Maggs Bros. Ltd.

A panoramic prints showing the apocalyptic aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake: The quake which occurred at 11:58 on September 1st, 1923, when many people were cooking lunch, destroyed close to 70% of all buildings in Tokyo and killed approximately 140,000 people.

The present view was taken from a high building inside the Imperial Palace, with the lower margin showing the area next to the moat with fleeing crowds and tents being erected for the displaced population. The upper margin vividly depicts the enormous apocalyptic firestorm. The text in the title cartouche states: "Looked over the scene of disaster of whole neighbourhood the Kanda, Nihonbashi, Honjho, Fukagawa and Hongo-ku from upper storey of Imperial Guards Division and Military Clube of Kudansaka, through the death line, sketched by Kazan Tabata."

The print was published by the Kaikosha, an Imperial Japanese Army organisation who were involved in the implementation of marshal law and the distribution of humanitarian aid. The hanpu-kai was set up especially to deal with the distribution of this particular print. Proceeds from the sale of the print were given towards the relief effort. The four portraits in the top margin show Prime Minister Yamamoto Gonnohyoe, Goto Shimpei (Head of the Reconstruction Booard), Viscount Shibuzawa Eiichi (head of the Relief Association), and Yamanashi Hanzo (Commander over Martial Law). Rare.