Measuring Identities of Transient Places-The Case of Tokyo-Memoire_2011_Antoniou

5/7/2018 Measuring Identities of Transient Places-The Case of Tokyo-Memoire_2011_Antoniou - slidepdf.com

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/measuring-identities-of-transient-places-the-case-of-tokyo-memoire2011antoniou 1/138

MEASURING IDENTITIES OF TRANSIENT

PLACES:

THE CASE OF TOKYO



La Faculté n’entend donner aucune approbation ouimprobation aux opinions émises dans les Mémoires.Ces opinions doivent être considérées comme propresà leurs auteurs.



Mémoire préparée en vue de l’obtention du diplôme deMaster II ASPUde l’INSA, Strasbourg

MEASURING IDENTITIES OFTRANSIENT PLACES:

THE CASE OF TOKYO

Présentée par

VERONIKA ANTONIOU

Directeur de Mémoire M. Gaëtan DesmaraisMaître de Conférences, INSA, Strasbourg

Septembre 2011



POUR MAYA ET RENÉ. . .



CONTENTS

CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CHAPTER 1: IDENTITY OF PLACES AND NON-PLACES . . . . . . . . . 71.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

1.2 What is place? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

1.3 Place-Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

1.4 Shifting identities and new meanings of places . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.4.1 Placelessness and Non-places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

1.4.2 Our contemporary world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1.5 Urban memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

1.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

CHAPTER 2: TOKYO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

2.2 Tokyo, an introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.3 Image through urban configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

2.4 Vanishing memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.4.1 Tokyo on the move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

2.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47



CHAPTER 3: REINVENTING IDENTITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

3.2 Ugliness vs. Beauty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

3.3 Wakon Yosai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

3.4 Transience and reconstruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

3.4.1 Buddhist and Shintoism teachings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

3.4.2 Nature and The City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

3.4.3 Creative chaos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

3.5 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

CHAPTER 4: THE INTERVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

4.2 Impression and Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

4.2.1 Map Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

4.2.2 Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

4.3 Identification and Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

4.3.1 Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

4.3.2 Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

4.3.3 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

4.3.4 Public Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

4.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

APPENDIX A: QUESTIONNAIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

APPENDIX B: ON INDENTITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

APPENDIX C: TOKYO FACTS AND FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

viii



LIST OF FIGURES

1 A street in Tokyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.1 Tokyo with Mt Fuji view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.2 Approach of the question of identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

1.3 Tokyo, Narita Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

2.1 Tokyo, Satellite view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

2.2 Tokyo view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

2.3 Yamanote and Shitamachi. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.4 Tokyo train map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

2.5 Edo Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.6 View of Daiba Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2.7 Arata Isozaki, unrealized project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

2.8 T.Ando and K. Tange Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

2.9 Canals and highways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.10 Kisho Kurokawa, Capsule Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

2.11 Toyo Ito’s Tower of Winds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452.12 Love Hotel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

2.13 Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

3.1 Tokyo’s dual identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

3.2 Mix use districts in Tokyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

3.3 Pet size building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

3.4 Tokyo shrine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

3.5 Sakura blossom in Shibuya, Tokyo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64



4.1 Tokyo People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 704.2 Map 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

4.3 Map 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

4.4 Map 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

4.5 Map 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

4.6 Shibuya train station . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4.7 Shinjuku underground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

4.8 Unimportant others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

4.9 Unimportant others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844.10 Washoku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

4.11 Fashion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

4.12 Matsuri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

4.13 People manifesting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

4.14 Tokyo tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

4.15 Department store 109 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

x



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Un voyage se passe de motifs. Il ne tarde pas à prouver qu’il se suffit à

lui même. On croit qu’on va faire un voyage, mais bientôt c’est le voyage

qui vous fait, ou vous défait.

— Bouvier, L’usage du monde, 1963.

This thesis is written using the pronoun "we" and not with the first person. The

reason is that this work is the result of a collective process, a long journey that

crossed the path of many individuals. In the few lines that follow, I would like toexpress my gratitude to those who made this thesis much more than it otherwise

might have been.

First, nothing would have been possible without the long-lasting support of

Professor Gaëtan Desmarais. I had the good fortune to work under his direction as

he has been encouraging and open-minded in my endeavors. Particularly I would

like to thank him for the consecutive extensions obtained that made possible this

work to conclude.

I am particularly thankful to my partner Dr. Rene Carraz for being next tome and offering me unconditional support to finish this work. We had countless

fruitful discussions that helped to improve my understanding of the essence of

writing a thesis, as well as how to manipulate it. Thank you for reading and editing

my work and above all for the improvements of the style of the text.

It goes without saying that this work would not have been possible without the

willingness of all the people at that I met randomly in the street, that gave me a lot

of their valuable time in order to answer my questionnaire. Special thanks go to

all the members of the lively team of Yiorgos Hadjichristou Architects, the office



that I currently work who provided me with long-lasting, never fading supportand their understanding in giving me days off work.

Last but not least, the loved ones, the family, friends and my beautiful Maya,

that without her the thesis would not be such a long and joyful experience. To

them I will be short as no words could show how much they helped me during

this journey. Thank you.

xii



INTRODUCTION

Traditional representations presume stable objects and fixed subjects.

But the contemporary city is not reducible to an artifact. The city today

is a place where visible and invisible streams of information, capital and

subjects interact in complex formations. They form a dispersed field, a

network of flows.

— Allen and Agrest, (2000, p.40)

In this thesis, we are going to enquire on the identity of the city, as a complexand perplex place of our contemporary era, contradicting and unstable engender-

ing situations of transience and transformation (Graham, 1998). Cities under the

shadow of global world markets, exchangeable cultures, and rapid urbanization

are “no more one single entity in space and time” (Wadwekar and Kobayashi, 2009,

p.1). Koolhaas in his book S,M,L,XL questions whether the classical model of the

city and professional practices such as urbanism and architecture still have a role

to play in dealing with urbanization processes that characterize the 21st Century

cities (Koolhaas, Mau, Sigler, et al., 1998, p. 959-971). As the new places emergingin cities are marked by urban features that make them hard to identify, we have to

look for new methods at representing the city besides the traditional use of cartog-

raphy and analysis of urban organization (Sepe, 2010). In this work, we are going

to demonstrate how and why the contemporary city is not only an artificial con-

struct, but identified by a set of habits, customs and life styles. All these elements

that portray the city are inter-related and are to be viewed as a holistic element in

order to consider the identity of place and the identification of the city (Castells,

1997).



Particularly under the light of rapid urbanization and fast changing societies,we are facing the threat of erasure, vanishing memories and creation of new collec-

tive memories. Given these occurrences, the concepts of place, identity and mem-

ory are worthy of discussion, investigation and debate. In developing countries

around the world and especially in Asia, the fast changing societies are transform-

ing fundamental and even everyday life meanings, collective memories are being

revised as new places arise. Chang (2005, p.247) in his article about “New Asia”

wrote:

The nexus of place, memory and identity finds particular resonance in Asiawhere changes in society, economics, politics and culture, since the 1990s, haveengendered much discourse on the so-called ‘Pacific century’, ‘Asian renais-sance’ and the rise of a ‘New Asia’.

The reason why it is appealing to look through these ideas is the fact that in

our contemporary era notions of the postmodern place are entering a new phase.

Massey said that we are living in a place that Marx once called “the annihilation

of space by time” and what modern theorists like David Harvey call “time-space

compression” (Massey, 1994, p.146). Places attain new meanings; they do not havepermanent or fixed values (Twigger-Ross, Bonaiuto and Breakwell, 2003), but are

processes that change over time (Massey, 1994). In this thesis we will question the

identities that result in such places, and above all, we will investigate how a place

succeeds in maintaining a sense of particularity in an ever-changing world.

The research will be directed from discursive talks of what are the related mean-

ings of place identity, the role of memory in the contemporary urban fabric where

‘place’ is viewed under a different context. Moreover, questions regarding the

identity of the city find justification under the processes of rapid urbanization andfast changing societies. Our concerns are epitomized through the case of Tokyo,

because enduring continuous constructions constantly transform its urban struc-

ture. Tokyo was chosen because its distinctive features of complexity, liquidity and

impermanence that make it a suitable city to conduct such a study. Furthermore,

Tokyo is an appropriate example of the contemporary city because of the very fact

that it belongs to a very special category of “world city” (Sassen, 2001). This percep-

tion of the world as a whole place, as a place-product of a system that is beyond

the power of the habitant to control is especially understood in big cities or mega

2



cities. World cities are places that one can observe this melting pot of cultures, thecirculation of capital, the inflow of the “others”, the speed of advanced technology,

the intense circulation of information, and the transnationalization of architecture;

all these are aspects that generate homogenous places around the globe. These are

all novel features if we compare with the traditional notion of the city, and on this

ground we have to question the new emerging identity of places.

Tokyo has been defined as a world city by Saskia Sassen and ranked third in

the 2010 Global city Index that measures the influence that a city has outside its own

borders, like in global markets, culture, and innovation. Tokyo is exposed to globaltrends that alone could be a factor menacing its urban identity, but moreover it is

a city where enormous transformations have altered the city’s urban fabric repeat-

edly. These mutations were brought about by natural catastrophes, bombings of

the world war; however the latest and biggest transformation has occurred in the

post 60’s period where Japan underwent through a big economic growth. In this

thesis we propose to investigate the urban identity of Tokyo as a way to view con-

temporary concerns of fast changing societies that are altering notions of place, the

emerging of non-places and the creation of a new urban memory.

In the first chapter, we will explore the concept of place across various disci-

plines, from geography to environmental psychology, as an attempt to affirm the

importance of the study of place in its totality as a new way of exploring a city.

Particularly we will look into the concept of non-places that are generated by new

conditions of our technologically advanced world and transform the appearance

of our cities. The city as a “place” encourages us to investigate attributes essential

for a city that reach out beyond the city’s physical environment, an appropriate re-search methodology considering the unstable physical structure of today’s cities.

In the second chapter, there will be a general introduction and description of

the main attributes of Tokyo city, which will lead us to the debate of the problem

of vanishing memories and changing in identities in the city. We will look into the

various ways the city has been transformed across time with a particular attention

on the latest transformation in the urban fabric of the city during the economic

boom. The inquiry of the built environment of Tokyo is a tool to look into the

tangible values of a place.

3



Moving onto the third chapter, there will be an investigation of those elementsphysical and conceptual that compile the contemporary urban identity of Tokyo.

Since the spatial structures are as evanescent as time fleets, we will extend our

search beyond the limits that the physicality of Tokyo restrains. We will demon-

strate the importance of people and nature in deciphering the identity of such a

complex city. We will proceed through an examination and translation of nature,

culture and heritage into the urban fabric as a way to understand the complex city.

Through this method we are exploring the intangible values of a place.

Figure 1: A street in Tokyo

On the final and fourth chapter there would be a detailed analysis of 27 inter-

views conducted with Tokyo residents relating to the perception their city, focusing

on questions such as orientation and identity. This chapter strengthens the hypoth-

esis that urban identity is not necessarily linked to physical structures. We will

demonstrate how daily rituals of the Tokyoites are also a way to recognize Tokyo’s

contemporary identity. This part of the work will be processed by an exploration

4



of peoples’ habitudes, peoples’ spatial perception and peoples’ understanding of modern living in Tokyo.

Finally we want to remind the reader that this research is to be viewed from

urban as well as cultural perspectives that address concerns of the developmental

trajectories of cities across the world. The contemporary city is characterized by

complexity and contradiction, increased mobility, all factors that change the notion

of the city as a deeply rooted and fixed place with clear boundaries and with a

sedentary identity.

5



CHAPTER 1

IDENTITY OF PLACES AND NON-PLACES

I often use the word ‘floating’ not only to describe a lightness I want

to achieve in architecture, but also to express a belief that our lives are

losing touch with reality. All of life is becoming a pseudo-experience.

This trend is being encouraged by the consumer society, and architecture

itself is rapidly becoming more image — or consumption — oriented.

This is a matter of grave concern to the architect yet, at the same time,

architecture today must be made to relate to this situation. This is the

contradiction we are confronted with.

— Ito (1991, p.51)

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter, we are going to take a deep insight of the interchanging relation-

ship between place and identity, and the mechanisms at stake for the advocacy of

this relation. Understanding the different definitions and concepts of place is vital

as a first step to explain the importance of both social and physical settings when

exploring the identity of cities. In this context, we will examine in this chapterplace-related identity concerns that will lead us in the next chapter where the dis-

cussions will take a concrete form by an insight of the physical attributes of Tokyo.

We are first going to enquire on the different notions of place as perceived

across different disciplines. Through an investigation of the notion of place we

will demonstrate how the consideration of place adds a more experiential ap-

proach which can help us in the study of cities, that are acquiring new forms of

“[...] dispersed mass of ‘enclave’ identities where heterogeneities interact to form urbanism

of multiple and contested cultures.” (Wadwekar and Kobayashi, 2009, p.1)



CHAPTER 1. IDENTITY OF PLACES AND NON-PLACES

Additionally, we will prove the particular effect of place on personal and col-lective identity. Of the plethora of studies that were conducted about place and

peoples’ relations with place two concepts have proven particularly popular: place

identity and place attachment (Lewicka, 2008); ideas that would be discussed fur-

ther on.

In the first section, we are going to explain what is place as opposed to space

through an account of diverse readings ranging from various fields. In this way

we will draw a clear picture of what are the elements, tangible and intangible, that

compose the identity of place. In Section 1.2, we are going to look at the concept of place-identity, which is understood as the identities created through human inter-

action with place. We will in this section examine in detail the processes and mech-

anisms that should be explored when inquiring about place identity. Section 1.3,

deals with the changing meanings of place and the emergence of non-places as our

world is traversing a supermodern era characterized by global flows of culture,

technology and symbols. Advanced use of technology and the industrialization

process has shifted the meaning of place originally defined by its sedentary values

into a non-historic, non-identifiable place, a non-place distinct for its mobile fea-tures. Finally, Section 1.4 will contemplate on the role of memories as a basic layer

for understanding the urban place.

1.2 What is place?

To start with, we are going to differentiate between the concepts of space and

place as this will help us to understand why we choose to deal with the idea of a

city under the notion of place. Space can be envisioned as the abstract form of astructural, geometrical body of a physical environment. Place on the other hand,

comprises the lived experience of the space and the people interactions within.

Space refers to physical, tangible elements of a place revealing the ‘where’ that is

the position and the physicality of a place. The sense of place, on the other hand

is “[. . . ] nebulous meanings associated with a place: the feelings and emotions that a place

evokes” (Cresswell, 2009, p.1). A factor differentiating space from place, is that place

is experienced, that means places are practiced. Michel de Certeau, describes place

as a system of signs, while space is composed by the “tactical” engagement with

8



1.2. WHAT IS PLACE?

the system of signs; this is how he addresses as the “ practiced place” (Certeau, 1984,p.117).

The concept of place is as old as geography herself nonetheless it has been con-

ceptualized and given meaning since the 1970’s (Cresswell, 2009). Place as a to-

tal phenomenon that encompasses dimensions of human experience and human

cognition was brought to light under the concept of phenomenology1. The first

scientific theories on the field of phenomenology and philosophy2 have pointed

out the human dimensions that places carry and the subsequent bonds that were

developed. Heidegger who has struggled through his career with the notion of “being”, he related “being” with the idea of “being somewhere”, or rather “being

in the world” in which he eventually found meaning in the conception of dwelling

(Cresswell, 2009, p.3). Following the texts of Heidegger, Norberg-Schulz (1980)

was one of the prominent theorists to bring ‘place’ in the cadre of phenomenologi-

cal research. His concept of the “ genius loci” meaning the ‘the spirit of the place’ is

explained as follows:

Man dwells when he can orientate himself within and identify himself with

an environment, or, in short, when he experiences the environment as mean-ingful. Dwelling therefore [...] implies that the spaces where life occurs are’places’, in the true sense of the word. A place is a space that has character.Since ancient times the genius loci, or ’spirit of place’ has been recognized asthe concrete reality man has to face and come to terms with in his daily life(1980, p.5).

