Earthquake Nation: The Cultural Politics of Japanese Seismicity, 1868-1930 Book

Encountering traditional Japanese construction, westerners judged it to be "delicate" and by implication effeminate and backwards--and thus the Meiji government invested in modernization via red brick and steel-truss railroad bridges. The 1891 Nobi Earthquake, in which almost all the new buildings collapsed in a hail of deadly brick shards, shifted the technological landscape significantly--Japan emerged as a scientific pioneer in a field in which they were uniquely qualified (sending experts to the 1897 Naples and 1906 San Francisco Earthquakes to evaluate reconstruction) and sent the Japanese on a quest to meld traditional "national essence" to modern materials to produce forms respected by the Great Powers Japan hoped to join at the big table of 20th century decision-making.