, on or off duty.


A sentry post at the entrance of the Sasebo Naval District; officer's billeting is on the hill

[commissarmoody]

Great set of photos! 

[traveller]

What era do you want to build your town in? I can help. I live in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture and have loved traveling this nation and learning it's history.

Great photos! I would like to have a gaming board for a town/village that I could use for Boshin War period

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Great photos! I would like to have a gaming board for a town/village that I could use for Boshin War period

For that period, it was still be the quintessential "traditional" Japanese town unless you're looking at recreating a trading port like Yokohama or somewhere like Nagasaki or Kagoshima which had foreign influences. Watching the growth of Nagasaki from the Bakumatsu to the early 20th century is fascinating and today we still have Glover Garden, the preserved foreign residences on the hill facing the Mitsubishi Shipyard. Glover's house was built in 1863 and is the oldest surviving wooden Western residence in Japan.

[traveller]

For that period, it was still be the quintessential "traditional" Japanese town unless you're looking at recreating a trading port like Yokohama or somewhere like Nagasaki or Kagoshima which had foreign influences. Watching the growth of Nagasaki from the Bakumatsu to the early 20th century is fascinating and today we still have Glover Garden, the preserved foreign residences on the hill facing the Mitsubishi Shipyard. Glover's house was built in 1863 and is the oldest surviving wooden Western residence in Japan.

Thanks!

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Here's some more postcards, I think some of these may date back further than the last batch. "Saseho" was an acceptable English translation of "Sasebo" at the time, which makes me wonder if that's how the locals pronounced it.





The Sasebo Naval District commandant's residence looks rather upper class until you pull back and see its right next a river full of working fishermen and the edge of downtown.


Another view of Kaigun-bashi (Navy Bridge)


Suikosha was the officer's billeting, if it wasn't for the people I wouldn't have guessed this was in Japan


Suikosha is in the background.


Naval District headquarters



This is a later postcard as this depicts the Submarine No. 43 Memorial; Submarine No. 43 sank off shore during a training exercise on Mar. 19, 1924. The crew communicated via phone for 10 hours after sinking before the calls stopped. When the submarine was salvaged 24 days later, they found messages written to loved ones all over the bulkheads and hatches. Submarine No.43 was renamed Ro-25 and then continued to serve until 1936.

[carlos marighela]

Interesting stuff. Just did a quick Google Maps virtual tour of the high school and vicinity of the naval base and (perhaps unsurprisingly) it has all changed out of recognition.

[Khusru2]

Are there no traditional Japanese buildings built with modern materials?

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Are there no traditional Japanese buildings built with modern materials?

A lot of the reconstructed castles are mostly reinforced concrete. Other than that, I've seen traditional looking buildings that are really just facades for modern buildings. There were also buildings with mixed traditional touches on more modern designs. A good example of that is the Tokyo National Museum, which was completed in 1938 in the "Imperial Crown-style."

[Triarii]

Where do you get your older buildings, as in the first pictures in this thread? The straw roofed half timbered houses are easy enough to find, but not the more complex buildings you have.

[anevilgiraffe]

A lot of the reconstructed castles are mostly reinforced concrete.

Osaka Castle has a lift

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Where do you get your older buildings, as in the first pictures in this thread? The straw roofed half timbered houses are easy enough to find, but not the more complex buildings you have.

I bought directly from 3D Alien Worlds' creator here in Japan (Aso Mill) but you can get the same buildings from these shops:
https://www.3dalienworlds.com/info.php?ID=16

[Sakuragi Miniatures]

Osaka Castle has a lift

It's a beautiful reconstruction.

[carlos marighela]

Osaka Castle has a lift

You try schlepping up six flights of stairs in full samurai armour.

I think the decision not to add the giant waterslide was a sensible and deferential nod to history. Just because folk want something.....