Places can be then defined as qualitative totalities where events ’take place’ and

where different mechanisms relate to each other in a meaningful manner. Place

embraces the holistic experience as more important than the individual elements

that constitute it. As Norberg-Schulz said: " A place is therefore a qualitative, ’total’

phenomenon, which we cannot reduce to any of its properties, such as spatial relationships,

without losing its concrete nature out of sight" (1980, p.8). Looking at cities as places

rather than spaces opens up the perspective in examining not only the one-sided

study of the city as an urban model or a physical structure, but rather encour-

ages to include along with the spatial structure, the city as an experiential space.

1Phenomenology is derived from the Greek word ‘fainomenon’ which means what appears to be. It deals primarily with the study of conscious experience in understanding the world.

2Heidegger, 1971, Poetry, Language, Thought, and Bachelard, 1964, The Poetics of Space.

9




Figure 1.1: Tokyo with Mt Fuji view.Photo by : William Penvice

To explore the city as a holistic experience, people’s interaction and perception of

their lived environment should be taken into account; elements that I will call the

intangible values of a place throughout this thesis.

Edward Relph (1976) in the domain of human geography3 was primarily con-

cerned with the human experience in the place. He was unsatisfied with the defi-

nition of place in the early seventies and sought to explore the deeper meaning of place. To comprehend the notion of place, he suggests for a deep insight to how

space is experienced and used by people. He identified different spatial experi-

ences (pragmatic space, existential space) and contrasted it with concepts of space

that are more abstract (cognitive space, planning a space, etc). Even though the

different spatial modes lead to a different human experience, Relph, like Norberg-

Schulz argues that all is experienced as an integral whole. To explore place in

its depth, Relph started talking about place in terms of identity; the identity of

and with place. He describes the identity of place as “ persistent sameness and unity

which allows that [place] to be differentiated from others” (1976, p.45). However he em-

phasizes that to entirely understand the notion of place one has to speak of the

identity with place, by observing the intensity of the meaning and intentions that

one holds for a place. He expresses place as “significant centres of our immediate ex-

3A humanistic geographer is someone that explores place as important element in human ex-perience. Human geography examined the place though the perspective of human activity andits interrelationships of the physical environment. Johnston, Ron (2000). "Human Geography". In

Johnston, Ron; Gregory, Derek; Pratt, Geraldine et al. The Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford:

Blackwell. p. 353–360.

10



1.2. WHAT IS PLACE?

periences of the world” (1976, p.141). His bigger contribution to the understandingof place was his concept of Insideness and Outsideness. He refers to Insideness as

the exact meaning that a place has for a person, associated to the degree that the

person feels inside a place and what are the particular meanings like attachment,

and involvement of that place. Relph implied that the more is a person involved or

‘inside’ a place, the eventual identity with the place will be more powerful. Relph’s

concept of Insideness and Outsideness requires a reinterpretation considering the

place’s condition in our contemporary era. Looking at Tokyo, or other big cities in

which people are not involved in the proceedings that construct the place (such asdesign process or decision making) making them inactive in the chronic changes in

the city. Does this mean that finally we will have two different and/or contrasting

identities (people and city) that evolve? Or does identity of the people in Tokyo

remain unaltered as the people have a minimum involvement with the city they

live in? These are concerns that are going to be examined in detailed in the final

chapter of this work.

In the sociological domain, Thomas Gieryn portrays place as a discrete geo-

graphic location, that has a physical form (giving examples of buildings and to-pography), and enriched with meanings and values (Gieryn, 2000). He underlines

that place is more than a backdrop for social phenomena; instead it is a media-

tor, it is a social construct because it aids in creating human interactions and is an

important actor in social processes4. Environmental psychologist Irwin Altman

which has extensively worked with the relationship between environment and so-

cial psychology, defined place as “a space that has been given meaning through per-

sonal, group, or cultural processes” (Altman and Low,1992, p.5). Furthermore, they

argue that “space” is transformed into “ place” by the idea of “ place attachment”,which is the affective bond that people carry for a physical location that provides

for them a setting for experience. Other scholars argue that place attachment is

not a process related to “ place qua place ”5 (Low and Lawrence-Zúñiga, 2003, p.7),

but often based on other attributes such as interpersonal, community and cultural

relationships. Riley even added: “It may not be attachment to a particular place that is

central; rather, it may be affective attachments to ideas, people, psychological states, past

4Gieryin, A space for place in sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, 2000, p. 463-496.5Definition = place as being place.

11




experiences, and culture that is crucial” (as cited in Low and Lawrence-Zúñiga, 2003,p.10). Furthermore Cuba and Hummon (1993) define “place attachment” outside

the boundaries of social constructs adding that people not only construct places

but places also affect the behavior of people.

In contrast with the more emotional understanding of place for the geogra-

phers, psychologists have researched place using quantitative methods. In the

field of environmental psychology, place has been described as “behaviour set-

tings" that are defined by Wicker (1979) as patterns of human and non human ac-

tivities that develop social productions over time. While most of the connoisseursof place look for meaning and experience in place, they do not talk about the mech-

anisms for place construction or the powers implicated in place meanings. David

Harvey has observed: “The first step down the road is to insist that place in whatever

guise, is like space and time, a social construct. The only interesting question that can

be asked is, by what social process(es) is place constructed?” Within the same frame of

investigating processes of social constructs the work of Keith Michael and Steve

(1993) who concentrate on the politics of place, wherein places are the neutralizers

of conflicts and contradictions. The politics of place refer to the power strugglesthat need to be identified in order to understand the different meanings of place

that are questioned at a particular moment. Place represents according to them, a

particular political mobilization at a given time at a given space.

1.3 Place-Identity

Questions addressing the concepts of space and place are also noticeable in

the field of cultural geography, and notably through the work Doreen Massey.Massey (1994) explains space as a timeless, absolute dimension, while place might

be thought of as space integrally entwined with time. She states that place is a

positioned practice assembled out of social relations. Place is thus alive because

it is consisted of living beings’ activities that create the place, that in turns creates

them. Particularly, we find in Massey’s conception that a place allows the creation

of identities that are associated with it. Like other identity theories, social relations

are important in their role of creating the subject, but place is included as a criti-

cal, additional element in shaping identities. Thus we have to be lucid that, in one

12



1.3. PLACE-IDENTITY

hand we have talked about the identity of place as those distinct qualities physicalor abstract that characterize a place, and on the other hand place-identity as the

resulting social identity emerging from a place.

Identity is generally regarded as a concept considered mainly by psychologists,

though it is widely argued that for identity construction, the place with its phys-

ical settings have been largely ignored in the field of psychology (Hauge, 2007).

Psychologist theories tend to distinguish between “identity”, “self” and “person-

ality”, while others perceive them as synonymous terms. As our focus in this thesis

is the place, we will use the explanation of Casey (2001) that positions identity bothinside the mind and body, where the body as a tool for interaction and communi-

cation with the world outside the mind. As he pronounced “there is no place without

self and no self without place” (Casey, 2001, p.406).

Consequently, a further dimension can be added to the understanding of place,

as it is argued that within spatial boundaries and the reciprocal social interactions,

identity is constructed. In the field of urban affairs, human geographers Knox and

Marston define identity as the sense that people make of themselves through their

subjective feelings based on their everyday experiences and wider social relations

(2004, p.508). Brian Osborne also argues that identity is constructed by human

behavior in reaction to the places and he adds that identity is not inherited but

constructed gradually based on our live experiences across time (Osborne, 2001).

Actually, the term place identity has been used initially by Proshansky who has

put place and the individual’s involvement in a place as part of oneself, explain-

ing the term as a " potpourri of memories, conceptions, interpretations, ideas, and related

feelings about specific physical settings, as well as types of settings" (Proshansky, Fabianand Kaminoff, 1987, p.60). He segregates the perceptions of place into two cate-

gories; one is related with the perceptions, memories, thoughts and values and the

second is with the interaction in the different spatial settings. Hence the nature of

place, or a city is defined by a set of values, physical, social or abstract like feel-

ings and ideas, that we do not usually come across in the urban studies. Osborne

(2001) explains the elements that are affiliated with place identity construction, that

is mechanisms adopted for the creation of identities. Osborne explains that people

live in places that they can identify and where tradition, heritage and symbols are

13




essential elements in forming some sort of identity:places [...] that are mnemonic devices for national narratives, shared values,and putative hopes for the future. The imaginative use of symbols and myths,and of monuments, commemorations, and performances, have become thestuff of history, tradition, and heritage, all directed towards nurturing someform of identity. (Osborne, 2001, p.3)

A more remarkable approach and central to this work is the concept of Place-

Identity as elaborated further by anthropologist Cohen (2000) who agrees that

place is a social construction, extensively pointing out that place is a constructorof identity and that identity is itself a result of the human interaction that “takes

place” in a certain place. But what he initiates is a discussion that identity is not

associated with tradition. The role of place or context as he argues is to provide

meeting places for social interactions to happen. He points out that interactions

are not limited to people but objects and rituals are as important in creating inter-

actions, hence identities. For our case of study, as we will further point out, the

non-human interactions in a city, the objects, the rituals form an important part

of the peoples’ daily routines. These elements become ideological map referencesand are in fact important indicators for people of the place they belong. The fol-

lowing table illustrates the way that we will approach the different questions of

identity in this work.

Figure 1.2: Approach of the question of identity

Place-Identity, thus, in this context is not a fixed or permanent value, even if

it is rooted on tradition. It is a variable characteristic composed of different inter-

twining layers of social, physical or mental values add up together in a time-based

order. What is also important to remember is that places do not carry the same

14



1.4. SHIFTING IDENTITIES AND NEW MEANINGS OF PLACES

meanings across time. They do not have a permanent meaning, but rather valuesthat are renegotiated perpetually and therefore the contribution to identity varies

accordingly (Twigger-Ross, Bonaiuto and Breakwell, 2003)

1.4 Shifting identities and new meanings of places

In this section, I will introduce various phenomena that are regarded as a threat

to a place’s identity as they produce conditions of perpetual change and fading of

existing realities. While we have talked extensively of the concept of place, wewill in the first section consider the opposite term of place, the non-places as Marc

Auge called them or the concept of placelessness as Edward Relph first pointed out

in the seventies. In the second section we are going to discuss in detail different

conditions of our supermodern era, like globalization, time-space compression in

order to observe how the globalized and highly technological era attributed to the

changing notions of place. And finally in the last part of this section we are going

to discuss the role of memories in the city that is under constant development and

change, given that it is the tool for recording events and constructing identities.

1.4.1 Placelessness and Non-places

Edward Relph, with his work in the 70’s indicates how places are becoming

placeless and associates the loss of place and place diversity to a larger loss of

meaning. He argues that the ‘authentic’ attitude which characterized pre-industrial

and handicraft cultures creating a ‘sense of place’ have been largely lost and re-

placed with an ‘inauthentic’ attitude. He describes placelessness as the existenceof relatively homogenous and standardized landscapes which diminish the local

specificity and variety of places that characterized pre-industrial societies. Exam-

ples of inauthentic places and conditions that generate them include: mass pro-

duction housing, Disneyland, the culture of McDonaldization, tourist landscapes,

commercial strips, new towns, suburbs and the international style in architecture.

Relph suggests that, in general, placelessness arises from firstly the kitsch, ex-

plained as the uncritical acceptance of mass values and secondly, the technique,

that sets efficiency as the primary concern. Kitsch and technique are manifested

15




through practices like mass communication, mass culture, and central authority,those being the “undermining of place for both individuals and cultures, and the casual

replacement of the diverse and significant places of the world with anonymous spaces and

exchangeable environments” (Relph, 1976, p. 143).

Figure 1.3: Tokyo, Narita Airport. Photo by

the author.

The more recent work by French

anthropologist Marc Auge, has used

the term non-place to refer to similar

sites as Relph, but it is more specificin reference to our contemporary era.

Auge refers mostly to places of transit

like airports or motorway stations that

are static themselves but carry transient

meanings or refer to other places di-

rectly. Cresswell (2009, p.6) interprets

that Auge does not see that "‘non-places’

are inauthentic but simply a condition of the way we lead our lives now”. Non-

places reflect conditions of the era of

supermodernity that are different from

the conventional view of place as some-

thing static, bounded and linked to

the traditional view of dwelling as pre-

sented historically. Auge suggests view-

ing these places under a new conditionthat of an anthropology of a non-place

that is mediated by the current cultural state of supermodernity. Supermodernity,

argues Auge (1992), is a condition marked by three characteristics, all apparent in

non-places. The first one is the advanced communications and information flows

that lead to an overflow of images of spaces and times, different to those that the

person is situated at a moment. Secondly he talks about the acceleration of his-

tory that led to the phenomenon of ‘time-space compression. The physical dis-

tances between places are reduced with the means of planes or electronic media

16




in a way that you can fit everything a room, or using electronic media one could be present mentally or verbally in a different place from the one he is found phys-

ically. The third characteristic of the supermodern era is increased individualism

which in turn brings about a weakening of social relationships. The condition of

supermodernity produces non-places that he describes as follows: “Si un lieu peut

se définir comme identitaire, relationnel et historique, un espace qui ne peut se

définir ni comme identitaire, ni comme relationnel, ni comme historique définira

un non-lieu."6, (Auge, 1992, p.100).

Additionally, I would argue that our supermodern era and the appearance of non-places has shifted meanings of identity too, both the place’s and the individ-

ual’s. On one hand the person’s identity is constructed through an imitation of the

environment that is now traversing into a new time, raising the need for reassess-

ment of both the place and the individual involvement within. On the other hand,

the fact that sense of place is attaining new meanings is intriguing to investigate,

and many questions are to be raised. Massey (1994) who specialises on issues of

globalisation and the re-conceptualisation of place suggests that there is a “ [ . . . ]

an increasing uncertainty about what we mean by ‘places’ and how we relate to them. Howin the face of all this movement and intermixing can we retain any sense of local place and

its particularity?” (Massey, 1994, p.146). Our query about Tokyo in the next chapter

will precede in identifying elements that demonstrate identity through present-

ing features of locality and culture that are present despite their apparent absence,

when looking into the places’ physical attributes.

1.4.2 Our contemporary world

The emergence of new places is notably considered as a product of the super-

modern era we are living at the moment where the notion of place differs greatly

from the notion of place in the modernity. Modernity was the moment where the

old and the new intertwine together to form an identical space to be viewed as a co-

herent whole. Yet, the concrete euphoria put forward by postmodernism has some-

how reprieved the utopian projects put forward by Modernists. Postmodernism

6Translation by the author : If a place carries meanings of identity and is defined as a relationaland historical space then a non-place can be defined as an identicalness, un-relational and un-

historical place.

17




presents a rupture in the rationalisation of the modernist norms and has put em-phasis on individual expression. This often leads in generating a fragmented view

of the world. Contrary to the general disintegration that postmodernism brought

about, the era of supermodernity presents an acceleration of history that induces

an excess and duality of all things. Successively this renders acceleration in the

transformation of spaces and places7.

Concepts of placelessness and non-places have implied that place has been a

static concept, as augmented mobility alters the sense of place (Cresswell 2009,

p.7). Within this perspective, increased mobility within the place’s extents (interms of people, ideas, and spatial structures) threatens the rootedness of a place,

hence its identities. Increased mobility can be also applied to the constant mobility

of people, either through choice or by compulsion is another factor that is consider

a threat to place. Cresswell (2009, p.8) explains by giving examples of “the homeless,

refugees, gypsy, travelers, traveling salesmen, and others who are perceived as mobile are

labeled as a threat to place and the moral values associated with it.”

Subsequently, the notion of globalization also illustrates ideas of increased mo-

bility and in turn manipulates basic conceptions of a given place, by allowing thecreation of homogenised places, worldwide symbols and ad hoc cultures. It can

be argued that there is a loss in the connection between geographical place and

cultural experience arising from the fact that the local, autonomous and distinct

place is now produced extensively in other parts of the globe, a result of an in-

creasingly mobile world. Likewise, Gieryn (2000) argues that there is no ‘space

for place’ in sociology as the postmodern theories define space within a network

(flows of goods, capital and information) that reduce the importance of place. He

also argues that in our cosmopolitan and modern society, where retail and foodgiant become omnipresent everywhere, places are becoming more alike. He urges

sociologists to have a more place sensitive approach, as they often leave the matter

of place to geographers.

