Evolutional Steps toward the Post-Western/Non-Western Movement

in Japan

Hidenobu Jinnai
Graduate School of Engineering and Design, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan
Email: jinnai@h-jinnai.jp

ABSTRACT This paper examines Japanese past from the beginning of the Meiji era until today in a historical perspec-
tive in order to make easier to understand from a post-Western/non-Western approach the processes that took place
in this period of time. Initially, Japan began to adopt Western ideologies, technologies and systems to build a modern
nation and to make the development of modern architecture and city planning possible. These models continued to be
looked at for a long time. From the 1970s, when the years of sustained economic growth came to an end, Japanese be-
gan to dismiss the idea of reaching and overtaking the West gradually. They began to search for a Japanese identity. The
richness of nature, the particular Japanese history and its specific culture developed through delicate senses were re-
evaluated. At the same time, the cultural values of the historic urban space and townscape were rediscovered. Finally,
the paper examines the idea and method of Machizukuri (bottom-up town-making) originated and developed thanks to
the physical and social resources historically accumulated in the Japanese cities.

KEYWORDS Westernisation, urban history, townscape, bottom-up, Machizukuri, cultural identity, spatial anthro-
pology, satoyama

Received July 24, 2017; accepted August 21, 2017.

Introduction overview. In the period of ‘civilisation and enlightenment’

in the early Meiji era (1868–1912), Japan began actively
Paolo Ceccarelli, who continues to work energetically
adopting Western ideologies, technologies, and systems
in various parts of the non-Western world, has engaged
in its effort to build a modern nation, and for a long time,
deeply with Japanese architects and urban planners. When
it continued to look to these as models. Like other non-
he visited Japan last autumn, he raised some truly stimu-
lating questions, aimed at stirring international debate on Western countries, Japan equated modernisation with
the concepts of ‘post-Western’ and ‘non-Western’. Many Westernisation.
Japanese, who constantly think about these concepts in The fields of architecture and urban design certainly
their pursuit of research, planning, and design work, agree followed this pattern. During the Meiji era, new and bril-
with his ideas. So, taking the opportunity for a deliberate liant urban spaces that promoted the nation-building
and theoretical discussion of this problem, several of us project in accordance with Western ideas were created in
got together to exchange opinions on the subject. This ar- Tokyo, which had become Japan’s capital. And they were
ticle is a summary of our discussion. distinctly different to the urban spaces typical of the Edo
era. These included Ginza ‘Brick Town’ (1872) by English-
man Thomas James Waters; the Ministry of Justice Build-
From the Meiji Enlightenment to Expo ing near Hibiya Park (1886) by the Germans Hermann
Osaka 1970 Gustav Louis Ende and Wilhelm Böckmann, and the
Firstly, to understand the situation of Japan in connec- Marunouchi Office District (1894), began by Englishman
tion with this issue, we want to start with a historical Josiah Conder (Figure 1).

44 BUIILT HERITAGE 2017 / 3

 Figure 1 Late Meiji era view of Babasaki street in
Marunouchi (Source: Mituhiko Ogata 1980).
Figure 2 General view of Motomachi Park (Source:
Tokyo Municipal Office 1935).
Figure 3 Slide and sandbox in Motomachi Park
1 (Source: the author).

