¡°It must have been remarkably quiet, even in daytime,¡± writes historian Hiroshi Watanabe of Edo just before it became Tokyo in 1868. It was ¡°already one of the world¡¯s most populous cities. Yet in it there was neither a single horse-drawn carriage nor a single steam engine to be seen.¡±

Quiet. Where is it to be found? In the past, if anywhere, Watanabe seems to imply in these prefatory remarks to his book ¡°A History of Japanese Political Thought, 1600-1901¡± (translated by David Noble). Is this paradise? ¡°There were no gas lamps or electric lights. On clear nights the sky above Edo was ablaze with the Milky Way.¡± What need for carriages, buses, trains, cars, motorcycles, trucks, planes? ¡°As a rule people got around on foot, 40 kilometers was a standard day¡¯s journey.¡±