While some assume that globalization has homogenous effects, reducing the

particularity of places and increasing placelessness, others point to its uneven ef-

7Definition of modernity, postmodernity and hypermodernity are based on teachings of sociol-ogist Gilles Lipovetsky, so did the readings of Paul Virilio : From Modernism to Hypermodernism and

Beyond.

18




fects across the globe and the defensive reaction which seeks to maintain or recoverplace differences . Additionally many researchers have proved cultural identities

are not destroyed, and there is rather a proliferation of cultural identity through

the process of globalisation (Tomlinson, 2003). The idea that homogenisation is a

product of globalisation is though greatly debated between scholars. Several au-

thors have pointed out that globalisation advances parallel with localisation, as the

effects of increased mobility and homogenised places create the need for differen-

tiation. Swyngedouw (2004) has called this effect glocalisation and argues that the

effect of globalization has created a proliferation of identities. Likewise, Robertson(1995) employs the term glocalisation to overcome the shortcomings of the notion

of globalization because it has “[. . . ] involved and increasingly involves the creation

and incorporation of locality [. . . ]”, (Robertson, 1995, p.40).

Another contemporary concern that adds to the fluidity of a place, attributing

its fixed characteristics is time-space compression. Time space compression refers

to the perception of space across all geographical dimensions at one single time

frame. It describes the condition where spatial and geographical boundaries dis-solve and where customs or cultures can flow freely in a no time. “Time-space

compression” is a concept developed by geographer Harvey (1989) as a condition

of Post modernity. He explains that this is an era that spatial and temporal dis-

tances are reduced due to the outcome of the technologies of communication, air

travel and the economics of open markets. Under the light of the above phenom-

ena, we can argue that cities become more equal the urban identity is weakened

as contemporary cultures merge. Moreover, with the increase flow of information,

the societal liberalization and globalized flows, Virilio (1995) argues that we areheading towards a " fundamental loss of orientation and of a duplication of sensible real-

ity". We are now living in global time. History was once very rich because it was

local; because spatial boundary times existed. Now history will happen in uni-

versal time, as an outcome of instantaneity. Global time, as Paul Virilio argues, is

dominating the local time-frame of our cities making what is local into global and

what is global into local. He goes on to argue that this deconstruction of the world

comes along consequences for the relationships amongst citizens. How human

interactions are possible in the emerging places of global times will be a concern

19




address in the last chapter of this thesis.

1.5 Urban memories

Memories are an important tool for identity construction as it is the means that

all information is processed and passed on from one generation to the next. Reg-

istering memories is the subconscious tool engaged by people to accumulate their

environment, the events related to their daily lives, the recalling of history, the

remembrance of myths and legacies. By listing the various aspects of place asmemories, people are constructing a mental image map of what a place means to

them. Memories thus become a tool for social or collective identity construction.

Spaces are strongly connected with history and memories; memories of places,

memories of the community, memories of individuals, memories of events, and

memories of changing landscape, memories of loved ones. The preservation of

history via the sustainment of memories is also a political tool used to enhance

the identity of place by preserving or creating structures such as national sym-

bols that demonstrate the power and rigor of a place (Hayden, 1995). Memoriessymbolizing national power are usually transmitted in places through structures

such as monuments, while memories that demonstrate the identity of a place or

the cultural inheritance are seen through the preservation of historic buildings.

Memories are not a device that aids in recalling solely the past but it is also

used to record current tendencies that will successively be the memories of the fu-

ture. We could argue that a threat for the identity of a place occurs when there is

an urban memory loss considered as a menace for the collective memory. Collec-

tive memory is when all individual memories are put together forming a commonmemory for the urban fabric. Crinson (2005) explains that collective memories of

urban landscapes lasts for generations and allow people to understand themselves

and hence to create an identity. He says that the “city as a physical landscape and col-

lection of objects and practices that enable recollections of the past and that embody the past

through traces of the city’s sequential building and rebuilding.”

Memories in this work requires special attention as we are looking at cities that

change at fast rhythms, and where mobility creates a rather disturb and uneven

image of one’s environment. Urban memory loss can occur at times that there is

20



1.5. URBAN MEMORIES

a major transformation in the social or physical environment (Ikbal, Aysegül andEren, 2006). The mutations of the physical environment are more common today in

Asia and other developing countries where urbanism on the fast lane is underway

and where urban memories are at stake of vanishing. This relatively fast pace

that the city change possibly creates a new sense of place that although it reflects

the pace of contemporary life, it does not provide huge possibilities of immediate

transactions, communication, or the time needed for the residents to register these

places in the mind as memories or construct definite identities. The social changes

affecting the urban memory could be related to economic investments, politicalchanges like immigration policies, cultural activities and so on.

Studies in other cities in Europe and America have often questioned place in

relation to these urban regenerations and have proved how urban mutations can

affect the lives of the habitants. Any urban transformation directly implies a break

in memory, which can overwhelm or even disorientate the habitants. Graaf (2009a)

has extensively studied emotions of habitants during urban regenerations and has

questioned the feeling at home during these times. He noted that during thesetimes, the residents have evoked strong feelings as they see their neighborhoods

demolished and regenerated.

While in many countries in Europe there is often a strong sense of preservation

as an attempt to keep the memory of the city alive, this is critiqued by many as a

preservationist approach and historical memorialisation (Gospodini, 2002). With

historic leftovers and with the alibi of nostalgia, preservationists tend to create fake

traditional environments that do not at all represent the contemporary era or thenew memories we want to create to represent our time in a given place. Using

Tokyo for our case study we will present an alternative approach of evaluating

memories in the urban tissue. Tokyo is a city where the memory is linked with

movement; it is rather a city of amnesia; instead of preservation; it is constantly

accumulating new events creating a layering of memories one on top of the other,

that eventually fade away. Barthes (1982, p.42) writes about Tokyo: “This sound of

the place is that of history; for the signifying name here is not a memory but an anamne-

sis... ”

21




1.6 Conclusion

We have elucidated on the different concepts of places and non-places and the

identity concerns that are involved within. Lastly, we have examined the role

of memories as a tool that processes the identity construction before we set the

ground for the exploration of Tokyo city. Questions of place are important when

looking into a global city that challenges the fundamental fixed ideas of a place

brought by the world of flows that global cities suggest. Contemporary places are

not only a concern because of the changes that global world markets and tech-nology produce directly, but moreover places’ built environments are being trans-

formed radically. Cities are no longer places fixed in time, neither reflect sedentary

ideas, but as Sepe (2004) also argues “the contemporary city becomes a site of complex-

ity and simultaneity, which leads to situations of transience and change” (2004, p.2).

We have explained that place is viewed by some as essential for human ex-

istence while others focus on the social processes that construct a place. In this

work, we will deal with the phenomenological understanding of place where we

will look at it as a social construct and as a ground for human experience. Theunderstanding of place identity by Cohen (2000) is particularly influential since he

has facilitated our exploration into the direction of objects, rituals, and the imag-

inative use of the myths and traditions in order to understand the contemporary

identity of a perplex city. Given that Tokyo is a non-historic place (Sacchi 2005;

Wadwekar and Kobayashi 2009; Cybriwsky 2005; Koolhaas 1998) where tradition

is absent from spatial structures, is therefore rational to initiate an exploration of

different methods when looking at its identity. Therefore, we propose to examine

in this work, place as a holistic experience by incorporating tangible and intangiblevalues as a way to evaluate the complex and transient contemporary city.

Tokyo is appropriate for the study because its status as a world and global city

embraces conditions of mobility and exchange, features of a non-place. Moreover,

what is intriguing about the Tokyo case is that its built environment is also a mo-

bile element; it is a place that is in perpetual transition because of its constant de-

velopment. Addressing Tokyo in this quest of urban identity of the continuously

changing place opens up perspectives of how to identify with similar concerns of

other cities in the developing world.

22



1.6. CONCLUSION

We will explain in this work how Tokyo in its entire entity and the image itprojects to the world could be considered as a non-place. While non-places gen-

erally address to specific locations such as supermarkets, airports, McDonalds,

highways, train stations, residence units, we will argue in this thesis that Tokyo

city could be considered as a non-place in its totality fulfilling those definitions of

Auge, Relph and Cresswell. Given that the non-places is not an anthropological

place and not referring to existing places how does the humankind conform and

confront these places that are more and more present in our contemporary era? As

we have discussed above, identity construction is examined under the explorationof place and space, and associations created within like ideas, memories, social re-

lations. Consequently, we will look into what kinds of identities are created and by

which processes in accordance to non-places. What are the new identities arising

in non-places? Does their omnipresence threaten the identity of place or that of its

urban habitants? Where do we find locality and identity in places that are becom-

ing more and more homogenous? What kind of human interactions are present

within these places? How do we understand and maintain the identity of a city

that is constantly changing? To which extent does the habitant relates or assimi-lates with such a city?

The theoretical framework of place has shown us that the integration the hu-

man perception and involvement is vital in understanding the place. This is partic-

ularly true in our contemporary era that with the emergence of non-places peoples’

relationships are changing. The study of place has also indicated that an interpre-

tation of myths, symbols traditions and memories can also be adopted to reveal

the identity of place. Using these phenomenological methods we are going to sur-vey Tokyo’s identity as place that creates identities by enabling the association

between lived experiences; stories of people, myths or heritage and translation of

history into the urban fabric of Tokyo. Consequently, we will examine initially, in

the next chapter, the tangible features of Tokyo, that is, the built environment in or-

der to affirm its actual complex and temporal nature. The subsequent two chapters

will deal with the intangible elements of Tokyo: in the third chapter we will look at

conceptual and metaphorical connotations that Tokyo retain in its urban structure

and the fourth chapter will directly inquire on people’s perception and interac-

23




tion with place, as well as lifestyle. The assessment of the tangible and intangiblevalues of a place is aiming at exposing those essentials that are indispensable in

acknowledging the identity of a contemporary city.

24



CHAPTER 2

TOKYO

Tokyo lacks a visible plan, of the kind that we choose to find reassur-

ing in London, Paris or Vienna. Tokyo is the paradigm of the modern

de-centred metropolis. It’s not so much that it disorients you – rather,

you are not psychologically centered in the first place. Tokyo is a place-

by-place place – how each location relates to the last remains obscure.

Lacking vistas and grand plans, you have no sense of travel between

points: rather, you leave an experience, and start another somewhere

else. The intervening motion is out of place and time.

— Ashihara (1994, p.21)

Figure 2.1: Tokyo, Satellite view.Photo by Google Earth. Edited by the author



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

2.1 Introduction

I have visited Tokyo on various occasions, a couple of times physically and nu-

merous times mentally using the Google Earth tool on the Internet. Even though

the tool is great in understanding the physical configuration of Tokyo and its ur-

ban complexity, it has revealed little regarding place identity. Looking solely into

the geographical location and spatial structures does not reveal a place’s identity

and in our case this is particularly pertinent as spatial structures are a rather tem-

porary feature of this city. In this chapter we are going to consider the role of place in Tokyo, a fluid and regenerating city, a city that no history is evoked in its

physical structures and where past traces are not visible (Cybriwsky, 2005; Jinnai,

1994). To evoke the spirit of Tokyo, it is essential to have a look beyond buildings

and physical structures. Places have meanings, individual and collective legacies,

and personal or shared memories that structure both how people interact with the

place itself and how they conduct social interactions in the place.

The investigation of Tokyo under the title of place is the guiding force of this

thesis for its exploration as a quantitative totality, and not solely in spatial terms.The attempt of this chapter will be to evoke the spirit of Tokyo through the dis-

covery of meanings of tangible forms that are relative to the contemporary city

of Tokyo. The understanding of Edward Relph identity of and with place is go-

ing to be designated as a research tactic; identity of place will be viewed within

the exploration of spatial structures, special historical features of Tokyo and the

representative image of Tokyo through texts, while, identity with place will be

brought forward by an evaluation of peoples’ perception and ideas of place sup-

ported from interviews conducted in Tokyo. Identity with place will also includean assessment of maps drawn by the interviewees that indicate how they are in-

volved in the understanding of their city. The tangible elements analyzed in this

chapter will include a collection of information about the place, the significance

of its architecture, its urban structure, the natural environment of the place. The

intangible features examined in the following two chapters involve the analysis

of everyday places that people frequent, objects or other physical structures that

people encounter and then we will move into an investigation of the perceptions

and understanding of people, both locals and foreigners.

26



2.1. INTRODUCTION

King (1995) writes extensively on world cities and particularly on the effects of globalization on built environment and on transnational and global identities, has

identified three representational levels to view such a city. The first level addresses

the city’s built environment, the feature that will be discussed in this chapter. The

second level addresses the symbolic level which not only deals with how the city is

read, spoken, and written (these is what King calls the discursive representations

of the city), but also how the city is “visually represented”. This would be a theme

that will be addressed throughout this work where the symbolic representation of

the city through metaphors of Japanese culture brought forward by many writersthat attempted to explain the city, focusing on its particular transient quality. King

argues that only with the exploration of the first two levels we can deal with the

third level that involves the “mental constructs” of the world city. In this thesis

we will approach the subject from all three levels with a particular concern of the

relationship between the discursive representations of the city and the resulting

“mental constructs” held in the minds of those who interact with these spaces on

various levels1. In this way we will be dealing also with tangible and intangible

qualities of the place, an imperative measure as our previous readings on place hasput forward. The topic of mental constructs will be covered in the fourth chapter

of this thesis, the result of a series of interviews conducted in Tokyo.

In this chapter,we will firstly present some facts and the general image of Tokyo.

Section 2.2 will give an overall impression of its spatial structure and its particular

urban system in order to aid the reader to an understanding of its spatial entity

before we raise questions on its contemporary identity. Section 2.3 will initiate the

topic of the vanishing memories in the city’s urban fabric across time, while Sec-tion 2.4 will present the same issue focusing in the post second world war period.

The conclusion of the chapter (Section 2.5) will discuss how this condition of the

liquid city could be a concern in defining the contemporary identity of the city.

1Everyday people, writers, philosophers, architects.

27



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

2.2 Tokyo, an introduction

Tokyo2 is Japan’s largest city and also one of Japan’s 47 prefectures, but is called

a metropolis rather than a prefecture. One in four Japanese people live in Tokyo3

which occupies a surface area of 3% of the country’s territory. When the term

Tokyo is used, we should distinguish between Tokyo metropolis, Tokyo proper4

and Tokyo prefecture. When we talk about Tokyo metropolis, we are addressing

to Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, all

together consisting of 23 city wards, 26 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages. It has an as-tonishing total of 33 million inhabitants, making it the most populous metropolis

in the world5, followed by New York City that has a population of 25 million habi-

tants. The urban density of the metropolis accounts for 4049 habitants per km2.

Tokyo prefecture is composed of the 23 city wards (that is considered the center)

plus the administrative district, has a total area of 2,188-km2 and a population of

about 13 million people. Daytime populations mark significant changes from the

actual numbers, as there is an increase of 2.5 million people that commute daily to

the prefecture. The center of Tokyo, Tokyo proper or Tokyo-to, is a 622-km2

area,assembled by the so-called 23 “special-ward” area, has a population of 8.8 million

inhabitants, and a density of 14,152 habitants per km2 is reached 6.

2.3 Image through urban configuration

Tokyo is also regarded as a world city, a city that is considered to be of great

importance in the world economic system. Sociologist Saskia Sassen, in her book

The global city: New York, London, Tokyo, classifies Tokyo along with New York andLondon, and opposed the global city terminology to that of a mega city. World

cities share parallel structures economically, spatially and socially that are defined

by global processes, increased integration of world commodities, finished goods

2The two kanjis of To-Kyo stand for Eastern (To) and Capital (Kyo).3According to a 2009 statistic of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry the Japanse

total population has reached about 127 million people.4City proper is a definition by UN, as the city boundaries without its suburbs.5Forstall (2004, p.33) Table 56Source: Tokyo Metropolitan government official website; www.metro.tokyo.jp/

28



2.3. IMAGE THROUGH URBAN CONFIGURATION

and financial markets (Sassen, 1991, p. 4). Tokyo, despite other megacities andglobal cities does not seem to face several of the related problems of urbanization:

noise, dirty, the urban poor, floating population, insufficient housing and educa-

tion provision. Tokyo is as well, probably the safest metropolis and not as polluted

(Cybriwsky, 1999, p.226).