2 3

Yearning for the West remained strong. In the early were unable to free themselves of an inferiority complex
Showa era, during the period of recovery following the about Western cities. Very much for this reason, in the
Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, modern ideas and de- 1960s Japan rediscovered the virtues of its port cities such
signs, modelled after Western architecture and urban as Sakai and Niigata, which seemed to promote citizens’
planning had penetrated far and wide across Tokyo. All autonomy in a Western way. These cities were praised for
Western methods had become established as models, the way they cultivated the civic spirit of their leading
e.g., small public parks (Figure 2, Figure 3), hiroba (open citizens. At the same time, attention was paid to how the
public spaces), and modern apartment buildings in the spirit of citizens’ autonomy was developed at the heart of
city centre and shitamachi (low-lying, downtown) areas, Buddhist temples in temple districts such as Imaicho in
as well as the city of Den-en-chofu (Figure 4) on the out- Nara Prefecture.
skirts of Tokyo, modeled on the English ‘garden suburb’ The yearning for Western cities continued after the war,
concept. The post-war ‘new towns’ could also be consid- and many citizens’ squares were built outside municipal
ered a Western borrowing. offices based on ‘enlightenment’ ideals. Yet, public spaces
In the post-war democratic era, there was a strong push that were useful to the masses were still a rarity. Partly for
to create citizen-centric cities. However, for a long time, this reason, the tradition of ‘public squares’ was said to
Japan was influenced strongly by the ideas in Max Weber’s be nonexistent in Japan, but this view was challenged by
‘typology of cities’. There was a tendency to accept uncriti- architectural historian Teiji Ito (with support from young
cally Weber’s assertion that Western cities were ideal cities, architects such as Arata Isozaki), who worked to redis-
whereas the cities of East Asia, including Japan, tended cover Japan’s unique forms of hiroba (open public space)
to lack citizens’ autonomy. Thus, for a long time, Japanese —quite different to those of Western cities. The August

H. Jinnai 45
 Figure 4 Den-en-chofu
1:2500 map, 1929.
Figure 5 Special issue of
Architecture Culture: Nihon
no Hiroba, August 1971
(Source: Architecture Cul-
4 5 ture 1971).

1971 special issue of Architecture Culture, titled ‘Nihon no achieve by studying and learning from the West.
Hiroba’ (Public Spaces of Japan) (Figure 5), edited by Ito, In this process, the work Taiyo no To (Tower of the Sun)
made a considerable splash. by Taro Okamoto serves as an example of resistance to the
Although, broadly speaking, the notion that ‘moderni- values of Western modernism, with its freeform expres-
sation = Westernisation’ remained firmly rooted in the sion of ‘Japaneseness’ as a ‘Jomonic’ power of the masses.
Japanese mind, in the real cities of Japan, the country’s The unique tower was installed inside the Omatsuri Hiroba
individuality often developed in a quite separate context. (Festival Plaza) designed by Kenzo Tange with the help of
Whereas the centres of Western cities typically feature an many young architects. The tower burst erect through the
accumulation of historical buildings of stone or brick that roof frame of the terrace. To this day, the tower remains on
cannot be easily modified, in contrast, Japan’s large cities public display at the Expo’s site as a memory of the event.
had been destroyed by war or earthquakes and then re- The expo of 1970 marked the pinnacle of ‘modernisa-
built and renovated after the war. This gave rise to unique tion = Westernisation’. While it served to express dreams
city spaces of constantly changing appearance, featuring a for the future, in effect cities had already reached an im-
dynamic mix of sundry elements put together with a high passe as they faced the contradictions of modernisation.
degree of freedom. As this shift occurred, the concept of The young architects that had participated hopefully in
‘metabolism’ emerged as an architectural current celebrat- designing the Expo’s ‘Festival Plaza’ felt frustrated at the
ing Japanese uniqueness, and this had a major worldwide inability to create a genuine hiroba open to the people,
impact. In the domain of urban planning, the Tokyo Bay and many of them subsequently abandoned the problems
Plan 1960 of Kenzo Tange startled the world with its origi- of cities. Then a few years later, in 1973, the world was
nal idea of gracefully developing a city stretching around rocked by the oil crisis, which proved to be a major turn-
Tokyo Bay with multiple functions located over the water. ing point for Japan — both economically and culturally.
By the time of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, expressways fly-
ing over the city’s many canals and rivers had been con-
structed. It was images like this that led to Tokyo’s new From the Early 1970s to the Mid-1980s
identity as a ‘city of the future’. In the 1970s, following the oil crisis, Japan entered a pe-
Nevertheless, Japanese society, on the whole, continued riod of stable (but slow) economic growth. The country
to yearn for Westernisation and to think along Western seemed to look back and reflect on its past of repeated
models. The idea of catching up to and overtaking the West destruction and construction. In the process, it gradually
probably peaked around the time of the Osaka Expo 1970. unearthed aspects of itself that it had long forgotten, relat-
This was viewed as an opportune moment to comprehen- ing to the environment (water, greenery), history, culture,
sively showcase to the world the high degree of economic landscape, and townscape; it seemed to begin turning
and technological capabilities that Japan had managed to away from quantity toward quality. It was in many ways

