The other districts in this series mostly grew: a wharf appeared, people gathered, shops multiplied. Shinsekai is different. This district was drawn before it was built.
Starting from empty ground
The starting point is the Fifth National Industrial Exhibition of 1903 Fact. The exhibition ended and a wide site remained. Redeveloping it, the area opened on 3 July 1912 under the name Shinsekai Fact. The name itself carries the fact that this was newly made ground Estimate.
The plan for a tower
A landmark was in the plan from the outset. The scheme called for opening an amusement park on the exhibition site and erecting a tower modelled on the Eiffel Tower in Paris Fact, and the result was the first Tsutenkaku (Ep.3). The Luna Park amusement grounds opened the same year (Ep.4) Fact. Tower, funfair and street were designed as one set Estimate.
The condition of a planned district
Why does this matter? Because planned things generally belong to whoever planned them, and end when the plan ends Estimate. Luna Park was gone by 1923 (Ep.4), and the first Tsutenkaku was dismantled in 1943 (Ep.3) Fact. What was on the drawings disappeared first.
And what remained
Meanwhile what now serves as Shinsekai’s face — the narrow alleys and shogi parlours of Janjan Yokocho, the old kushikatsu shops — mostly formed after the war (Ep.6, 7) Fact. The planned future was erased, and unplanned daily life stayed on to represent the district Estimate. That paradox follows you through the whole walk.