Figure 2.2: Tokyo’s view from the Tokyo

Metropolitan Government Building. Photo byauthor.

Tokyo is the descendant of Edo, a

small fishing village that was first forti-

fied in the 12th Century. Shogun Toku-

gawa Ieyasu made Edo his base in 1603and the city became the center of mil-

itary power in Japan. By the 18th cen-

tury Edo was one of the most populous

cities of the world with about one mil-

lion inhabitants. The Tokugawa Shogu-

nate was finally overthrown in 1868

and reasserted the emperor to power

starting a new period in Japan, theMeiji Restoration. The Meiji Emperor

made Edo his permanent base, trans-

forming the Edo castle (originally built

in 1457) into his palace and established the city of Tokyo.

Tokyo is quite different from the conventional city as we know it, that is or-

ganized, ordered, centralized with a traditional center, historical monuments and

wherein people can be orientated effortlessly. Tokyo, a city of anarchy is rather

an accumulation of towns merged together forming the grand ensemble that weknow today as Tokyo. Jinnai describes:

Tokyo is often called an agglomeration of villages [...] Numerous localitiesof distinct social and physical character have formed in Tokyo, each definedin part by the natural landscape. In each of these areas a symbiosis of thecommunity and the local shrine may be seen that is based on the spatial modelof the rural village (1987, p. 7)

Tokyo unlike Paris or New York that are based on axial grid system for their

urban planning is a decentralized city without axes. A European or American city

29



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

evolves around its centre, usually a place fortified with meanings either divine orpolitical, a place that demonstrates the social reality and is ‘full’ in the sense that

is exploited by the general public. Tokyo possesses no such center, the Japanese

cities have never been conceived as a cosmic center affirming Franco Purini’s dec-

laration that Tokyo establishes the proof that God does not exist (Sacchi, 2004, p.

142). Sacchi explains: “C’est une thèse que l’on peut admettre si on pense à la configu-

ration chaotique de la ville, à l’absence d’une structure hiérarchique, à son consumérisme

effréné, à l’impénétrableabilité de sa dimension éthique et spirituele” . Tokyo possess no

center in the conventional means, whereas its geographic center, the Royal Impe-rial Palace, is considered a “void” because it is inaccessible to the general public

and is inhabited by an emperor that people rarely see. Barthes (1982, p. 47) writes:

L’une des deux villes puissantes de la modernité est donc construite autourd’un anneau opaque des murailles, d’eaux, de toits et d’arbres, dont le centrelui-même n’est plus qu’une idée évaporée. [. . . ] De cette manière, nous dit-onl’imaginaire se déploie circulairement, par détours et retours le long d’un sujetvide7

Actually we can argue that the absence of order in the urban structure is a fea-ture that attributed Tokyo with the title of an energetic and experiential city. It

gives architects a sense of freedom to create without constraints and that is how

we find some of the world’s most experimental buildings in Tokyo’s urban fabric.

The apparent chaos produces a sense of creativity that turned Tokyo into “an ex-

traordinary perhaps the most extraordinary – shop window of contemporary architecture”

(Sacchi 2004, p. 223)

Another basic attribute in distinguishing Tokyo as opposed to a European city,

is that the latest is read from the inside while a Japanese city from the outside. Jin-nai (1994) explains that the urban space of a European city is produced by man and

that is how and where the urban beauty is generated. A European city evolves and

extends outwards from its center from which important meanings are conveyed. It

is therefore, better understood when looking at it from within under examination

of individual entities, where each one of them is important. But Tokyo (and other

7Translation by the author: “One of the two most powerful cities of modernity is built around aring of opaque walls, water, roofs and trees, the center itself being more than an evaporated idea.[...] In this way we are told, the imaginary unfolds circularly, by detours and returns along an

empty subject.”

30




Japanese cities), have been structured around natural elements we experience bet-ter the cities from the outside, from an aerial photo, to perceive it as a whole, in

such a way that mountains, water, and hills become an important and symbolic

part of the cityscape. Indeed, nature for the Japanese culture is not a separate

element from the city, but the two interweave together to form coherent liaison

(Sacchi, 2005). The city’s image reminds of a forest, that is dense and disordered,

and striving to reach towards the sky is a delightful aspiration, to serve rather the

need of capital flows than arriving to the heavens. That is why many Japanese

labelled Tokyo with the sobriquet “concrete jungle”8

.

Figure 2.3: Yamanote and Shitamachi. Map

source: Wikipedia

Tokyo is divided in two distinct

parts: The high city, called the Yaman-

ote9 area and the low city called Shi-

tamachi 10 that runs along the water-

front. These two distinct areas have

been present as two distinct parts of the

city since the establishment of Tokyo.

Historically the high city was inhabited by the aristocrats and the samurais, the

higher rank people, while the ‘common

people’ lived along the waterfront, the

Shitamachi, the entertainment district.

Shitamachi, with its networks of canals

and rivers, has been described as Asia’s

Venice, where transportation of goods, commuting, and even dining have been ac-

tivities that took place by the water.Yamanote and Shitamachi were radically transformed the last century or rather

the last decades. Actually, one of the most permanent physical features in Tokyo’s

urban fabric is the Yamanote line, the most important commuter train in Japan,

ridden daily by 3.5 million passengers11 . This loop train was the first train to be

8 Jinnai (1996, p.37)9Yamanote means literally towards the mountain.

10The direct translation of Shitamachi is low city.11Wikipedia: “For comparison, the New York City Subway carries 5.08 million passengers per

day on 26 lines serving 468 stations and the London Underground carries 2.7 million passengers

31



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

built in Japan after it has opened its doors to the west. Construction started in1885 and the loop line with the existing 29 stations was only completed in 1925.

The trucks were built to follow the existing Edo Castle moats of the Yamanote area

and stations were built on the intersection of water and roads, erasing the element

of active life near the water and creating instead centers of commercial activities

(Sande, 2007, p.10).

The Yamanote line, though, is one of the 121 passenger lines that operate in

Tokyo. There are various types of trains such us regional trains, mono rails, sub-

ways, cable cars, trams that are run by 30 different operators. Tokyo has one of the most elaborated and extensive urban railway systems in the word12 intercon-

necting a total of 882 rail stops. At peak times the train becomes unbearable to use,

where people are pushed in the trains by professional push-men in white uniforms

called "oshiya" in Japanese. The train becomes an active element in the city because

of its physical presence and indispensable for people as 20 million people use it

for their daily transport. For film directors, Japanese (Ozu Yasujiro) and western

alike (Wim Wenders) train becomes an important element for the perception of

Tokyo. Train is ridden daily, and many activities evolve around and within trainstations. We will discuss further about trains in the fourth chapter as a new emerg-

ing and distinguishable characteristic in the city, because it becomes a component

that people identify with, and through it understand their whole environment and

themselves13.

Tokyo is a city full of surprises, as every city ward is distinctively different

from the next, where the old intertwines with the new, and the traditional with

the modern. Considering its vast scale, density, diversity and chaotic features, it

is the extraordinary system of transportation that holds the city together, keepingit away from falling apart. The image of the city reminds of a big fun park filled

with roller coasters created by the network of trains, colorful lights and advertising

signs, and where a complex system of structures is omnipresent with the only rule

per day on 12 lines serving 275 stations.”12Source :Urban Transport Factbook, Tokyo-Yokohama Suburban Rail Summary13The interviews of the last chapter demonstrate how the train is important for the daily percep-

tion of the city. The train is an identifiable component for the most of the interviewees. A smallpercentage, even, answering to the question of what makes them feel Japanese in Tokyo, have an-

swered that riding the train does.

32




Figure 2.4: Tokyo train map.Photo of map taken and edited by the author.

that “everything goes”.

The movement in the city is not only apparent in the constant animated physi-

cal features of Tokyo. Tokyo as a liquid city in constant movement finds also affir-mation throughout its long history of regeneration and renewal without concerns

of preservation, making the skyline of the city a fleeting feature. An insight of the

perpetual renewal of the urban fabric will follow in the next sections.

33



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

2.4 Vanishing memories in the process of destruction and recon-struction

Figure 2.5: Edo Map

Photo taken from Sacchi (2005)

In the first chapter, we have

shown that places carry dif-

ferent meanings within them,

how place is a setting for

human interaction, and the

power of place in forming so-cial identity. We have also in-

troduced the notion of a non-

place, the opposite of place and

discussed as well other fac-

tors that are threatening the ur-

ban memory of a city. In this

section, we are going to deal

with one of the most importantcharacteristics of Tokyo, and

the one central to our research theme; the question of mutation in the city that

leads to an absence of urban memory. Jinnai (1994), in his book, Tokyo, a Spatial

Anthropology, said that it is almost impossible to find any past traces of the city14.

Today there are only a few structures that remain dating back to the Edo era, a

number insignificant for the size of the city. What does remain from Tokyo’s an-

cestor is the urban planning even though heavily altered.

As the city transforms there is a discontinuation in the urban memory, and thischange affects respectively the identity of the place and thus those of its habitants.

Graaf (2009b) who is investigating the emotional status of residents at times of ur-

ban renewals, he identifies that at times of change there is a struggle over the iden-

tities of the place. He writes: “ policy makers and urban professionals have designed a

new place identity for them to make the neighbourhood more attractive for different groups

14He has managed, though, to reveal under the contemporary veil of the city its past traces.He has accomplished that by using old maps and strolling incessantly around the city, uncovering

some hidden secrets of the contemporary urban fabric of Tokyo and exposing the spirit of the place.

34



2.4. VANISHING MEMORIES

which leave little place for their own identities15

” (Graaf, 2009b, p.272).This theme is essential not only in understanding the singular identity of Tokyo,

but it addresses the question of transformation and identity of other growing cities,

a universal subject in the 21th century. Once a city carries in its structure only

reminiscent of culture, tradition and heritage, couldn’t this be perturbing for the

identity of the city itself but also for the respective social identity of the people

inhabiting the place? Today the urban structure of Tokyo is composed mostly of

structures built after the Second World War, while 30% of its total buildings were

constructed during the years 1980-2000. What’s more, the city is constantly re-newing itself and preserving a building has no meaning for the Japanese people.

Compared to Europe where preserving a city’s historical is imperative in main-

taining the city’s identity in Tokyo such concerns do not exist. Kitayama (2010,

p.4) explains:

In European cities, urban spaces are thought of as concrete entities that aremeant to exist far longer than people’s lives, and change isn’t something peo-ple are readily aware of. But in Tokyo, the structures that define the landscape

are likely to be completely different in just a couple of dozen years. Althoughthe place might be the same, Tokyo is a city in which entities only exist asphantoms.

The first encounter with place, reveals to us that place is not tied with symbols

of history, neither we can find tradition and meaning in the physical structures.

The idea of place appears ambiguous at it looks to act as a portable backstage that

is flexible and ready to be adapted for different events to take place. As Toyo Ito

suitably observed: "If we compare the architecture of Western civilization to a museum,

[then] Japanese architecture [can be likened to] a theatre16". Closer research exposes us

to the fact that the trend of restructuring, destructing and transforming the city

is not new to the history of Japan and Tokyo in particular. This fact is widely

acknowledged by architects and urban planners Miyake (1987) stated: “In Japan

the will to build a city and to construct a building has been constantly next to the reality

of destruction and included an impulse to destroy the unified whole.”

15The study was conducted in four cities: Emmen and Hoogvliet in the Netherlands, and Sale atManchester (UK) and Newcastle-Gateshead in the United Kingdom.

16Toyo Ito as quoted in Bognar (1997, p.3).

35



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

Overlooking for an instant all the disastrous catastrophes that occurred in Tokyothat swept away most of the urban structures, along with the concrete memories

of the place, we are going to concentrate on the city’s own determination for de-

velopment and modernization. The urge for Japan to modernize came about in the

beginning of the 20th century even though the first contact with the occident was in

1853 when the American navy embarked by force at the port of Tokyo and forced

Japan to open up to trade with the western world. Due to the opposition of the

Tokugawa Empire to western ideas and influences17 , it was only until some years

later that Japan opened up to the west. In 1868 came the end of the Tokugawaera and consequently the end of the era of feudalism18 . A new imperial rule had

begun to reign, known as the Meiji era, or Meiji restoration, where Meiji translates

into ‘enlightened rule’. The governors of Meiji embraced the market economy and

set goals of ‘western advancements’ combined with traditional ‘eastern values’19

. At the time the capital of Japan had moved from Kyoto (that was the capital

for about 1,000 years) to Edo20 that was renamed Tokyo, meaning eastern capital.

Hence Tokyo as the new capital had to meet up with the expectations of the new

government, namely the effort match the western world in all respects, resulting inthe city’s transformation into a ground of urban experimentation. It was a time of

great changes to be occurred in Japan, which entailed to the formation of Tokyo’s

present identity. The introduction of western modernism had opened the doors to

a great range of new horizons in terms of culture, architecture, arts, lifestyle, food,

fashion, literature, economy, and politics, where the adaptation involved rather the

edition of western culture into the Japanese practice. At the same time the Japanese

people were questioning the ‘self’ as they were invaded by cultural values of the

‘other’. The threat of losing the Japanese identity was palpable for many decadeseven after the Meiji Restoration. A number of extreme acts were performed, even

by deeply sophisticated individuals like Mishima Yukio21 , who performed sep-

17The agreement known as Harris treaty was fixed at the rate of 5% trade duty on all internationaltrade.

18Commander Matthew Perry in 1853 with its navy attempted to force Japan to open to the Westand end its seclusion policies. The ratified Kanagawa treaty was officially signed in 1855, a reasonfor major internal conflicts, that led to the end of the Tokukawa shogunate.

19This term is referred to Wakon Yosai in Japanese and will be explained further in this thesis.20Edo, in Japanese, means “bay entrance”.21Mishima Yukio was one of the most respected Japanese writers. He wrote a large number of

36




puku22

after a failed coup d’état. The dubious identity was also particularly evidentin the Japanese literature, with the works Junichiro Tanizaki where the search of

cultural identity and juxtapositions of the west with the Japanese tradition were

provocative themes in his novels.

Tokyo’s urban identity begun to change dramatically in the Meiji era as big

avenues were under construction, the rail system was introduced, western style

architecture and methods of construction were developed, and people started to

wear western style clothing replacing their traditional costumes. Even the word

kenchiku which means architecture is a word created in Japan during that timeto define architecture the way it is understood in the western world23. The term

was created after the Second World War when the Japanese wanted to create an

image of their country so it would be possible to compete and be recognized on

the international scene.

Districts and streets started to be renamed inspired by western names and

what’s kitschier whole areas were designed to resemble Europe; Nipponbashi that

is the district situated by water was designed after Venice, Marunochi was called

‘little London’ and Hibiya with its axial urban plan was built analogous to Paris,while Shinjuku today reminds of the Manhattan skyline. The attempt to modern-

ize produced a number of places that brought into the urban scene reminiscent of

something that Tokyo has never been, neither had any similar references in its ur-

ban history. These copy-paste structures and actually whole districts have become

today, as we will demonstrate from our interviews the new urban reality of Tokyo

and important reference points for the habitants. These non-places have become a

component of the new urban identity of the city, setting the grounds for becoming

the mnemonics of the city in the future to come.

2.4.1 Tokyo on the move

novels despite his death at a young age. He was also nominated three times for the Nobel Price inliterature.

22Seppuku is the ritualistic act that the samurai usually performed to kill themselves as an oppo-sition to surrender to the enemy. This was usually done by slicing up their abdomen.

23 Sacchi (2005, p.112). The word was created to express the artistic nature of construction, butrather this word represents the specific act of constructing, a rather concrete activity, while in the

occident architecture is rather an abstract and incorporates construction in all its totality.