46 BUIILT HERITAGE 2017 / 3

 6 7
Figure 6 Kurashiki (Okayama prefecture), a pioneer in historical town conservation (Source: the author).
Figure 7 Bungaku ni okeru Genfukei (Archetypal Images in Literature), Takeo Okuno, Shueisha, 1972.

an era for cultivating Japanese and local concerns. proposed by Takeo Okuno (Figure 7) in 1972 exerted a
There was a growing interest in existing urban spaces, strong influence on many young architects of the time.
living spaces, landscape, and community. Throughout the It gave rise to appealing urban theories introduced in
early 1970s, the magazine Toshi Jutaku (City Houses) fo- books such as Yoshinobu Ashihara’s Machinami no Bigaku
cused on these concerns with a string of features on vari- (Townscape Aesthetics), Fumihiko Maki’s Miegakure-suru
ous themes. Toshi (Appearing and Disappearing City), and Noboru
Throughout the country, the value of urban spaces and Kawazoe’s Tokyo no Gen-fukei (Tokyo Archetypal Scen-
villages featuring preserved, traditional townscapes that ery). At this point, the Japanese seemed to be finally ex-
had escaped the waves of development attracted great in- tracting themselves from the spell of Western modernism.
terest. In 1975, the Agency for Cultural Affairs instituted It is fair to conclude that the 1970s marked the first stage
a revision to the system of protecting cultural properties, of Japan’s move toward the post-Western/non-Western.
making it possible to preserve such townscapes and vil- It is also fair to say that the main forces behind the
lages under a national system, as ‘Important Preservation transformation of the city changed in the 1970s. There
Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings’ (Figure 6). was a gradual shift from government-led, top-down ur-
In the early days, there was concern that preservation ban planning, to bottom-up town-making (Machizukuri),
of old buildings would be imposed by freezing develop- in which citizens/residents became leading protagonists.
ment and it would be difficult to improve living spaces, From the citizens’ campaigns of the 1960s aimed at de-
but many successful conservation projects were realised nouncing severe environmental problems, as typified by
through the cooperative efforts of many towns and mu- the struggles surrounding Minamata disease (mercury
nicipalities. The number of municipalities that utilised poisoning in the Minamata area), there was a discernible
the new system to conserve and expand the use of old move toward an active discovery of history and cultural
buildings and to revitalise towns has steadily increased values, in order to create better local environments and
over the years. living spaces.
Shunichi Suzuki, elected Governor of Tokyo in 1979 Although economic growth was slow in the early 1980s,
used the slogan ‘Tokyo, our hometown’ in developing pol- efforts to uncover culture and history progressed, and
icies focused on water and greenery, urban beautification, there was a blossoming of postmodern culture. Many for-
landscape, and the conservation and utilisation of histori- eign artists and architects came to Japan, thereby helping
cal buildings. to promote greater internationalisation. It was also a time
Even in the Japanese architectural world, a major shift when architects who had previously worked mainly on
in thinking occurred. The ‘archetypal scenery theory’ public buildings and housing began to design commercial

H. Jinnai 47
 8 9
Figure 8 Survey of Tokyo water city, using a boat, by Jinnai Laboratory, begun in 1980 (Source: the author).
Figure 9 Yanesen, a pioneering community magazine.

