When Ikebukuro Station opened on the Yamanote Line in 1903, the area around it was little more than pasture and vegetable fields.
That all changed after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, when those left homeless in the temblor moved west as they found this district relatively undamaged and yet well-connected with other parts of Tokyo by the Yamanote Line.
This urbanization coincided with the rapid Westernization of lifestyles in the capital. Indeed, some of the more wealthy began building homes with Western-style living rooms.
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