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Diary Observatory

Diary Observatory

Danchōtei Nichijō

Kafū Nagai / 永井荷風

Period: 1917–1959 · Type: Diary / Daily record · Primary city: Tokyo

WeatherWalkingGardenBodyPublishingFoodWarUrban ChangeOld TokyoRepetition

Forty-two years of ordinary days, through which Tokyo repeatedly disappeared.

Author
Kafū Nagai
Start year
1917
End year
1959
Duration
42 years
Language
Japanese
Primary city
Tokyo
Diary status
Complete historical record
Indexing status
In progress
Verification status
Partial
Last updated
2026-08-02

What this diary preserves

Forty-two years

  1. 1917–1919

    Partial

    日記の開始

    1918-01-01 indexed. Other opening-year days: Archive research needed.

  2. 1920s

    Source needed

    散歩、都市生活、出版、人間関係

    Archive research needed / Source needed

  3. 1930s

    Source needed

    街歩き、文化環境、歓楽街、社会変化

    Source needed

  4. 1940–1944

    Source needed

    戦時統制が日常へ入る

    Archive research needed

  5. 1945

    Source needed

    空襲、焼失、敗戦

    Research queue: 1945-03-10, 1945-08-15

  6. 1946–1949

    Source needed

    戦後の生活と都市の再編

    Source needed

  7. 1950s

    Source needed

    戦後東京、老い、身体、生活の変化

    Archive research needed

  8. 1959

    Partial

    日記の終わり

    Source needed for closing-day detail

Indexed entries

January 1, 1918

正月を特別に祝わず、室内が暖まるのを待ち、片づけと掃除をする。

New YearDomestic LifeHeatingCleaningRoutineBody

Verification: Partial provenance

Facts 5 · Unknowns 12 · Indexed day — bibliographic trail incomplete

Open excavated day · 発掘済みの一日を見る

More entries are being indexed.

Archive research queue

  • March 10, 1945 — Tokyo air raid

    research-needed · high

    1945-03-10

    Primary text location and edition check required before summary.

    Source needed

    Do not assert content before text confirmation.

  • August 15, 1945 — End of war

    research-needed · high

    1945-08-15

    Cross-city and diary-text verification pending.

    Source needed

  • Other New Year’s Days — Cross-year comparison

    queued · medium

    Compare January 1 across years once more New Year entries are indexed.

    Source needed

Repetition as structure

Observation/ 観測

Repetition index

  • Weather recorded

    Indexing in progress

  • Walk recorded

    Indexing in progress

  • Garden observed

    Indexing in progress

  • Writing or publishing

    Indexing in progress

  • Visitors

    Indexing in progress

  • Food or drink

    Indexing in progress

  • Pain or illness

    Indexing in progress

  • War-related context

    Indexing in progress

Calendar of indexed days

Years 1917–1959. Entry counts are not invented — only confirmed indexed days appear as Indexed.

  • 1917Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1918Indexed1 indexed entryComing year
  • 1919Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1920Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1921Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1922Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1923Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1924Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1925Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1926Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1927Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1928Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1929Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1930Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1931Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1932Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1933Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1934Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1935Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1936Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1937Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1938Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1939Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1940Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1941Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1942Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1943Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1944Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1945Research queuedResearch queuedComing year
  • 1946Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1947Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1948Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1949Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1950Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1951Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1952Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1953Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1954Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1955Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1956Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1957Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1958Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year
  • 1959Not indexedNot yet indexedComing year

Weather archive

  • Subjective weather

  • Measured weather

  • Body response

  • Action

No aggregated weather data yet.

日記の寒さと公的気温を混同しない。Subjective weather ≠ Measured weather.

The body across decades

  • Pain / 痛み
  • Sleep / 睡眠
  • Appetite / 食欲
  • Walking / 歩行
  • Fatigue / 疲労
  • Medical care / 診療、薬
  • Aging / 老い

Body indexing in progress

Tokyo as layers

  1. Taishō Tokyo

    partial

    Connected to diary opening years — entry detail pending beyond 1918-01-01.

  2. Prewar Shōwa

    needs-source

    Source needed — do not fill from general history alone.

  3. Wartime Tokyo

    needs-source

    Archive research needed for control / blackout / mobility entries.

  4. Burned Tokyo

    needs-source

    1945 air-raid days in research queue — no content asserted yet.

  5. Postwar Tokyo

    needs-source

    Source needed

  6. 1950s Tokyo

    needs-source

    Late diary years — body and city change; details source-needed.

Places in the diary

  • Tokyo

    Type: City

    Primary city of the diary’s geography

    Period: 1917–1959

    Current: existing

    Verification: Verified

    Indexed entry count: 1

    View entity
  • Azabu

    Type: District

    Lived / recorded geography

    Period: Diary period — details source-needed

    Current: existing

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity
  • Ginza

    Type: District

    Urban walking / cultural geography

    Period: Diary appearances — source-needed per entry

    Current: transformed

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity
  • Asakusa

    Type: District

    Downtown / pleasure geography in diary

    Period: Diary period

    Current: transformed

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity
  • Mukojima

    Type: District

    Diary geography — linkage density pending

    Period: Diary appearances — source-needed

    Current: existing

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity
  • Ichikawa

    Type: City

    Residence / living geography (details source-needed)

    Period: Source-needed for exact years

    Current: existing

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity
  • Danchōtei

    Type: Place / residence or diary-title context

    Title / residence context — details needed

    Period: Confirm against editions

    Current: unknown

    Verification: Source needed

    Indexed entry count: 0

    View entity

People in the diary

People indexing in progress

  • Family / 家族
  • Writers / 作家
  • Publishers / 出版社関係者
  • Artists / 芸術家
  • Visitors / 来客
  • Doctors / 医師
  • Neighbors / 近隣
  • Unknown identities / 未特定人物

War as daily change

  • Before war

    Research queue

  • During war

    Research queue

  • Air raids

    Research queue

  • Destruction

    Research queue

  • Defeat

    Research queue

  • Aftermath

    Research queue

  • Text survives / 日記本文
  • Place name survives / 地名
  • Building survives / 建物
  • Rebuilt / 再建
  • Renamed / 改名
  • Transformed / 地域変容
  • Destroyed / 焼失
  • Practice survives / 散歩、掃除、食事、日記
  • Unknown / 確認不能

World Survival

What survived the diary’s time?