buildings. And architects who had confined themselves history, culture, and lifestyle. It is remarkable that a group
exclusively to housing design once again concerned them- of architects and planners that took root in the local
selves with public spaces. community engaged so successfully in bottom-up town-
A variety of architectural works based on the freely making with residents (Figure 9). The 1980s, which saw
conceived ideas of Japanese architects began to attract in- a wide variety of similar developments, could be seen as
ternational attention. Then in the 1980s, a ‘Japan boom’ the second stage of Japan’s move to the post-Western/non-
occurred in Europe. At this point, the whole of Japan’s Western.
unique contemporary culture began to be exported to the Yoshinobu Ashihara’s The Hidden Order (1986) attract-
world, as distinct subcultures, typified by anime, and in ed much attention when it emerged within a burgeon-
various other forms1. ing postmodern cultural milieu. The book showed that
Urban theory became more spirited, as the focus shift- although Tokyo appears at first chaotic, made up of frag-
ed from reflecting on development in periods of high eco- ments and parts assembled at random, there is actually a
nomic growth, marked by repeated destruction and con- hidden order; a stable structure can be discerned. Western
struction without regard to the characteristics of a place, intellectuals were somehow greatly attracted by this Japa-
to focus on the uniqueness of a place, through topos and nese idea of a separated and fragmented city. Here too,
genius loci. During this period, Tokyo was rediscovered as concepts are perceived from the details and ideas of the
a ‘city of water’ (Figure 8), and its topography and slopes city. This approach is quite different to that of Western cit-
were re-appraised. Many people’s eyes were opened to the ies, which are conceived as a whole.
virtues of characteristic Japanese urban spaces.
An ‘Edo Tokyo’ boom occurred in 1985–1986, in-
fluenced by continued efforts to uncover the city’s Edo- The ‘Bubble Era’ and ‘Post-bubble Era’
period history and to explore its cultural identity. Jinnai’s In the late 1980s, Japan experienced a strong economic
book on Tokyo published in 1985 (Jinnai 1995), presented revival, as it connected with the world’s biggest markets.
a ‘spatial anthropology’ of Tokyo, revealing it to be quite This resulted in an economic boom time referred to as the
distinct to that of a Western city. ‘bubble era’. Together with New York and London, Tokyo
A magazine first published in 1984, Yanesen, focused had become a major global city. While the Machizukuri
on the three areas of Yanaka, Nezu, and Sendagi, where activities that began in the 1970s, emphasising grassroots
the historic environment of northeastern Tokyo was well local history, culture, and community, continued to evolve,
preserved. This interesting local magazine attractively glamorous, large-scale developments and internationalisa-
presented the findings of three local women, whose me- tion initiatives captured the bulk of public attention.
ticulous research uncovered a wealth of detail about local In line with broad shifts in the industrial structure of

48 BUIILT HERITAGE 2017 / 3

 Figure 10 Exhibit ‘Home-for-All’, Toyo Ito, 2012
10 (Source: the author).

cities, major changes occurred in land utilisation in har- of greenery, as a strategy to improve the environmental
bour areas that had long served for coastal distribution quality of our contracting cities.
and production functions. In the early 1980s, waterfront In light of its situation, like it or not, Japan now needs
redevelopment projects were also promoted to generate to break away completely from the notion that ‘moderni-
new urban spaces for the new era. All such cases of rede- sation = Westernisation’ when it comes to development.
velopment in Japan—e.g., in Hakodate, Yokohama, Tokyo, It needs to harness all the wisdom, technology, and ideas
Kobe, and Osaka—were, however, modelled after the most that exist in abundance at the historical, social, and cul-
advanced Western examples. Once again, it was difficult tural levels in the cities and provinces of Japan, and it
to escape the old habit of imitating Western culture. needs to develop Machizukuri and regional development
In the spring of 1992, the economic bubble burst, lead- that takes advantage of all these resources. Japan has now
ing us through various stages to our present circumstanc- fully entered a new stage, in which it is consciously and
es. Ever since globalisation has become an increasingly strategically aiming for the post-Western/non-Western.
strong force. Its economic logic has led to Japan’s activities From the standpoint of the post-Western/non-Western,
and resources becoming ever more concentrated in the satoyama is another keyword used along with Machi-
Tokyo region, and it has worsened regional depopulation. zukuri, which is rooted in the community. Satoyama, the
In other cities, we have seen more and more urban de- mountain areas that extend around so many rural settle-
generation and shuttered shopping districts, while urban ments in Japan, have been maintained and managed by
functionality has spread to urban peripheries, resulting in the local people as shared assets, for a diversity of uses,
the loss of rural landscape. and they are intimately connected with their livelihoods
As Japan has become a mature society, economic and lifestyles. In reaction to the modern concept of own-
growth has stopped, and the country is now facing the ership and the logic of economic development, the idea of
severe social problems of an ageing population and de- satoyama, as a ‘common’ possession, has been appreciated
clining birth rate. In regional mountainous areas, popula- anew, so the word now symbolises a ‘de-modernising’ ap-
tion decline is now critical, threatening the survival of the proach to community development.
communities. The number of such communities referred
to as ‘marginal settlements’, is increasing. Since the devel-
opment of sustainable cities is such an important theme, In the Wake of the Great East Japan
the ‘compact city’ concept, which originated in the UK, Earthquake
has been seriously debated in Japan. Hidetoshi Ono, who After the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011,
actively uses the term ‘shrinking city’ for this trend, has the importance of kizuna, interpersonal bonds, and lo-
proposed the concept of ‘fibre city’, for creating networks cal social networks was felt very strongly. The urge for a

