Doomed Megalopolis

Many of the characters in the story are based on real famous figures who lived during the same time period. For example, the fisherman who finds Yukari on the riverbank is Koda Rohan (1867--1947), a classic writer from the Meiji Era. The young man who proposes transforming Tokyo into an underground city is Torahiko Terada (1878--1935), a physicist and professor of earthquake studies (in fact the underground city concept is based on a real proposal he made). The fortune teller is Izumi Kyoka (1873--1939), another classic writer from the Meiji Era renowned for his supernatural fiction. His speech about how there are "two great powers of the world: the power of Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) against the power of the demons" is based on his writings.