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"Little Tokyo" in old Shanghai
Beside the north bank of Suzhou River, northern area of downtown Shanghai, there is an official district; it was an important and famed region of politics, economic and culture once in old Shanghai. Covering the area of 23．48 ten thousand square kilometers, with over 80 ten thousand population, this place was famous for the Hongkou Port and was named after Hongkou exactly.
A large number of Japanese once lived here and then they used this place as the general headquarters of Japanese troop when they invaded Shanghai. We can still find relict scenery of Japanese style from the Japanese flats with peristyle balcony existed around the area of Luxun Park (located at North Sichuan Road), Shanyin Road, and Suyang Road until now.
To a great extend, the Japanese association was a self-sufficiency group, they nearly isolated themselves from Chinese. A real Japanese society was formed around Hongkou, Zhabei region in north of Shanghai. And this place was called” Little Tokyo”, large scale houses belonged to Japanese, the mass of shops were ran by Japanese, even the official language was Japanese. The life here was no difference as the one in Japan for Japanese; they didn’t need to learn Chinese, the mutual interaction between them and Chinese was so limited, there was even no necessity of dealing with Chinese for them. Compared to other foreigners they tended to depend on themselves much, they were in charge of everything even the artisanry and housework.
In 1862, the Japanese government dispatched a large ship called “Qian sui wan” coming to Shanghai, it was the first communication between China and Japan during the neoteric history. In September 1870, Japanese diplomats asked Chinese government to sign an official system about oil tanker, and then they constructed an oil tanker port at Hongkou, that is, Fair Road Port nowadays. Henceforth, trade contacts between China and Japan became frequent gradually.
Along with plenty of Japanese entering Shanghai as well as intermarry among the people, a lot of Japanese buildings sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain in Hongkou. Almost all Japanese believed the Buddhism. In 1876, Japanese established East BenYuan Temple on East Wuchang Road which was attached to Benyuan Temple in Japan. This temple was not only the center of religious activities for Japanese emigrants but also the center of assembly and meeting. At the end of 1928, Japanese altered Songgang Hospital which was located at Zhapu Road into West Benyuan Temple; the south of the temple was for putting Japanese emigrants’ ashes as while as the north was for pilgrimage.
In order to solve the problem of education for kids, they set up Kaidao primary school inside the East Benyuan Temple in 1888; it was the first Japanese primary school in Shanghai, later the school moved to North Sichuan Road, the north of Yokohama Bridge in 1906.
In “Little Tokyo”, rent and commodity prices were much cheaper than other settlements such as French Settlement and British Settlement. During the period of 1939-1942, the rent of a new style apartment inside the alley was only 100-150 Yuan. At that time, people needed pay 15 cents for Russian dishes of 6 courses, but in “Little Tokyo” consumers paid less for the same dishes. The “Little Tokyo” was once a wonderland for Japanese emigrants.
A large number of Japanese once lived here and then they used this place as the general headquarters of Japanese troop when they invaded Shanghai. We can still find relict scenery of Japanese style from the Japanese flats with peristyle balcony existed around the area of Luxun Park (located at North Sichuan Road), Shanyin Road, and Suyang Road until now.
To a great extend, the Japanese association was a self-sufficiency group, they nearly isolated themselves from Chinese. A real Japanese society was formed around Hongkou, Zhabei region in north of Shanghai. And this place was called” Little Tokyo”, large scale houses belonged to Japanese, the mass of shops were ran by Japanese, even the official language was Japanese. The life here was no difference as the one in Japan for Japanese; they didn’t need to learn Chinese, the mutual interaction between them and Chinese was so limited, there was even no necessity of dealing with Chinese for them. Compared to other foreigners they tended to depend on themselves much, they were in charge of everything even the artisanry and housework.
In 1862, the Japanese government dispatched a large ship called “Qian sui wan” coming to Shanghai, it was the first communication between China and Japan during the neoteric history. In September 1870, Japanese diplomats asked Chinese government to sign an official system about oil tanker, and then they constructed an oil tanker port at Hongkou, that is, Fair Road Port nowadays. Henceforth, trade contacts between China and Japan became frequent gradually.
Along with plenty of Japanese entering Shanghai as well as intermarry among the people, a lot of Japanese buildings sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain in Hongkou. Almost all Japanese believed the Buddhism. In 1876, Japanese established East BenYuan Temple on East Wuchang Road which was attached to Benyuan Temple in Japan. This temple was not only the center of religious activities for Japanese emigrants but also the center of assembly and meeting. At the end of 1928, Japanese altered Songgang Hospital which was located at Zhapu Road into West Benyuan Temple; the south of the temple was for putting Japanese emigrants’ ashes as while as the north was for pilgrimage.
In order to solve the problem of education for kids, they set up Kaidao primary school inside the East Benyuan Temple in 1888; it was the first Japanese primary school in Shanghai, later the school moved to North Sichuan Road, the north of Yokohama Bridge in 1906.
In “Little Tokyo”, rent and commodity prices were much cheaper than other settlements such as French Settlement and British Settlement. During the period of 1939-1942, the rent of a new style apartment inside the alley was only 100-150 Yuan. At that time, people needed pay 15 cents for Russian dishes of 6 courses, but in “Little Tokyo” consumers paid less for the same dishes. The “Little Tokyo” was once a wonderland for Japanese emigrants.