H. Jinnai 49
cultural identity also grew stronger.
At the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Bien-
nale 2012, the exhibit titled ‘Home-for-All’, curated by
Toyo Ito, was highly acclaimed, winning a Golden Lion
Award (Figure 10). At various disaster-affected locations
along the Sanriku coast, a debate arose about the ties be-
tween human beings, local autonomy, and the importance
of ‘territory’, giving rise to a movement aimed at breaking
away from an economic structure that is dependent on
large cities such as Tokyo.
Given that demands for a sustainable society are grow-
ing stronger at this early stage of the 21st century, the chal-
lenge of ‘preserving the memories of cities and commu-
nities’ is becoming increasingly urgent. Here too, a new
debate along post-Western/non-Western lines is emerging.
In Western cities, the mere destruction of historical
buildings is associated with a loss of cultural identity, so
people tend to care deeply about preservation. Formulat-
ing policies for conserving historical districts is now seen
as a modern feature of Western countries, and such con-
servation is taken for granted in the developments of a
city’s economy.
In Japan on the other hand, despite some progress in
the conservation of traditional townscapes under a nation-
11
al system, including some notable major successes, these
Figure 11 Yotsuya Araki-cho, with its uneven topography, a sacred
efforts have been very limited when considering Japan as
place for the Tokyo Suribachi Gakkai (Mortar Society) (Source: the au-
a whole. Many cities have no surviving historical districts thor).
at all; they are characterless urban districts exposed to the
wave of modernisation. In big cities, where economic im-
peratives took priority over all other values, some efforts Buildings in Japan have a useful life of 30 years on av-
have been made to preserve old buildings, but in the great erage, which is short, so buildings are frequently replaced,
majority of cases, old buildings have been destroyed, to be resulting in dramatic changes to landscape and skyline.
replaced by much larger, more functional buildings. In light of this fact, it is very interesting to note a pro-
Notwithstanding this difference with the West, new nounced tendency for people to take an interest in stable
ways of thinking have emerged. One characteristic of elements such as topography and terrain. The Tokyo Suri-
Japanese culture is that even if a building is lost tempo- bachi Gakkai (Mortar Society), which takes great inter-
rarily, the ‘memories of the land’ on which it stood tend est in Tokyo’s uneven topography—its members walking
to be preserved on various levels. Attention is paid to de- around and fanatically observe the city’s distinctive urban
tails such as the undulation of terrain, uneven topogra- spaces—is growing in popularity, very much reflecting
phy, hills, cliff lines, sloping green spaces, springs, sacred today’s Tokyo (Figure 11).
places, ‘power spots’, various kinds of waterfronts (rivers, There is also a growing recognition of the importance
moats, ponds, sea), old river courses that have become of the ‘soft’ elements, or intangible aspects, of a city, such
drains, and alleyways, and a move to understand the fea- as human relations between locals, community, and festi-
tures of buildings and townscapes by exploring the rela- vals. Even in the projects aimed at the recovery and revival
tionships with these kinds of surrounding elements has of cities and settlements that were devastated by the tsu-
arisen. Clearly, this is somewhat different to the architec- nami, the preservation of these kinds of memories, which
ture-centric historical conservation of Western cities. It are deeply tied to the cultural identity of local inhabitants,
is now recognised that what is fundamental to Japan is a is seen as important.
‘culture of cities’ that emphasises coexistence with nature. In connection with this shift in values, there is a

50 BUIILT HERITAGE 2017 / 3

 Figure 12 Makabe Denshokan at dusk
12 (Source: Satoru Shigeta).