37



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

Figure 2.6: View of Daiba Area,Tokyo. Photo from Tree

Hugger: www.treehugger.com

Understanding better Tokyoand its ephemeral urban con-

dition through an investiga-

tion of its past, we find that

one of the most impressive

qualities of Tokyo is its de-

terminant spirit for reconstruc-

tion at times of destruction as

of which the revitalization of the city is remarkably success-

ful. Japanese cities and Tokyo

above all, have been subjected

to endless destructions either

natural or brought by wars.

Perhaps there is no other city

that has been built, destroyed and rebuilt as many times as Tokyo has been24.

In its 400 year history, Tokyo has been devastated four times by fire, while therehave been two major earthquakes that completely leveled the city. In the last cen-

tury solely, Tokyo underwent three significant transformations that changed com-

pletely its physical form. The first was the great earthquake in 1923, known as the

Kanto earthquake that caused a major fire outburst right after and completely lev-

eled the city. Secondly, the latest enormous destruction of Tokyo occurred in World

War 2 were the fire bombings by the American air force entirely razed the city while

killing about 100,000 people25. Subsequently, the population of Tokyo dropped to

3.5 million people, which was half of Tokyo’s total population at the time. Thethird major transformation that occurred in the city was the frenetic development

of the bubble era in Tokyo that started in the 60’s but reached its peak in the 1980’s.

Between these years, Tokyo underwent a major economic boom inflating stock and

real estate prices, consequently changing as well its urban structure irreversibly. It

is this last transformation that we are going to focus, what Cybriwsky (2005) called

the third great destruction of the century as it is the transformation that changed

24 For the full history look at the appendix of Tokyo history from the Tokyo metropolitan office.25Source: David McNeill. The night hell fell from the sky. Japan Focus, March 10 2005

38




the city radically and assert its present condition of a transient city (See also Jinnai,1994; Sacchi, 2005). The transformations that occurred in the growing economy

begun in the 70’s, unlike previous bouleversement that came about by non natural

forces, were initiated by the city’s own intend to progress.

Figure 2.7: Arata Isozaki, Clusters in the air,

1962, Unrealized project, Photo by author

We are going to examine in this sec-

tion, the architectural and urban re-

form of the city that has occurred af-

ter the Second World War as it is one of

the basic layers that entails the physi-cal image of Tokyo as it is today. The

liquid condition of Tokyo is not sur-

prising as an epithet given by Sacchi

(2005) considering the metamorphosis

that the city has underwent. In fact, ac-

cording to a 1993 statistic, more than

30% of all Tokyo structures have been

built since 1985. As Cybriwsky (2005, p. 218) has argued: “No other city in the

world, much less one so large and important, has been so ephemeral in physical form, and

no other older city, much less one so historically significant, is so new in build environment

and so completely lacking in neighbourhoods and old buildings.”

During the bubble era, a large number of buildings were torn down not due to

their deteriorating condition but for accommodating for the new needs, of taller

buildings and multipurpose structures. To understand the rate that the city has

been growing before the end of the century, it has been recorded that 12,339 squaremeters of buildings were demolished daily, while new constructions of 62,861

square meters started daily, and 455 units of new housing constructions were un-

derway every single day. Amongst the buildings destroyed were also many im-

portant monuments and architecture marvels. Examples include Frank Lloyd’s

only building in Japan; the famous imperial Hotel who survived the devastating

Kanto earthquake in 1923, but did not make it through the frenetic development

that came about in the 1960’s. The notable Japanese architect Kenzo Tange has

designed the Tokyo city hall in 1952 that had a life of thirty-five years. It was de-

39



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

molished and replaced by a newer structure built on a different site designed byKenzo Tange over again. Other examples of renowned demolished buildings are

Masaharu Takasaki’s famous guesthouse that was destroyed only after four years

of life and several of Toyo Ito’s works like the famous U house and the celebrated

Nomad bar that was brought down after three years.

To a certain extent the reason of this continuous urban renewal in Tokyo is

that land is extremely expensive. In 1989, in Tokyo’s Ginza district, land price

has hit approximately one million dollars per meter square26, while the Imperial

palace worth more than all the real estate in California State27 . Inheritance taxesare as high as 50% and as a result the heirs choose to demolish the building and

to sell the land in order to pay for their taxes. Empty lands are then capitalized

as it is much more profitable to build rather than to leave the land empty. The

land can be further divided and be sold off to multiple investors as there is no

limit to parcel fragmentation in the city’s planning restrictions. Another factor that

contributes to the incessant building is that the price of construction in Japan is

cheap comparing to other places of the world. Nonetheless, the need for constant

renewal is also due to the competition in the commercial world which forces theowners to refashion their business according to new trends. This is particularly

pertinent as Tokyo has an important role in the world economy, importing and

exporting goods and culture. Alterations of facades occur every four months to

two years on average, while complete replacements take place every five to ten

years. As Bognar (1997) concluded in his essay, it is not surprisingly that both

the economy and the extraordinarily advanced nature of the Japanese consumer

society have affected the rapid lifecycle of architecture and the cityscape.

The development during the bubble era has also led to great experimentationand proliferation of architectural styles in the capital. Tokyo has been called the

world’s optimum urban laboratory; it is and has been a site where many models

are tested. The rule was not to preserve but rather to progress and in this way a

new urban identity has been moulded, influenced by movements of architecture

worldwide, rather than from the spirit of the place. Tokyo is indeed a field where

26Wikipedia: Japanese asset price bubble27Ian Cowie (07 August 2004). "Oriental risks and rewards for optimistic occidentals". The Daily

Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 11/01/2011.

40




a lot of experimentation occurs on the site and that is above all true for the ar-chitecture phases that the city has witnessed. Western models were tested at the

beginning of the 20th century; the international movement of modern architecture

was afterwards adopted as a rule for taking a step in the modern world and then

followed by the metabolism movement launched in the 60’s.

Figure 2.8: Tadao Ando National Museum of Western art, realized in 1959 and KenzoTange’s St. MAry’s Cathedral, realized in 1964. Photos by author.

The metabolism movement had a veritable Japanese character as it wanted to

address current phenomena of the booming economy and not follow blindly the

foreign models. The movement was initiated by a group of Japanese architects28

that wanted to respond to the culture of mass society that lied ahead and pro-

posed projects at large scale that were flexible and were expanding organically.

This movement is one of the most important in Japan as it was created with the

aim to represent the Japanese identity deriving from Buddhist and traditional ur-

banism traditions (Sacchi, 2005). The architects wanted to find solutions to the

consumerism nature of the Japanese society and to the ever-changing fashions of

the city, but as flourishing the concept was, the idea failed to be embodied in its

design as the schemes were heavy, monumental and not flexible.

Following, in the period of the late sixties, the height restrictions were abol-

ished29 and the city started to rise vertically. The fact is that it was only in 1968

28The leader of the movement was Kenzo Tange, and the members-architects of the group wereTakashi Asada, Kisho Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake, and the writer Noboru Kawazoe.

29Due to aesthetic and Engineering concerns, Japan’s Building Standard Law set an absoluteheight limit of 31 meters until 1963, when the limit was abolished in favour of a Floor Area Ratiolimit. Following these changes in building regulations, the Kasumigaseki Building was constructed

and completed in 1968. Source: www.globalarchitectsguide.com

41



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

that the first tall building composed of 17 floors, the Kasumigaseki Building wasconstructed in Tokyo.

Figure 2.9: Social usage of Canals and

Rivers eradicated by the need to construct

highways. Photo by author.

As the height regulations started to

loosen up and the buildings started to

rise, the population of Tokyo was also

growing rapidly reaching for the first

time after the war to a peak of almost

ten million for the city and twelve mil-

lion for the metropolis. Another bigevent that accelerated Tokyo’s growth

was the hosting of the Olympic Games

of 1964, happening for the first time in

Asia and was the biggest transformation

of the urban fabric. To accommodate for

the needs of hosting the Olympics new

highways had to be constructed, as Tokyo endeavour to ‘ profile itself as a strong

nation arisen from the ashes of war-torn Tokyo’ (Sande, 2007, p.10).Planning and organization was not possible because of shortage of time and

space. Nine new ring roads were constructed above the canals and rivers, con-

serving the water structure in a sense but obstructing the social use of gathering,

contemplating and enjoying the riverbank. Along this process many natural and

built edifices have vanished from the city’s urban fabric permanently and count-

less non-places were emerging. Jinnai criticizes how memories and meanings that

are associated with present day Tokyo have been today totally eroded by the field

of architecture and urban planning:

Modern city planning [...] with no concern for the individual conditionsof par-ticular sites and in willful ignorance of the underlings powers of place, landhas been reclaimed and establishments erected that look the same whereverthey occur. Venerable rivers and ponds have been filled in, and vegetationdestroyed. In the same way the forced changing of place-names has gone onapace. (Jinnai, 1994, p. 19)

During the 70’s and the 80’s emerged the surge of impermanence in the ar-

chitecture projects. The notion of the ephemeral and ‘lightness’ that emerged in

42




the bubble era of Tokyo is still the trend that characterizes Tokyo and Japan’s ar-chitecture identity today30. Bognar (1997, p.5) below, describes best the current

architecture trend:

Contemporary design in Japan is characterized by lightness, surface, fragmen-tation, and dissolution, often with a “ruinous” quality, a sense of temporality,imaginability, sensuousness, and, finally, a spectacular phenomenonalism —all attributes of the ephemeral; combined with new interpretations of natureand the new software technologies, it favours ambiguity, transparency, andperceptual instability with an implicit indeterminacy of meaning

Figure 2.10: Kisho Kurokawa, Capsule

Tower, Realized in 1972, Photo by author.

However, isn’t this style in architec-ture launched as so, as to represent the

liquid state of the city’s urban condi-

tion; where the speed of mutation of

the city is an indicator of what architec-

ture should embody. The architecture

of Tokyo, light and ethereal, besides

representing the actual state of the city

originates from the natural phenom-ena core to the Japanese cultural iden-

tity. Many scholars, though, believe

that the vision of contemporary archi-

tecture is derived from the very prin-

ciples of traditional Japanese architec-

ture. Japanese architect Maki (1988,

p.120) said: “It was once a city of wood

and paper; it has now become a city of con-crete, steel, and glass. The feeling of light-

ness, however, remains.” In Tokyo’s urban fabric, the dematerialization of architec-

ture as a whole is striking despite the city’s perceptible solidity embodied in the

30There is often the attempt by architects to make architecture herself to disappear; this is theresearch theme of many works of contemporary Japanese architects, like Junya Ishigami, KazuyoSejima and Toyo Ito. One of the most famous examples of transcend architecture is Toyo Ito’swind of towers, a building that changes according to the directions and velocity of the wind, andaccording to the time of day, built in 1986. Ito has referred to this project as an agent to representthe changing winds in Tokyo’s architecture. Another example is Junya Ishigami award winning

project for the Venice Biennale 2010 which is entitled: “Architecture as air”.

43



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

tall concrete or steel buildings. The hardness of the architecture disappears behindthe signs and symbols that are omnipresent, ornamenting buildings and urban

surfaces and yet are an ambiguous surface themselves totally and constantly re-

newing.

The architects in Japan design with consciousness similar to the philosophy of

Zen (Sacchi, 2005). The ephemerality in the urban context is manifested as archi-

tects create buildings knowing that they would not endure time, considering that

there is constantly a possibility of demolition, making the process of creation di-

rectly linked with that of destruction. The occasion that brought the decision todemolish the U-House by Toyo Ito, exemplify this; while there has been a strong

disagreement by the architecture community, Toyo Ito himself gave his consent

saying that "the house has served its purpose"31. Arata Isozaki in his essay, “City

Demolition Industry, Inc.” has specified: “ Japanese architecture often makes no clear

distinction between construction and demolition, the completed and the ruined.” (p. 51).

The city’s present chaotic image was largely theorized by architecture critics,

urbanists, sociologists, anthropologists and the like intellectuals. Ashihara (1989)

famous line depicts Tokyo as the city amoeba32 because it’s a city that expandsorganically, with an incredible capacity to adapt, compared to the beautiful Euro-

pean cities that are of splendid beauty yet very static and monumental. Tokyo has

been likewise illustrated as the liquid city by Sacchi (2005, p.75), “a body of liquid

state is, as is well known, characterised by fluidity. This unlike the solid state implies the

absence of actual shape. Hence space does not remain fixed in time; architecture has more

or less always done the opposite.”

Furthermore, I believe that Tokyo is a liquid city because it is a city of flows,

not only due to the transition of its built form, but also because of the image it

generates of the flow of trains, cars, and the virtuality of the buildings through

the animated advertising. Above all the constant flows of people, an important

31Source: http://www.otto-otto.com/2009/07/be-our-guest-low-stress-ito-essence-obsolescence/ Accessed: 05/02/2011

32Amoeba is a celled aquatic or parasitic protozoans of the genus Amoeba, having nodefinite form and consisting of a mass of protoplasm containing one or more nuclei sur-rounded by a flexible outer membrane. Amoebas move by means of pseudopods (=pseudo-feet). The word Amoeba derives its name from the ancient Greek word for change. Source

:http://www.thefreedictionary.com/amoeba

44




Figure 2.11: Toyo Ito’s Tower of Winds, Realized in 1986Photo taken by Carlos Zeballos: http://moleskinearquitectonico.blogspot.com

physical entity in the city, engender the image a fleeting image of Tokyo. The idea

that people circulate in the city incessantly can be explained through the fact that

their private space has diminished considerably as the economic space of the city

was expanding. This condition not only forced people to relocate far from the cen-

ter creating a mandatory need to commute but also imposed on them to seek for

urban activities outside their tiny apartments. There has been indeed a variety of

emerging new spaces in the city’s urban fabric resulting from the frenetic devel-

opment, spaces that accommodate temporary activities which can be addressed as

non-places. There are for example whole districts designed to accommodate what

the Japanese call love hotels, which are rooms that one can stay over for as little

as one hour. They are usually used for the purpose of having sexual intercourse

that is made difficult either because of city distances or because of confidentiality

issues. Many love hotels are very alienating spaces; many do not have windows;

you also can enter and exit by purchasing stay over tickets from a machine without

the necessity of human contact33 .

Capsule hotels are also an example of such an momentary place, conveying

temporary meanings that came as a result of the economic boom. These are small

plastic cubicles of about 2mX1m1m stacked one upon another that one can sleep

33We will talk further about human alienation in the city in the last chapter, after the deduction

of the interview results.

45



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

over the night. They were designed as Japan economy was booming to lodge theworkers that had to commute daily to Tokyo. The first capsule hotel was designed

in 1979, in Tokyo by Kisho Karakawa, and is extraordinary example, and one of

the few realized projects of the metabolic architecture movement.

Figure 2.12: Love hotel entrance hall, Chose

a room and pay by card. Photos from the book:

Love Hotels.

The fact that the newly appearing

places carry temporary connotations

and the tendency to move away from

the city center due to high prices has

changed the lives of the habitants of Tokyo that appear to be some kind of

urban nomads. The city that is un-

der constant transformation creates a

lot of temporary places, or non-places

that engender in turn a condition of in-

creased human movement. Recently,

due to the latest economic crises, these

capsule hotels as well as 24-hour inter-net cafes are becoming the permanent

residence of people that have nowhere

to stay (Tabuchi, 2010)

Cybriwsky (2005) wrote that study-

ing Tokyo cityscape is an appropriate topic for anthropologists to studying the

modes of inhabitation of the contemporary society. Indeed, the grand transfor-

mation that occurred in Tokyo in the seventies and eighties has been a subject for

study of many scholars as the affirmation of the unique Japanese identity (nihon- jinron) and many works have been published with “Tokyology” as a central theme

(Berque, 1994). We have initiated a discussion in this section of what might be the

correlation of the city’s condition with the modes of living of the habitants. The

way that habitants assimilate with the city would be discussed further in the last

chapter.

46



2.5. CONCLUSION

2.5 Conclusion

Figure 2.13: Symbols, Texts and Advertising

screens omnipresent in Tokyo

Photo by the author.

