How did the rapid modernization of Tokyo between the Meiji Restoration and the Great Kanto Earthquake transform the city's social, physical, and cultural landscape? Edward G. Seidensticker, a renowned scholar of Japanese literature and history, examines the transition of Edo into the modern metropolis of Tokyo. He utilizes a blend of historical records, personal memoirs, and architectural analysis to argue that the city's evolution was defined by a constant tension between traditional Japanese values and the aggressive adoption of Western modernity.

Historians and Japan specialists frequently cite this work as a foundational text for understanding the cultural geography of pre-earthquake Tokyo. Readers often note the dense, scholarly prose that provides a comprehensive look at the intersection of social class and urban development.