movement that seeks to find positive meaning in the state strong ties between the people of the community.
of high-density urban districts with many wooden build-
ings, which tend to be seen negatively by government
bodies because they are considered dangerous in terms of
Examples of Bottom-up Town-making
disaster prevention. At the Japan Pavilion of Venice Archi-
(Machizukuri)
tecture Biennale 2010, an exhibit titled ‘Tokyo Metabolis- Japan extends over a vast distance from north to south
ing’, curated by Ko Kitayama, was admired for showing and its topography, and natural conditions are highly var-
that despite the absence of any overall plan, Tokyo is char- ied. Each of its regions has therefore developed its own
acterised by an unfolding of autonomous environmental culture. Now that they have broken the spell of ‘moderni-
planning efforts in each part of the city, in bottom-up sation = Westernisation’, Japanese are taking advantage of
fashion, unlike Western cities, which are created based on the unique qualities of the land throughout the country to
a top-down concept, originating with the ruling power of develop a wide variety of bottom-up forms of town plan-
the city. Since connections within a community are so im- ning, based on re-evaluations of nature, history, culture
portant, common spaces are skillfully positioned amongst (food, crafts, housing, and townscape).
residents, and meaningful gaps are wisely placed to create Globalisation, if looked at another way, with fresh eyes
flexible living environments. and a knowledge of global culture, is something that of-
The Yanaka district mentioned earlier is, as always, an fers us the opportunity to rediscover and re-evaluate the
acclaimed example of this. Its extensive alleyways and unique cultural values that lie dormant and untapped in
other small-scale spaces are much admired internationally each particular region.
(Radovic and Boontham 2012; Imai 2017). The number of historical districts designated as ‘Im-
Shimokitazawa, which is also internationally acclaimed, portant Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional
by a former mayor of Curitiba (southern Brazil) amongst Buildings’ has increased in recent years, reaching a total
others, is also characterised by the linking of small-scale of 114. These characteristic urban spaces are expected to
spaces to create ‘migratory’ pathways. Despite a lack of old accelerate tourism. The overall design of Makabe Den-
buildings, there is a distinct sense of history and place. shokan, a community centre created by architects Makoto
In a country prone to fire disaster such as Japan, dis- Watanabe and Yoko Kinoshita, was developed through
aster prevention tends to become a force for community repeated workshops with local citizens on the subject of
solidarity and an opportunity for town planning. Resi- newly built public buildings in Makabe—a town with
dents work together to imagine the possible consequences important historical buildings. Through this process, ar-
of an earthquake and create a recovery plan in advance. chitectural vocabularies to shape the image of the town
This process has proven to be very effective in promoting were determined and combined. This project has captured

H. Jinnai 51
 Figure 13 Urban agricultural activity in
13 Kunitachi (Source: the author).

widespread interest as a Japanese–style example of how spaces with high ceilings. Like this, a charming neighbour-
history can be inherited (Figure 12). hood has emerged; a fusion of traditional shitamachi atmos-
Even within the megalopolis of Tokyo, several charac- phere and the latest urban cultural trends (Figure 14). In
teristically Japanese bottom-up style town planning activi- terms of both its ‘hardware’ and ‘software’ aspects, the social
ties—of a kind not seen in Europe or America—have been and cultural stock of this district has been maximised. In the
observed in recent years. One example is the Kunitachi case of both art galleries and coffee shops, Western elements
development project in the western suburbs of Tokyo. It have been freely accepted and placed with a Japanese–style
is known as a modern university town that extends over social and cultural setting, giving rise to a unique world that
a large area opposite the (JR) railway station. Along the can only be found right here, right now.
cliff line slightly to the south, there are, in fact, old settle- The concept of renovating and re-purposing old build-
ments, below which extensive paddy fields and other kinds ings that are not cultural assets and that do not have any
of farmland can be seen. It is within this setting that citi- other special significance seems to be spreading rapidly
zens and universities engage in rural community’s activity,
amongst the young generation of architects. Instead of
leveraging the surviving agriculture traditions of the city
aiming at a glamorous, striking architectural creation,
(Figure 13). In front of the station, there are signs of ur-
they have demonstrated a strong commitment to planning
ban–rural collaboration, such as the establishment of Ital-
and design, making the most of the location’s features,
ian restaurants run on the principle of ‘local production,
which generates new relationships and seeks sustainabil-
local consumption’, as well as ‘antenna shops’ selling food-
ity—a very appropriate approach to the new age we live in
stuffs.
Japanese–style renovation culture is definitely blossoming.
Another interesting movement is in the shitamachi
At the Japan Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Bien-
(low-lying, downtown) district on the east side of the
nale 2016, the exhibit titled ‘en: art of nexus’ curated by
Sumida River, relatively distant from the heart of Tokyo.
The Kiyosumi Shirakawa district of Fukagawa, in Koto Yoshiyuki Yamana, posed the question of how architects
Ward, is a ‘city of water’, surrounded by canals. The area should respond to Japan’s current circumstances, in which
once prospered because of its timber yards; it was a lively continued economic slowdown and the occurrence of the
town with a high concentration of craftsmen working in Great East Japan Earthquake have forced changes in val-
wood processing and printing facilities. The district is also ues in all kinds of fields (Figure 15). The exhibit presents a
unique for its many temples. For a while, after the timber profusion of original ideas, based on flexible concepts that
yards moved, the area was stagnant, but it has been revi- are unique to contemporary Japanese architects. It features
talised significantly over the past five years. a shared house that fosters relationships between people
Numerous art galleries have appeared in renovated living in a highly fluid society, and rich spaces that make
ground floor spaces of old buildings that are larger than the accumulation of time deeply felt through the combi-
the regular machiya townhouses, and in the past few years nation of old and new elements and materials.
coffee shops have been opening, one after another, often in