In this chapter, we have accounted

the processes that occurred to affirm

the transient identity of Tokyo’s ur-

ban reality. Central to the discussion

has how memories that vanished from

urban fabric, generally without any

lamenting about losing the urban iden-

tity. We have presented the case of

Tokyo’s transformation from the 80’s

onwards which is an interesting model

to study the identity in cities that

are growing at the moment under the

shadow of globalization, fast chang-

ing technologies, and the connotation

that the world becomes a homogenousplace. As we have demonstrated in this

chapter with concrete situations and

historical references, Tokyo is a non-

static city and meets the description of

non-places as summarized by Cress-

well (2009, p.6):

Nonplaces are marked by alack, of attachment, by con-stant circulation, communication and consumption that act against develop-ing social bonds and bonds between people and the world. These nonplacesare marked by a plethora of texts, screens and signs which facilitate mediatedrelationships between people and places rather than direct ones.

Today there are a few residues of the past of Tokyo in regards to architecture,

monuments, and even names of places. Different scholars have argued that the

construction of urban identity should be a sustainable process without interrup-

tions in the urban memory34. Tokyo, has known nothing else that continuous rup-

34See Postalcı, Aysegül and Eren (2006).

47



CHAPTER 2. TOKYO

tures of its urban memory and our aim in the next chapter will be to identify theelements, physical or mental, that compile its present urban identity. Non-places

have been argued to be meaningless, historicalness, and identity-less, yet, our goal

here is to demonstrate processes by which we can use to find meaning in such

places. Obviously we have to look beyond physical structures, -since it is them

that engender those temporal features in the first place-, to discover the locality or

a more veritable identity of Tokyo. The Japanese capital has a long and rich his-

tory one that is now only accounted in stories and myths and with the occasional

matsuri35

celebrations. In the next chapter, we are going to present the distinctivephysical features that a non-place can possess (its tangible features) and go a step

further to explain the complex features of Tokyo city through an interpretation of

heritage and culture (intangible features).

35Traditional Japanese festivals.

48



CHAPTER 3

REINVENTING IDENTITY

Tokyo is [. . . ] a city in which the intangible quality of memory super-

sedes the physical presence of monuments. When fires have been so fre-

quently responsible for mass destruction and any building over thirty

years old is treated as unusually even peculiarly old, it is little wonder

that the city is celebrated for the immaterial qualities of memory trans-

mitted through stories and urban myth rather than any grandiose state-

ment that it might make through imposing monuments.

— Waley (2006, p. 372)

3.1 Introduction

The constant alteration of Tokyo enhanced by the fact that its urban structure

is often considered as chaotic and meaningless turns it into an object of debate

amongst planners and theorists. Waley (2006, p. 306) is discussing in his essay:

“Tokyo the unplanned metropolis, chaotic, cluttered, incoherent, without meaning, without

a moral sense of order”. Tokyo is the an ideal paradigm of a non-place, it is ugly, it

is full of homogenous and meaningless structures, places that stand for nationalor global symbols produced in masses and where whole areas are constructed to

replicate directly and shamelessly regions from around the world. It is at the same

time, probably the city where advanced technology and high tech materials are

omnipresent the most in the architecture, transportation system and the people’s

usage. Livio Sacchi confirms:

La région métropolitaine de Tokyo est aujourd’hui un non-lieu, et tend à l’êtretoujours un peu plus. Ce qui compte aujourd’hui, c’est l’ubiquité du labyrinthe

des réseaux de télécommunications, de machines et d’édifices intelligents, d’installations



CHAPTER 3. REINVENTING IDENTITY

d’accumulation et de diffusion d’énergie [...], de systèmes de transports dif-férents mais connectés entre eux.[...] La ville historique se transforme en villenumérique.1

Despite the technologically advanced culture it promotes, the ephemeral qual-

ities in its urban system and its modern physical image, we can argue that Tokyo

probably relates most to ancient traditions than any other global city. It carries in

its urban structure traditions that are difficult to identify, at least, solely in spatial

terms. The reading of Tokyo, a Spatial Anthropology, by Hidenobu Jinnai has proven

important in this research as it suggested that Tokyo’s past is still present in manyways and conjures up the present image of the city. He said:

Often one can find elements of the past in one form or another, even in newspaces created every day [...] It can be said that these elements add a culturalidentity to the townscape of Tokyo. The coexistence of past and the present isimportant for making Tokyo’s urban environment richer. Jinnai (1996, p.44)

Despite all the bouleversement that devastated the city we can find today many

elements of a veritable Japanese identity that are not necessarily linked to the phys-ical entities, at any rate not explicitly. This chapter will evolve around the question

of meaning and identity of the Japanese capital, searching for those elements that

revoke the spirit of the place, attempting to translate metaphors of the Japanese

culture in order to derive the actual state of the Tokyoite identity. Consequently,

this chapter will explain Tokyo’s contemporary identity as it has been molded

from the processes of fast expansion and constant redevelopment that we have

discussed in Chapter 2. We are particularly interested to see, firstly, what kind of

places have arisen under the new circumstances and secondly to find meaning inthe ephemeral quality of Tokyo. The latest will be carried out through the pre-

sentation of some selected symbolic representations that continue existing and are

palpable in the urban fabric. Within this context we will search those referential

characteristics with Tokyo’s heritage, past traditions and everyday culture. The

search will exemplify elements of tangible (physical characteristics) and intangible

1 Translation by the author : Metropolitan Tokyo is today a non-place, and tends to be a littlemore than that. What matters now is the ubiquity of the maze of telecommunications networks,machines and intelligent buildings, storage facilities and distribution[...], diverse energy transport

systems yet interconnected. [...] The historical town turns into a digital city.

50



3.1. INTRODUCTION

natures (symbolic characteristics) that are a denotation in Tokyo’s present chaoticphysical identity.

Figure 3.1: Tokyo’s dual identity. Photo by au-

thor.

The chapter will evolve as follows.

In Section 3.1, we will present different

conditions and new spaces of the urbanfabric that have resulted from the con-

stant flux and development discussed

in the previous chapter. The discussion

will mainly concentrate on the disor-

ganized structure and the ugliness of

Tokyo that are its distinctive character-

istics. We will then attempt to translate

the present urban identity from the ba-sic ideas of beauty for the Japanese cul-

ture, an inquiry gradually evolving to

the other sections. In Section 3.2, we

will explain the renovation process in

Tokyo during the Meiji era onwards,

using the ancient slogan, Wakon Yosai,

as the method to adopt and implement

foreign elements into a ‘local place’. Itis a way to understand the Japanese

thinking when transforming the urban

spaces. In Section 3.3, we will initiate a

discussion about the importance of na-

ture and the symbolic representations attached to the city. This way we are not only

examining the physical presence of nature and structures but we are also looking

at philosophical connotations that these concepts carry for the Japanese culture as

a way to revoke more veritable meaning in the city.

51




3.2 Ugliness vs. Beauty

The chaotic and unorganized urban planning of the city along with the archi-

tecture freedom of the booming economy has produced a bizarrely ugly city. Rem

Koolhass said about Tokyo after his first visit:

Japan, seven days later. First impression: the vastness and shamelessness of its ugliness. [. . . ] Japan lives (serenely?) with drastic segregation between thesublime, the ugly, and the utterly without qualities. Dominance of the last twocategories makes mere presence of the first stunning: when beauty ‘happens’,

it is absolutely surprising. Koolhaas, Mau, Sigler, et al. (1998, p. 88)

Tokyo is regarded ugly by scholars, visitors of Tokyo, an attribute particularly

used by the non-Japanese crowd2. Donald Richie, a writer that has lived in Tokyo

for over 60 years have described Tokyo as unusually ugly3. Cesare Brandi portrays

it a “ frightening city, the largest and ugliest in the world [. . . ] urban planning is chaotic,

nonexistent"4 . Besides the chaotic planning, another reason that Tokyo and other

Japanese cities are regarded as ugly is the ignorance in designing the exterior en-

velope of buildings. Additionally the absence of building regulations allows each building to exist in its own right with absolutely no reference to its context.

In Tokyo and other Japanese cities, there is a general disinterest to ornamen-

tation and the production of a clean urban aesthetic, that we commonly find in

the European architecture. Instead, we encounter in the cityscape tectonic effects

that beautify the building in such a way that the urban facade has been symbol-

ised as “a sea of signs” 5. The materiality of the architecture disperses behind the

ephemeral strong imagery attached to the facades. The signs multiply and are not

limited to mere billboards for advertising: as Tokyo is a complex enough city to

get around, explanations, directions, warnings are omnipresent at all different lev-

els and surfaces. In Waley’s words Tokyo is: “[. . . ] a jumble of functions and goods

for sale. [. . . ] city of transience and flux, as against Western cities, which are built of

2The interviews conducted in Tokyo also revealed that foreigners complained about the disor-derliness and ugliness of the city.

3Richie (1999).4 In Sacchi (2005, p. 13).5Yatsuka, Hajime (1990) ‘An architecture floating on the sea of signs’, in Botond Bognar (ed.)

The New Japanese Architecture, New York: Rizzoli.

52



3.2. UGLINESS VS. BEAUTY

stone and enshrine their memories in monuments. Tokyo is a textual city where West-ern cities are architectonic and three dimensional.6” Tokyo’s global economic status

generates the fluctuating need of mass communication that is ad hoc to the tech-

nological and textual image it generates. The ornamentation of the city is actually

composed of signs, billboards, images, symbols, scripts and letters and moving ad-

vertising. These features that are all jumbled up together are very characteristic of

the Japanese urban space and probably their absence will render Tokyo resembling

to any other developed and modernized big city.

Bognar (1990, p.14) calls this condition of the city the “theatrical insubstantiality”,a city who becomes a theme park or a stage set, the facades covering the building

are just a surface that could be at any time packed away. Or as Waley (2006, p.370)

states, these facades are “revealing only the deeply destabilising nuances of the term

façade itself ”. Berque adds : “Cela rend opportunément compte du désordre visuel des

villes japonaises contemporaines: dans une telle urbanité, gérer l’esthétique de la rue n’a

en effet guère de sens”7 (1994, p. 587).

The negligence of designing the facades can be explained through an insight in

Japanese traditional architecture. In Japanese traditional architecture the exteriorenvelope disperses as it is the pillars that support the roof, contrasted to Europe

for example, that the designing of cities implies an extraordinary emphasis at the

façades and the decoration of these (Berque, 1994). Furthermore, the disregard of

beauty in urban matters has its roots in the Japanese thinking and perception of

life. Magnificence is not given a significant value by the Japanese and mainly pub-

lic magnificence. Richie (1999, p.32) explains: “The truly magnificence is in Tokyo,

as in Edo, always found in public. Historically, the reason for the lack of public display

was that it was not necessary to impress a populace already impressed.” The emphasison the facade of buildings in Japan is an attribute that was brought forwards by

the 20th century international movement in architecture. Actually one of the most

important spatial concepts used to describe the Japanese city was the concept of

Oku used initially by Maki (1979). Oku refers to the spatial depth of something that

6Waley (2006, p. 367).7Translation by the author : “This makes opportunely an account of the visual disorder of con-

temporary Japanese cities: in such urbanity, managing the aesthetics of the street does indeed make

any sense”

53




is closed and can be penetrated gradually in order to grasp the phenomenologicalcentre. Maki (1979) exemplifies clearly this concept by comparing it to an onion,

saying that it is like penetrating its layers, profound and difficult to accessed. Res-

onance exists for the city, as well for the Japanese people in the deepest layers of

things.

Figure 3.2: Mix use districts in Tokyo

Photo by author.

In general the understanding of

beauty holds different meanings for the

Japanese than it does for the West-

ern people. Beauty as a public con-cern had never held the same signifi-

cance for Japanese compared to a city

like Paris per instant. Richie indicates:

“Being modern and being ostentatious

were obviously architecture concerns

from the Meiji period on, but not be-

ing beautiful.” (1999, p .35). For the

Japanese, the basic understanding of beauty for the Japanese culture is found

in the ancient idea of wabi-sabi8 that

describes beauty as “imperfect, imper-

manent and incomplete” (Koren, 1994,

p.7), and where asymmetry is one of

its main features. The concept itself is

rooted back to ancient beliefs linked to

the tradition of Buddhism, that we aregoing to discuss further on.

Another characteristic of Tokyo’s

contemporary urban identity is the

8 Like many Japanese notions, wabi-sabi cannot be easily translated in a foreign lan-guage. David and Michiko Young in Spontaneity in Japanese Art and Culture, 2006,(http://japaneseaesthetics.com), write : “Wabi refers to that which is humble, simple, normal, andhealthy, while sabi refers to elegant detachment and the rustic maturity that comes to something asit grows old”. Both concepts wabi and Sabi were aesthetic terms to describe the art of tea ceremony

dating back many centuries.

54



3.2. UGLINESS VS. BEAUTY

way space is attributed in the city and the richness of diverse spaces that it gen-erates. The fast development and the absence city planning regulations have ren-

dered is a diversity of scales and usages that coexist in the city’s fabric. Behind a

huge and busy commercial avenue with tall buildings, one can find winding alleys

with densely packed small restaurants and shops of one or two floors. In Tokyo

one can see high rise buildings with small floor areas, or equally large floor ar-

eas but low rise. Another distinctiveness of the city is that high-rise buildings are

mixed with low rise and consequently people from different social status could be

living in the same district.Subsequently, we come across a translation of everyday Japanese architecture

into the urban tissue of Tokyo. In Japanese architecture, there is a meticulous effort

to make every space functional and practical, and this is mainly evident in how a

house is organized. Every object has its designated place for positioning and ev-

ery space is calculated to be used to its maximum capacity. This is also true and

evident in the city design, in the sense that every place is assigned to multiple func-

tions and required to be fully utilized. A phenomenon called "Pet architecture"by

Kuroda and Kaijima (2001), is the extreme demonstration of the Japanese fascina-tion for smallness and void phobia, the stubborn unwillingness to leave space un-

used. Correspondingly, we encounter in Tokyo very small types of buildings that

Kuroda and Kaijima (2001) referred to as the interior design of closets, treating the

urban space as a large-scale interior space, or as the authors of the book declare,

these small structures are like the pets of the city. These objects regarding their

minuscule size become as important as the skyscraper since they are often more

personalized and easier to identify for the passer by. We have observed that is not

only those pet size buildings that add a distinguished variety in the urbanscape, itis also objects that extend beyond the bounds of structures, like vending machines

or advertising panels. These create a multiplicity of the urban fabric manifesting a

more authentic feature of Japanese culture than the authoritative skyscrapers do.

These small objects have also proved their importance through the interviews as

apparent objects for identification 9.

9These results and the importance of small size objects in the city are elaborated further in the

interview process in the next chapter.

55




Figure 3.3: Example of pet size building,

Tokyo. Photo by author.

Additionally, the need of makinguse of every little space has taken new

dimensions during the economic boom

in Japan. Exploiting every available

land or square meter possible was a

method to exploit projects on a bigger

scale. One of the particular character-

istics of Tokyo’s urbanity is the mix-

ture of different structures and differ-ent uses that are to be seen in a sin-

gle structure. Tokyo is a melting pot

of different structures and within these

structures exist a multiplicity of differ-

ent uses and the whole ensemble re-

minds of an abstract architecture col-

lage. This is a distinctive feature of

Tokyo’s urban structure that resultedfrom the fast development. It has cre-

ated an extraordinary blend of urban

practices that amongst them are con-

trasting, unrelated, out-of-place to its surroundings, but they are ad hoc to so-

cial demands. Structures of such original intertwining include: shrines on top of

office/shop buildings, tennis court in the middle of an expressway round-about,

tunnels traversing graveyards, parks on top of sewerage plants. To economize

space, is also common to find highways passing over parks, rivers and even de-partment stores. Also common is to use the roofs for inserting functions like car

parks on a tall buildings, golf courts, driving schools, tennis courts and generally

a lot of sport facilities10 .

The result could be described as ugly, at first, progressing to be funny, bizarre,

intriguing, inspiring, and finally beautiful! Beauty has resulted from the inspiring

way these mixed-used structures are being utilised. Beautiful or logical compo-

10These examples are derived from onsite examination and readings from the book by Kuroda

and Kaijima (2001), Made in Tokyo.

56



3.3. WAKON YOSAI

sitions proved to be not important measures when looking at Tokyo’s’ urbanity.Sacchi affirms that “Tokyo rappelle à l’Occidental que le rationnel n’est qu’un système

parmi des autres11” (2005, p. 108).

