お台場
1853
Odaibaおだいば
the honorable gun batteries
- おo — honorific prefix
- 台場daiba — battery platform / fort
Tokyo's futuristic bay district means 'the gun batteries' — built in a panic in 1853 after Perry's black ships arrived. Two forts survive: one a public park, one forever off-limits in the bay.
When Perry's black ships arrived in 1853, the alarmed shogunate rushed to build 11 Western-style gun batteries (daiba) in the bay, designed by engineer Egawa Hidetatsu — 5,000 laborers on the first three forts alone. The plan was scaled back midway; two forts were left unfinished. The polite prefix 'O-' stuck to the batteries, and the batteries stuck to the map.
Modern proof
Fort No. 3 survives as a public park, cannon mounts intact; Fort No. 6 still floats in the bay, permanently off-limits. Both are national historic sites — visible from the Rainbow Bridge.
sourceToday's Odaiba is postwar landfill built seaward of the original 1853 forts.
Sources
- 東京港埠頭(株) 海上公園なび「台場の歴史」(築造経緯・11基計画・人夫5,000人)[technical]