  • Existing · 現存Status: Existing4
  • Demolished · 解体Status: Demolished0
  • Destroyed by war · 戦災焼失Status: Destroyed by war0
  • Reconstructed · 再建Status: Reconstructed0
  • Renamed · 改称Status: Renamed0
  • Relocated · 移転Status: Relocated0
  • Changed / district transformed · 変容・地域変容Status: Changed / district transformed2
  • Unknown · 不明Status: Unknown1

Indexed entities: 7. Not collapsed into a single Survival Rate.

This is not a score of preservation. It records how a city survives through reconstruction, renaming, memory, and disappearance.

Counts from indexed place entities only — no invented totals.

Across the same day and date

  • January 1, 1918

    Same Day · Open comparison · 1 indexed life

    Open
  • May 2, 2011 — Kenji Nishimura

    Related Date · Related comparison

    Open
  • January 1 across years

    Future · Coming comparison

    Coming comparison
  • March 10, 1945

    Research · Coming research

    Coming research
  • August 15, 1945

    Research · Coming research

    Coming research

From Kafū to Nishimura

Left

Danchōtei Nichijō

1917–1959

Right

Kenji Nishimura’s diary

Late-Heisei Tokyo

  • Duration42 yearsshorter indexed period
  • Primary conditionWeathermedia
  • MovementWalkingurban cultural route
  • PublishingPrint culturepublishing + television
  • Urban lossWar and reconstructionclosures and fragmentation
  • BodyAging over decadesalcohol, fatigue, illness
Open comparison

Primary text and editions

作品自体の権利状態と、現代版の編集著作権を分ける。架空のISBN・出版社・URLは置かない。

  • Original diary / 原日記

    Edition details needed / Source verification pending

  • Public-domain text / 正規公開本文

    Public-domain status must be verified per jurisdiction — no invented URL.

  • Modern edited editions / 現代の校訂版

    Edition details needed — editorial copyright separate from the work.

  • Selections / 抄録版

    Edition details needed

  • Digital text / 電子版

    Source verification pending

How this diary is indexed

  1. 1

    Confirm the date and primary text

  2. 2

    Summarize without long reproduction

  3. 3

    Extract people, places, objects, body, weather, and actions

  4. 4

    Assign evidence level (Explicit / Implied / Contextual / Unknown)

  5. 5

    Verify present-day entity status

  6. 6

    Connect the entry to year, theme, writer, entity, and Same Day

  7. 7

    Revise interpretation as more entries are indexed

Indexing status

  • Indexed entries

    1
  • Indexed years

    1
  • Indexed entities

    7
  • Verified sources

    0
  • Source-needed items

    7
  • Research queue

    3

This page is not a completed edition.

It is a growing index of a forty-two-year diary.

Related Observations

Coming

  • 東京は、日記の中で何度も消える
  • 天候という記録
  • 戦争が日常へ入ってくるとき
  • 日記は、生活の速度を残す

Sources

  • 永井荷風『断腸亭日乗』Primary textverification-pending

    Supports: Work identity, period 1917–1959, diary genre

    Edition bibliography (publisher, volumes, year) — details needed. Do not invent imprint data or URLs.

    Work rights and modern edition rights are separate. Long quotations avoided.

  • Modern edited / annotated editionsModern editionsneeded

    Supports: Readable text for indexing — after imprint confirmation

    Edition details needed / Source verification pending

  • Biographical sources for Kafū NagaiBiographical sourcesneeded

    Supports: Writer chronology; not a substitute for diary text

    Source needed — no invented titles.

  • Place verification (buildings, addresses, districts, streets)Place verificationverification-pending

    Supports: Entity current status; district vs shop-level distinction

    Tokyo place-name layer partially verified; shop-level pending.

  • Historical meteorological recordsWeatherneeded

    Supports: Measured weather layer — never conflated with diary wording

    Source needed before any temperature comparison.

  • War and urban history (air raids, damage, reconstruction)War and urban historyneeded

    Supports: Context for 1945 research queue — not diary paraphrase

    Source needed; do not invent raid narratives for this page.

  • Editorial references (Kafū studies, diary literature, Tokyo criticism)Editorial referencesneeded

    Supports: Interpretation framing; marked as Observation / Interpretation

    Source needed — bibliography to be added when confirmed.

Sources

Primary source / 一次資料

  • 永井荷風『断腸亭日乗』Verification pending

    Edition bibliography (publisher, volumes, year) — details needed. Do not invent imprint data or URLs.

  • Modern edited / annotated editionsSource needed

    Edition details needed / Source verification pending

Verification sources / 現況確認

  • Biographical sources for Kafū NagaiSource needed

    Source needed — no invented titles.

  • Place verification (buildings, addresses, districts, streets)Verification pending

    Tokyo place-name layer partially verified; shop-level pending.

  • Historical meteorological recordsSource needed

    Source needed before any temperature comparison.

  • War and urban history (air raids, damage, reconstruction)Source needed

    Source needed; do not invent raid narratives for this page.

Editorial references / 編集参考

  • Editorial references (Kafū studies, diary literature, Tokyo criticism)Source needed

    Source needed — bibliography to be added when confirmed.