The present urban identity of Tokyo, ugly and shameless with conditions of

hybrid and junky architecture or as called by Judo and Kuroda (2006), Dame Ar-

chitecture (translated into bad architecture) creates actually a new urban aesthetic.

Through the messy urban structure, Tokyo’s true and more practical identity is

revealed via those structures that correspond to the urban conditions of the fast

changing city as opposed to other prefabricated homogenous structures. The exis-tence of this new aesthetics is an antithesis to history or planning principles but it

is a response to "here and now"12 of the fast changing urban conditions.

Next we are going to discuss the introduction of new systems on existing pat-

terns in order to observe how the spirit of Tokyo was preserved at the time of

important transformation processes in the urban conditions were experienced in

the Meiji era.

3.3 Wakon Yosai

Analysing the current condition of Tokyo, one central notion that we have to

launch to infer the process of change in Japan is the slogan of wakon yosai, meaning

Japanese spirit, Western technology, pronounced by the Meiji emperor Yoshikawa

Tadayasu in 1868. It was generally regarded as a nationalist approach to protect

against the “alien”. The practise of sustaining the spirit of the place and its indige-

nous culture while importing foreign cultures was practiced in Japan since many

centuries ago. It dates back to the Heian period13, when the term wakon kansai

(Japanese spirit, Chinese scholarship) was adopted as Chinese thinking was intro-

duced in the Japan. The desire to learn from Japan and the ideology of wakon yosai

is often an example amongst Asian developing countries of how Japan became in

11Translation by the author: Tokyo has reminded the West that the rational system is only oneamong others

12 Judo and Kuroda (2006, p. 13)13The Heian period is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185.

Like it was customary to do, the period was named after the capital city of Heian-kyo, present day

Kyoto. It was the period where Chinese influences were making inroads in Japan.

57




a few decades an industrial country without abandoning their own cultural tradi-tions14. Wakon yosai has been employed and is manifested in various disciplines,

ranging from architecture to urban strategies, food or fashion.

Translating this notion in the urban measures in Tokyo while it was entering

into the phase of modernization, we observe how western ideas were imposed

on existing urban patterns. Instead of destroying old neighbourhoods and exist-

ing urban configuration, new structures have been laid on top of the old to meet

new requirements. For example, in the case of new roads, existing road patterns

were superimposed to give way for wider ones. Jinnai affirms: “Rather than majorsurgery, Tokyo chose continuous and organic change to achieve growth and development.

This mechanism continues in Tokyo even today”15 . As for the architecture in the early

years of the Meiji Restoration buildings had a western and Japanese feel to them.

Buildings commenced to be built in brick as a measure to protect against fire de-

struction. For example, in Ginza16 , the existing roads widened while the buildings

along the road were designed by an English architect, Thomas James Water, after

London’s Regent Street. While the shop facades and the avenues started resem-

bling a scene from a European town, well organized and uniformed, on the back-yard of the shops and in the alleys behind, one could find the traditional wooden

houses and the maze like streets revealing the oriental sense of Tokyo unaltered

from foreign influences. Another common approach at the time was to build the

houses in western style and design the garden in Japanese style. As a general rule,

western style was used for designing the public sector and Japanese design for the

private sector. In this way, the Japanese spirit was preserved on the inside behind

a western and modern exterior façade. For thirty years the city and the lifestyle

were changing gradually, and even the dress code of the people reflected the newurban identity of Tokyo, as people used to wear western costumes in the day and

changing to their kimonos at night. King recites: “They usually dress in Western

clothing and work in western buildings at daytime, and change to robes and slippers and

sleep in old fashioned homes. What a wonderful solution that resolves both outside and

14Deconstructing ‘Japanisation’: Reflections From The ‘Learn From Japan’ Campaign In Singa-pore. Thang.

15 Jinnai (1996, p. 30)16Ginza is one of the most significant commercial districts of Tokyo today.

58



3.4. TRANSIENCE AND RECONSTRUCTION

inside means.” (King, 2008, p. 20). Similarly, bowing was introduced to baseball,and fish toppings on pizza. Particularly with the introduction of Western cuisine,

a sophisticated creativity is noted. Ice cream, for example, comes in a variety of

novel flavors like green tea, cherry blossom, chicken teriyaki, eel or squid. The

transformation in Tokyo has proven that renew in architecture or urban planning

comes along with a new condition in a cultural sense, usually where a partial or

whole substitution is taking place, and where the people voluntary or not are also

converted into a lifestyle that is adept to the surroundings. Murakami(1996) re-

counts: “ Japanese have been looking at themselves through the spectacles of other peoplesince the time of rapid modernization of the Meiji era. They are thus unable to see their

own logic due to these foreign spectacles . . . ”17.

Even the trendy term glocalisation18 is a Japanese invention and brings to mind

the term wakon yosai. It was invented in the 1980’s by Japanese business practices

to describe the adaptation of farming techniques into local conditions. It has later

developed into a business marketing strategy in order to create "a global outlook

adapted to local conditions" (Robertson, 1995, p.28). The process discussed in this

section of inheriting foreign items into Japanese culture and urban space has been“ for a very long time strongly cultivated the spatio-cultural significance [. . . ] and where

the general issue of the relationship between the particular and the universal has histori-

cally received almost obsessive attention” (Robertson, 1995, p.28).

3.4 Transience and reconstruction as inherited mnemonics

We are going to focus in this section in the process of destruction and recon-

struction of the Japanese cities that has been a recurring phenomenon for many

centuries, and probably would be an unfortunate incident for the times to come

considering the seismic zone which Tokyo is situated19. Tokyo, however revives

completely after destruction sustaining the singularity of the city and its Japanese

17As quoted in Eshun (1997,p. 42).18The word has derived from the japanese dochaku which means ‘living in ones own land’.

Source : Robertson (1995, p.28).19In Japan there are earthquakes of small magnitude occurring every single day. Now special

attention is centered on predictions focusing on the next big earthquake that is expected to take

place in Tokyo this decade, and is already delayed from the anticipated time.

59




identity. Given Tokyo’s long history of devastation and subsequent revival, wecan argue that this fleeting condition is actually a permanent identifiable feature

of the city. One attempt to elaborate on the compliant temperament of Tokyo in

regards to destruction-reconstruction is to have an insight in Japanese culture that

is deeply associated to this day, to nature, Buddhist and Shintoism religion. The

understanding of nature for the Japanese is a force that drives things perpetually

into a new course and with this endorsement their culture revolves around the

notion of impermanence.

3.4.1 Buddhist and Shintoism teachings

Figure 3.4: : Buddhist tradition appearing in

a Tokyo shrine. Photo by author.

During Japan’s long history entire

capitals have been moved to a different

locations. The Buddhist religion breeds

around teachings like there is no perma-

nence and that all things must pass that

have in equally profound ways condi-

tioned the Japanese mentality toward

the phenomena of change and the tran-

sitory nature of existence. Imperma-

nence is one of the basic the teach-

ings of Buddhism, it is actually one

of the three marks of existence that de-

fine Buddhism20. Waley (2006, p.366)

explains how contemporary Tokyo isa metaphor of this Buddhist tradition:

“Tokyo as city in which life is transient relates emphatically back to the notion of floating

world, the Buddhist-inspired vision of a world in which life is fleeting and therefore the

moment should be grasped and enjoyed”.

Reconstruction has also its roots in the primary religion of the Japanese, the

20The three marks of existence are the three main characteristics of Buddhism, namely: im-permanence, suffering and non-self. Source: Three Basic Facts of Existence: I. Imperma-nence (Anicca)", with a preface by Nyanaponika Thera. Access to Insight, 5 June 2010,

http://www.accesstoinsight.org

60




Shintoism, that requires the short and long term maintenance of buildings, andoften involves partial replacement of old parts of a construction with newer ones.

Sacchi (2005, p.114) writes: “La reconstruction était un rite de purification régulièrement

pratique selon des modalités précises et dans des lieux différents, pendant tout la période

féodale, et considérée comme une véritable règle du culte shinto"21 . The phenomenon

of renewal is largely evident in the wooden temples, and particularly manifested

with the well-known example of the important religious sanctuary of Ise, a Shinto-

ism temple that is destroyed and rebuilt every twenty years since the 8th century22.

Ashihara (1989, p. 121-2) explains that it is not the spatial structure that is signifi-cant to preserve but rather the spirit and the meaning that the structure suggests:

[...] que ce nous voyons aujourd’hui n’est donc pas une entité réelle, celle quiexistait à la période Nara, mais une fidele reproduction de la beauté originaleet intemporelle d’une structure encore extrêmement vivante de nos du sanctu-aire jours. . . prés d’Ise, ce qui est conservé n’est pas une entité physique maisl’expression et l’esprit de l’architecture.23

The custom of reconstruction becomes also evident in the lifestyle of the peo-

ple. We observe that in traditional residences a yearly replacement of the tatami is

carried out, while after the winter period people usually replace the interior panels

of their houses, the shoji and fusuma. The roof of the house is usually replaced ev-

ery 50 years. Sacchi (2005) concludes that the contemporary renewal of the urban

fabric is related with this long Shintoism tradition:

Cette attitude c’est tout naturellement appliquée aux édifices contemporaines[...] on trouve par ailleurs couramment des éléments traditionnels. Et le désirde renouvèlement est partout sensible: on sait que au Japon une loi prévoit lareconstruction des bâtiments public tous les trente ans environ.24

21 Translation by the author: Reconstruction was a rite of purification regularly practiced in aspecific manner and in different places throughout the feudal period and is considered as a truerule of the Shinto religion.

22There was only one interruption to the pattern in 1467, at the time of the ‘feudal wars of Onin’that the reconstruction was halted for 120 years.

23Translation by the author: “[. . . ] what we see today is not a real entity like what existed at theNara period, but a faithful reproduction of the original timeless and temporal beauty of a structurethat is still alive in our days [...] the thing that is preserved is not a physical entity but the spiritand expression of the architecture.”

24 Translation by the author: “This attitude is naturally applied to contemporary buildings [. . . ]where we normally find traditional elements. And the desire for renewal is palpable everywhere:we know that in Japan a law foresees the reconstruction of public buildings every thirty years

approximately.

61




The temporary nature of buildings and the renewal of structures is also linkedto the cyclical passage of time, as understood through the conception of nature,

which we are going to discuss further on.

3.4.2 Nature and The City

A review of different studies on Tokyo led to the belief that one of the basic

attribute in maintaining the spirit of place and Tokyo’s unique identity is the con-

nection of the city with its natural surroundings. Nature in our research includesalso events that are related to and celebrate nature, as well as the assimilation of na-

ture in Buddhist and Shintoism teachings. Sacchi (2005, p. 119) stated that if there

is one aspect that is still a part of the traditional heritage in the urban fabric is the

rapport with nature. The relationship of the city to its natural surroundings is not

surprising given the enormous respect that the Japanese people tend for nature.

Without a doubt, understanding the meaning of nature for the Japanese culture

would help us to value and understand their cities. The discussion about nature

includes the geographical environment of the place, as well as people’s expressionin nature via events that are occurring to appraise it.

In Jinnai’s work, Tokyo: a Spatial Anthropology, (1994) we are presented with the

importance of the geographical location and the sense of place that marked the ur-

ban setting of Tokyo. A detailed history concentrating on the city of Edo25 shows

the evolution of urban space in relation to its natural settings, such us the exist-

ing topography. In particular, Mount Fuji and Mount Tsukuba seen in a distance

were very important elements in deciding the spatial orientation of the city. Moun-

tains were worshipped as gods in Japan so they became objects of glorious beauty

and the city’s planning division was perfectly aligned to be orientated towards the

mountains. The particular topography of the region also played an important role

in the urban spatial structure of Tokyo: There are eight hill tops in Tokyo, which

have been known since the Edo period as shiomi-zaka 26 and often referred to as

25The city of Edo was the former name of present capital of Tokyo, the seat of power of theTokugawa Shogunate. The Edo period in Japan lasted from 1603 to 1868, year which Edo wasrenamed into Tokyo and became the official capital of Japan.

26Tide viewing hills.

62




mountains27

. Furthermore Jinnai introduces us with the meaning of meisho forthe Japanese city. There is no direct translation of meisho but it can be defined as a

place where water and trees come together harmoniously with buildings to form

an organic environment. Meisho is rather an abstract concept as it does not relate

to a specific structure or location but rather to the success of reinterpreting a place

harmoniously between all elements. The importance that monuments have for

the occident as devices for memory is translated instead into the concept of meisho

for the Japanese city. I think that this is one of the fundamental mnemonics that

tie together people with place and it is not a model related to tradition by monu-mentalization processes that evokes often outbursts of nationalism and power. It

is rather a true and profound bond with the place. As Jinnai (1996) confirmed: “

The meishos from Edo and earlier are much more closely related to nature and their value

remains stable because they are tied to the people’s hearts at a very profound level. They

will certainly continue forever as part of the townscape.”28. Even if Tokyo perpetually

changes, the features related to nature or the topography will remain constant, a

valuable asset for a city in motion to preserve its identity, or in Jinnai’s words:

“Even if the buildings are rebuilt, the permanency of the place will remain” 29.Consequently if we observe the people of the Japanese city, as we did in the

next chapter, people’s special memories are often related to nature. It seems peo-

ple try to preserve their existence in their everyday places, sustaining their identity,

striving to “create an environment with the personality of place” (Jinnai, 1994, p. 18).

The appreciation of nature is a cultural phenomenon in Japan as people hold such

an affective bond to nature that in a way that it is perceived as a component indi-

visible of the city. For example, the changing seasons are so evident in the climate

that the people praise every season accordingly with parallel events taking place inthe city. The phenomenon of change and transformation can be as well explained

with the cyclical character that emerges in every aspect of life in Japan. The most

distinctive example is the spring blossoms that bloom every spring in Japan. The

27Certainly with the transformation of the city in the 80’s these viewing hills of Tokyo lost theirprimary role. With the construction of high-rise office and condominium buildings have begunto emerge, blocking the view completely and making it impossible for us to see directly the richundulations of the topography.

28 Jinnai (1996, p. 43).29 Jinnai (1996, p. 43).

63




Japanese people await and prepare accordingly30

for the blossoms like westernersdo for the Christmas preparations. It is perhaps Japan’s most festive season, a na-

tional sport to go sightseeing across the country, picnic under the sakura 31 trees,

have a close look at them, watch the cinematic falling pinkish leaves on a windy

day and take exactly the same smiling photos as the previous year. The annual

praise for the sakura blossoms is also linked to Buddhist teachings that indicate

the beauty of things with the passage of time, the cycle of nature emphasizing the

ever changing and impermanence of things. What Japanese people enjoy in the

sakura-viewing season is the sequential cycle that occurs during the one week;where leaves are gradually blooming and progressively falling down. In the next

chapter we will test this hypothesis with the interviews and show other ways in

which nature becomes important in people’s understanding with and identifying

the city.

Figure 3.5: Sakura blossom in Shibuya,Tokyo. Photo: www.japanstyle.info

Shinto’s dictation about nature is

also a vital doctrine for Japanese think-

ing that presents nature as indivisible

from human life. Shinto religion rec-ognizes many Gods, which exist any-

where especially in natural places such

as rivers, rocks, mountains and other

natural edifices. The underlying prin-

ciple is not to compete with nature but

rather the aspiration to reach the per-

fect harmony between nature and man.

The relationship with nature is oftenreflected in the Japanese architecture

as well. In the architecture we find a

translucent barrier between interior and exterior realized achieved through the

absence of structural walls and the ambiguous engawa32 zone that ensues gently

30Every spring the people await for the sakura blossom, every autumn the momiji blossom, thewinter snow, and the monsoon rains of the summer. All these events become such an importantfestivity, that the whole nation is equally engaged in viewing.

31Cherry trees.32 Engawa refers to the typically wooden strip of flooring immediately before windows and

64




the transition from inside to outside. In the traditional Japanese architecture woodis the primary construction material for houses, shrines and public buildings, as it

aids in obscuring the borderline of where artificiality starts and where it ends.

