Great Fire Of Angen
Outbreak
The fire broke out at 10:00 pm. At 8:00 pm, Fujiwara no Kanezane finished a ritual of mourning, recording also that a "princess also ended her mourning in this evening." (The text never specifies what princess).
He noted the clear weather. Then he wrote "Around 8 p.m. I performed the ritual to end the mourning on the riverbed. The princess also ended her mourning in this evening. Chamberlain to the princess [Kanezane's son Yoshimichi] ended the mourning in front of her residence...". He continued to write, finally noting the fire by saying "Around 10 p.m., a fire broke out in the northern direction. I heard that the fire started at Higuchi-Tominokoji." At the time, Kanezane was ill and remained at home. Due to this, he had to have a servant assess the situation.
As the fire began to worsen, the Emperor and Empress were moved to Fujiwara no Kunitsuna's home.
As the fire swept through Heian-kyō, it reached the palace. Here, it burnt the enthronement hall. The great hall was never rebuilt though, and every Muromachi period emperor was not enthroned in Heian-kyō.
Damages
The damages were as follows:
The Imperial Court
- Daigokuden
- Department of Divinities
- Shingon-in Temple
- Chodoin
- Ministry of Popular Affairs
- Ministry of Water Affairs
- Kikyo-mon Gate
- Accounting Dormitory
- Office of food preparation for the imperial family
- Yingtian Gate (There is both one in China, and one in Heian-kyō, modern day Kyoto)
- Tax-collection office
- Suzakumon
- Shikibu-shō
Other facilities
Residence's of the nobility and princes
- Residence of Matsudono Motofusa
- Residence of Taira no Shigemori
- Residence of Tokudaiji Sanesada
- Residence of Shigenoi Sanekuni
- Residence of Fujiwara no Takaki
- Residence of Fujiwara no Kunitsuna
- Residence of Sanjo Sanefusa
- Residence of Minamoto no Sadafusa
- Residence of Fujiwara no Sukenaga
- Residence of Nakayama Tadachika
- Residence of Fujiwara no Sanetsuna
- Residence of Fujiwara no Yoritada
- Residence of Fujiwara no Toshitsune
- Residence of Fujiwara no Toshimori
Fujiwara no Kanezane noted all of these, also noting the current constellations, believing that they were a bad omen.
References
- ^ Kamo, Chōmei (1996). Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-880656-22-8.
- ^ Bausi, Alessandro; Brockmann, Christian; Friedrich, Michael; Kienitz, Sabine (2018-02-19). Manuscripts and Archives: Comparative Views on Record-Keeping. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-3-11-054157-1.
- ^ Hall, John Whitney; Takeshi, Toyoda (2022-07-15). Japan in the Muromachi Age. Univ of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-32552-4.
- ^ "The 18th GJS SeminarNarrating Disaster and Memoryscapes in The Tale of the Heike: Mediating the Great Fire of Angen (1177) | Events | GJS: Global Japan Studies". gjs.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ 日本放送協会. "即位の儀式の歴史｜平成から令和へ 新時代の幕開け｜NHK NEWS WEB". www3.nhk.or.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ "都市史10 「方丈記」にみる三つの災害". www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ "The Great Fire of Angen - Kyoto through the Ages". kyotohumanities.jp. Retrieved 2025-01-31.
- ^ "二 The Great Fire of the Angen Period". Hōjōki Annotation and Translation Project. 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2025-01-31.