52 BUIILT HERITAGE 2017 / 3

 14 15
Figure 14 A coffee shop in a converted warehouse in Kiyosumi Shirakawa (Source: the author).
Figure 15 Share house in “En: Art of Nexus” exhibition (Source: the author).

Conclusion and urbanism became clearer after 2000. Looking at how

the exhibitions organised in the Japan Pavilion of Venice
In this article, the phasing evolutions of architectural and
Architecture Biennale had strong impacts on the Western
urban design practices in Japan, which have led to the idea
visitors, we can understand that Japan produces steadily
so called ‘post-Western/non-Western’ have been reviewed
important fruits based on the values suitable to the new
from historical perspectives. The following article provid-
era from the free standing position oriented toward the
ed by Takashi Ariga explores current attempts of ‘Japanese
post-Western/non-Western.
Machizukuri’ as one of the salient fields of ‘post-Western/
non-Western’ by means of examining both their tangible
and non-tangible correlations to the contextual values of Notes
local communities. 1. International Conference for the 150th Anniversary of
As I have mentioned before, from the 1970s Japanese Japanese–Italian Relations, ‘Lost in Translation? Japan
people gradually began to leave the idea of catching up and in Italian Cultural Life’, Ca’Foscari University, Venice,
overtaking the West and started developing their own way 13–15 October, 2016.
to proceed. In the 1980s, 1990s and after the 2000s, passing
several stages, we could observe the steady and gradual pro-
cess to pursuit the Japanese cultural identity. Contemporary References
Japanese culture—different from Western approach—began Imai, Hide. 2017. Tokyo Roji: The Diversity and Versatility
to be appreciated all over the world. The richness of nature, of Alleys in a City in Transition. Routledge, Oxford.
the particular Japanese history and its specific culture devel- Jinnai, Hidenobu. 1995. Tokyo: A Spatial Anthropology.
oped through delicate senses were re-evaluated. At the same University of California Press.
time, the cultural values of the historic urban space and Ogata Mituhiko. 1980. Towns Meiji, Taisho, Showa. The
townscape were rediscovered. We should stress the impor- Changing Process of the Japanese Modern Cities Seen
tance of the re-evaluation and rediscovery not only of the from the Postcards—1902–1941—Part of Kanto-Region.
physical spatial logic and order in the existing cities but also Institute of Urban Study.
of the human relationships in the urban community. Radovic, Darko and Davisi Boontham. 2012. Small Tokyo.
The idea and method of Machizukuri were born and Frick studio Tokyo.
developed utilizing these hard and soft resources. The ten- Tokyo Municiple Office, ed. 1935. Guide of Parks. Tokyo:
Tokyo Municiple Office.
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H. Jinnai 53