Yatsukoji, Inside Sujikai Gate, No. 9 in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo

Unlike Western plazas, Japanese urban hirokōi, or "broad spaces," were for passage rather than for gathering. Open public space on such a scale was unusual in Edo. Here it was made possible by the demands of constant traffic and by the government's insistence on creating a firebreak. Edo was one of the largest wood-built cities in the world and suffered many fires.