September 26, 1923, marked a critical moment in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake, as Japan moved from emergency relief toward the difficult task of rebuilding Tokyo and other devastated cities. The disaster had struck on September 1, destroying vast areas of Tokyo and Yokohama and leaving hundreds of thousands of homes damaged or destroyed. More than 1.5 million people were rendered homeless, according to historical research on the catastrophe.

By September 26, the housing crisis had become intertwined with another major problem: property and tenancy disputes. Contemporary records from the period show that disputes over leases and rented houses had multiplied after the earthquake. Because communications remained severely disrupted, the Japanese government decided to establish special courts in district offices in the devastated areas to resolve such disputes more quickly.

The rebuilding challenge was extraordinary. Around 370,000 houses had been burned or collapsed in the earthquake, creating an urgent need for temporary and permanent housing. The government supported temporary accommodation and provided financing mechanisms for people rebuilding their homes.

What followed eventually transformed Tokyo's physical structure. Japan introduced large-scale land readjustment, widened roads, developed parks and rebuilt bridges and public infrastructure. The reconstruction programme also produced an important experiment in modern housing. The Dojunkai Foundation, established in 1923, initially constructed wooden houses and later developed reinforced-concrete apartment buildings equipped with modern facilities. Between 1926 and 1933, about 2,800 housing units were supplied through 16 locations in Tokyo and Yokohama.

The transformation extended beyond housing. By the early 1930s, Tokyo had wider roads, new bridges, parks and reorganized neighbourhoods. Contemporary reporting later described the rebuilding of Tokyo and Yokohama as substantially completed within seven years.

September 26 therefore stands as an important date in the history of property and urban development: only weeks after catastrophe, Tokyo was already confronting the fundamental questions that modern cities still face after disasters — where people will live, how damaged land should be reorganized, how tenants and owners should be protected, and how reconstruction can create a safer city for the future.

This topic works particularly well for a ReNews “On This Date” historical series because September 26 is directly documented in contemporary records as a day when post-earthquake housing and property disputes were being addressed.