Tokyo bibliography

I wrote a lengthy annotated bibliography for Oxford University Press’s Urban Studies series, for which I got commissioned last year and which kept me busy for an extended period of time. This 20-page document was much more fun to prepare than I thought.

It felt a little bit like writing an ode to the city I have come to know the best of all places I have ever lived in. This is because I spent several years researching its past as my full time occupation of course, but also because getting to know it required me to shed all preconceptions of how to perceive space.

My Japanese language skills were never good enough to approach Tokyo through primary literature, so this bibliography lists English works only. It is by no means exhaustive but the 100+ sources cover a lot of different aspects of the city’s history and current issues.

Jordan Sand offered generous help in identifying new sources and trimming the narrative. I hope it flows well enough to also offer something beyond the specific research query people might use this list for and discover something new.

The full text is behind the OUP paywall, but I hear many academic institutions have access to it. If not, please get in touch.

The thematic chapters are:

  • Introduction
  • General Historical Overviews for Edo/Tokyo
  • 1603–1867: Edo Period
  • The Scepter of Destruction
  • Economic History
  • Political and Social History
  • Contested Spaces
  • Tokyo as a World, Global, and Neoliberal City
  • History of Urban Planning
  • Tokyo Urban Form
  • Architecture
  • Metabolism
  • From Urban Tropes to Urban Theory
  • Housing
  • Placemaking and Heritage
  • Iconic Districts
  • Tokyo Neighborhoods
  • Transportation
  • Gender and Sexuality
  • Tokyo Imagined

One thought on “Tokyo bibliography

  1. Hello Dr. Bansal.

    I would love to read this text, but dont have access to it. Would you mind emailing it? would greatly appreciate it

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