Ōoka Organizes Edo’s Town Fire Brigades

In 1718, under shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, town magistrate Ōoka Tadasuke ordered neighborhood headmen to organize town fire brigades. Edo already had warrior firefighting organizations, especially for the castle and warrior residences. The new arrangements placed responsibility for town districts on the towns themselves.

Further reorganization divided districts west of the Sumida into iroha groups; forty-seven later became the familiar forty-eight. Honjo and Fukagawa on the east bank had a separate set of companies. These later counts describe successive arrangements, rather than one completed organization introduced on its first day. Towns supplied the brigades’ expenses.

Firefighting relied heavily on demolition. Hooks and large saws pulled down buildings to interrupt a fire’s spread; hand pumps had limited reach. Construction workers’ skill at climbing and dismantling structures became particularly valuable. The brigades therefore joined neighborhood funding and organization to practical building expertise. They added protection for combustible town districts alongside the warrior services, while exposing firefighters to falling structures and flames.