3.4.3 Creative chaos

In trying to explain the contemporary Tokyo’s chaotic and discentered urban

space, we have found several analogous from the old city of Edo, Japanese culture

and Buddhism which we would present here a few examples. The attempt to de-

cipher the city has often led several authors to use metaphors in order to elucidate

the city while others make associations to its heritage city of Edo. Famous Japanese

architect Kisho Kurokawa explains that Tokyo’s special feature as a city composed

of many villages each one having distinctive characteristics is an analogue of the

city of Edo:

I have expressed the idea that Tokyo is a conglomeration of 300 cities, in factTokyo in the Edo period was forced by the ruler of Tokugawa to take up res-idence in the new capital Edo. Each lord was assigned an area in correspon-

dence to his ample revenue. Temples and shrines and monks from that regiongathered in the area and took up residence, forming a city within a city. Edoused to be a group of small cities and this tradition has been inherited by con-temporary Tokyo in a symbiosis of parts as a whole. Kurokawa (1994)33

In the contemporary city each district has its own distinctive identity and be-

comes a centre in its own rights. For example, Akihabara is “Electric Town”, as it

is the Mecca of seeing and buying gadgets of the latest technology, Roppongi is a

district developed in the 1980’s and it is the centre of “nightlife”, Ginza is the “rich

town”, Shibuya the “ fashion district”, and Shinjuku were the metropolitan head-quarters are found is known as the “administrative center”.

The present state of Tokyo as a fluid and transient city and its rapport with

impermanence is also rooted to rudiments of the city of Edo where there was an

understanding of the human dwellings as temporary shelters, especially in the

storm shutters inside traditional Japanese rooms. Recently this term has also come to mean theveranda outside of the room as well. Source:Wikipedia

33 In Henra van Sande paper : Bindings. Investigation on the interest of inter-bindings in Tokyo’scontemporary city : Kisho Kurokawa, by Finch Paul, in: Learning from Tokyo, From: Architectural

Design, Vol. 64, n˚ 1-2, 1994, pp. 8-19.

65




low-city of Shitamachi. This was called ukiyo which translates into the floatingworld. Sacchi writes that its non-solid status produces a spectacular and hallucina-

tory event “dans lequel Tokyo se révèle un lieu de samara en sanscrit “sommet du devenir”

ou de l’ukiyo-e, le fugitive, le monde flottant ” (Sacchi, 2005, p.224). The floating world

of contemporary Tokyo is seen as a “ fundamental reference” to the city of Edo and Wa-

ley adds that the “references to the floating world carry connotations not only of transience

and impermanence but also to the carpe diem culture” (Waley, 2006, p. 371).

The attempt to interpret Tokyo’s chaotic urbanism, its prominent feature, we

are once more guided at the direction of Buddhism thinking. Bognar (1997, p.3)finds roots in Buddhism tradition to explain the disorganized city that discards

concepts of clear logic:

Buddhism emphasizes the evanescence and insubstantiality of things. Uni-versal and immutable laws do not appeal to the Japanese. Nor does the logicof clear or autonomous identity; traditionally, Japanese things have not beensubjected to the process of individuation and objectification.

Disorganized structures, destruction and chaotic daily routine are part of the

Japanese culture and we can infer a few examples to justify this complexity. Japanese

language one of them: the complex system that defines the Japanese culture and

has been around for centuries. In the Japanese language, exist three different al-

phabets34 all used in writing, while the English alphabet and foreign words have

also been introduced and used. The language is also notable for its complex system

of honorifics, a system with verb forms and meticulous vocabulary to address the

relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned in conversation.

This frenzied and perplex system is in reality, highly hierarchical system in which

different status such us class position, age or gender indicate the way of talking.

This system reflecting the nature of Japanese society yet it is a system that could

have been simplified. The Japanese are voluntary engaged to perform and prac-

tice their language wholly with excellence. There is also a frequent employment

of signs and metaphors while conversing. For example, saying “no” in Japanese

is not really accepted when communicating. Instead there are sixteen different

34The three alphabets or scripts are the Chinese characters called kanji and two syllabicscriptsmade up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana. Also the English alphabet is widely

used and called Romanji.

66



3.5. CONCLUSION

ways to refuse35

, but without saying “no” directly. When translating a conversa-tion directly there is usually no clear verdict to it, as body language is also utterly

important in conveying meanings. For this reason there are a plentiful of books

written in trying to decipher the Japanese language and ways of communicating,

often designed for the foreigners.

If we compare this particular characteristic with Tokyo city we can smoothly

make the link with Tokyo’s urban character. There is no clear way out. It is ener-

getic, full of signs, and it takes a lot of effort to reveal the superficial veil and find

a deeper meaning. Gunter Nietzsche (1995) has called this condition the “creativechaos” that fashions a new paradigm in architecture representing the world in mo-

tion and in which we are experiencing an intensification of human consciousness.

3.5 Conclusion

This chapter elucidated on different features of the contemporary identity of

Tokyo, namely its ugliness and chaotic characteristics, a result of the frenetic de-

velopment of the city, but a feature of Tokyo that affirms its own particular identity

and makes it an identifiable place amongst other cities around the world. We have

also investigated several symbolic connotations that find resonance when looking

at Tokyo’s chaotic and meaningless and transient urban fabric. The old slogan

wakon yosai has been an ancient technique that the Japanese have used in order to

maintain their identity when exposed to foreign influences. We have linked this

idea wih glocalisation, another Japanese invention and probably an appropriate

method to maintain the locality of a place in an increasing global world. It is the

ability to inherit foreign cultures, technologies, but in such a manner that in adapts

to their own needs, a method that makes the transition smooth. Similar symboliza-

tions and translations of Shinto and Buddhist religions and the cyclical perception

of nature have been adopted to explain mainly the ephemeral identity of Tokyo.

We can after all conclude that this impermanent quality of the city is actually a per-

manent feature in Tokyo’s urban image, brought forward by ancient beliefs and the

practise of those to this day.

35(Sacchi 2005, p.105).

67




In the next chapter, I will also propose that Tokyo’s urbanity can be related tothe universal laws of the Japanese culture and people. Additionally, I would try

to draw associations between the city identity and the human identify focusing

in the non clear and not autonomous identity can describe both cities and people.

Kimura (1972) and Hamaguchi Eshu who have extensively study the Japanese self

appraise the uniqueness of the Japanese psyche. Kimura presents the Japanese self

as “not an autonomous entity, but merely as that part of a relationship which happens to be

temporarily held by a person. [. . . ] it expands and contracts to fit shared relationships and

situations.36

” Similarly, Berque (1994, p. 174) explains that the city amoeba as putforward by Ashihara that adapts situations to fit in the urban tissue can interpret

an order to the chaotic image of Tokyo: "[...] l’urbanité japonaise adapte souplement

ses formes à l’évolution des besoins. [. . . ] Il ya bien là un ordre, mais c’est un ordre caché

sous l’apparence du chaos”37.

The suggestion of the human in the city, as an important constituent in terms of

maintaining memories and meanings on one hand and in practicing a daily space-

routine, on the other hand, delineates the use and identification in the city. People

and their way of living is a vital value for the city and what we will try to suggest inthe next chapter is how their lifestyle and activities aid to enhance Tokyo’s identity

by promoting locality that is hidden behind the global image of the city.

36As cited in Davis (1998, p. 174).37Translation by the author:“Japanese urbanity adapts its forms in a flexible manner to the chang-

ing needs. [...] There is definitely an order but it is a hidden order under the disguise of chaos.

68



CHAPTER 4

THE INTERVIEWS

[. . . ] les dimensions moyennes d’un logement sont de 55m2 , [ . . . ] 5%

est réservé aux parcs contre 30% à Londres, [. . . ] 75% des travailleurs

passent plus d’une heure par jour dans les transports ; plus de 70% dor-

ment moins de 6 heures par nuit ; 41% des couples mariés se parlent

moins de 15 minutes par jour [. . . ] et 10% ne se parlent pas du tout. Le

coût de la vie est 50% supérieur à celui de New York [. . . ] la vie moyenne

d’un édifice est de 26 ans [. . . ].

— Sacchi (2005, p. 32)

4.1 Introduction

In the last chapter we have discussed how the identity of the place is conveyed

through conceptual connotations and translations of culture in the urban fabric.

We have shown how the interpretation of the contemporary city is possible using

metaphors, translation of traditions and culture. This is a way to reinforce the

belief that in order to evaluate the condition of a city that architectural and urban

spaces hold temporary meanings, we have to look beyond the physical structures.Throughout our exploration of place in the first chapter we have been pointed

towards the investigation of other intangible values that express place identity. As

the first chapter of this work has examined, one important element in looking into

the identity of the place is to observe people. In this chapter we are going to look

further into the intangible values correlated with the appreciation of place via its

people, the practice of everyday life, such as lifestyle, local food and daily space

routine. Within the pages that will follow Tokyo is presented through the eyes

of its citizens, in this way we are looking as well at the identity with Tokyo, that



CHAPTER 4. THE INTERVIEWS

Edward Relph suggested as an appropriate research method.We will demonstrate in this part that one significant apparatus that Tokyo holds

in preserving its identity and the unique spirit of the place is through its people.

People are not only important for their physical presence in the city but their prac-

tice of everyday life in the contemporary metropolis evokes traditional Japanese

values and keeps the Japanese spirit alive. We are going to look at some of the cus-

toms and everyday rituals that are performed by the habitants of Tokyo, that will

guide us to discover another side of Tokyo that we cannot simply decipher when

looking at the physical attributes or scholars’ ideas about the place.

Figure 4.1: Tokyo: people as a physical

element. Photo by author

The perception of the city by its habi-

tants is another supplementary tool to un-

derstand a city that is difficult to define in

its spatial terms. The image as figured by

the inhabitants, furthermore, “ play a social,

psychological, and esthetic, as well as practi-

cal role in our lives” (Lynch, 1960, p. 123).

Section 4.1 is going to portray the impres-

sion of Tokyo by the interviewees, through

maps designed by the people and direct

questioning on the subject. In Section 4.2,

we will inquire directly on the question of

orientation and identification, an essential

element in understanding one’s environ-

ment since primitive times (Lynch, 1960, p.123). Identifying and orientating oneself

within a city demonstrates ones attachment

of the city, one’s place within the city. The

notion of place attachment that we have

discussed in the first chapter is a feature

that needs to be examined via conversa-

tions with people in order to reveal the place-identity.

The exposition of this part of the research has resulted from a detailed inter-

70



4.2. IMPRESSION AND CENTERS

view conducted while in Tokyo in the summer of 2009. The attempt is to enhancethe hypothesis that in fast changing city we should concentrate on the intangible

values of a city in order to comprehend its identity. Furthermore, the people’s ex-

ploitation of big cities and the question of place-identity is an interesting subject

for studying cities under development.

For the purpose of this project, I have interviewed 27 people that I have en-

countered while walking in Tokyo-to around the Shinjuku and Shibuya districts.

The interviews were a process that lasted for 8 consecutive days. The 27 people

were chosen to fit a melting pot of different sexes, different age groups, and differ-ent occupations. The interview also aimed to incorporate a non-Japanese crowd,

as to have a more wide perception of the city, given that each culture understands

the city in an alternate fashion. The overall outcome was as follows: 14 females

of which 4 were non-Japanese and below 35 and 4 were Japanese women over 40.

There were a total of 13 males who 5 of them were non-Japanese and below 35,

and 4 were in the age group of 40 and over. The overall process interview had a

duration of about one hour, a considerable amount of time for the busy Tokyoite.

Generally the non-Japanese crowd was more open to talk directly of their ideasabout Tokyo while I had a general difficulty in trying to reinterpret the question.

The questionnaire was designed partially following the example of Lynch’s (1960)

questionnaire in his book: The image of the city (ibid., p. 141). Lynch’s questionnaire

proposes the examination of the imageabilty of the city, those " physical qualities

which relate to the attributes of identity and structure in the mental image". (ibid., p.

9). Questions one, two and four, are somewhat compiled from Lynch’s question-

naire. They have been though, extensively adapted to fit our case of study Tokyo,

and was further enhanced to make queries about center, identity, quality of living.The questionnaire helped to widen the questions firstly regarding the image of a

city that lacks physical references and secondly to retrieve those qualities that are

important for the residents of such a city.

4.2 Impression and Centers

We are going to present here the general results of question 1 that were depicted

from asking people about their general impression of Tokyo. Question 1 was con-

71




Figure 4.2: Map 1: Concrete Jungle

sisted of questions like descriptions of the city, distinctive features, the question of

center, and the sketch of a quick map. Tokyo Tower1 came first as a monument

or a landmark that the people incorporated in the descriptions of the physical im-

age of Tokyo. The density and the tall buildings was another important reference

that people commonly expressed. Yet, these tall buildings were anonymous in the

descriptions; it was rather the overall image of Tokyo that was described. Other

frequent responses were of the sort: “ funny, exciting, crowded, silly, tall buildings,

chaotic, concrete jungle, a city for the young people”.

A few answers portrayed people as a kind of physical element in their depiction

of the city like: “ people in nice clothes walking amongst tall buildings” and “Dark and

1The Tokyo Tower is a replica of the Eiffel Tower(320m), built in Tokyo in 1958, and it has beenthe worlds tallest (333m) self supporting steel tower. It is a communication and observation tower

that attracts millions of tourist per year.

72




sad Japanese guys wearing sad black suits rushing to take their train to go to their sadCompany and spoil their lives there.”

Tokyo Tower is the only reference of a historical structure, even though a very

recent one, there has been no reference to other physical elements revealing Japanese

identity, neither the natural environment appeared in the first impression. Con-

trary a few non-places have been mentioned like the Tsutaya2 chain shops or the

Shibuya Crossing 109 Shopping Centre3. A general observation from the first im-

pression was the vagueness of the answers brought forward by the generalization

of the descriptions.

4.2.1 Map Analysis

Figure 4.3: Map 2

The maps were an appropriate

method to create an initial impression

of Tokyo prior to the interview that

inquires directly on the mental image

of the encountered places before pro-

ceeding with the rest of queries that

exhort for precision. Above all, they

serve as an indication to understand

how the habitant relates with his envi-

ronment. In designing the map of his

city, the interviewee is positioning him-

self in place and reveals his perception

and connection to the city. Below I willsummarize the most significant infor-

mation drawn out from the maps. The

request was to draw a map of Tokyo

similar as if “making a rapid description

to someone about the city” as specifically asked in question 2a.

2Tsutaya is a rental chain shop of music, films and other audio visual material. It is omnipresenteverywhere in Japan, and it is usually a standardized building easy to recognize with bright blueand yellow colors standing out.

3A huge department store of ten stories high, featuring the latest fashion.

73




I have received a variety of responses concerning the spatial boundaries of Tokyo. Fifteen people consider Tokyo to be the inside of Yamanote line, which

is actually the Tokyo center not Tokyo as a whole. The geographical situation of

Tokyo including the prefectures that composed it was described as Tokyo from six

people. Five people positioned Tokyo with relation to the neighboring cities, while

one has actually placed Tokyo in a world map. 24 people placed correctly the north

in their drawings.

Figure 4.4: Map 3

The most important observa-

tion made from the maps is thestrong physical presence of train

stations that seem to help people

to identify with the city. Names

of areas have been identified and

placed on the maps in accor-

dance to the train path traversing

through them. Yamanote line that

encircles Tokyo-to, the center, wasa key feature and shown in twenty

maps.

Two important physical land-

marks have been identified: The

Imperial Palace and the Tokyo Tower which were structures that six people in-

cluded in their drawings. Other points of references were not physical structures

but districts as a whole. Twenty one interviewees used districts as a whole aspoints of reference in their maps, districts that for the most of the times are found

on the Yamanote line. (For example Shinjuku and Shibuya were almost continu-

ally present, and others like Ueno, Odaiba, Asakusa, and Akihabara were present

randomly).

An important remark reflected from the interviews is that the physical presence

of Tokyo has an impact on the people, but not the specificity of places but the image

as a whole. This was depicted from the incorporation of tall buildings in the maps,

where five people either represented them in text but for the most cases by drawing

74




in their maps.

Figure 4.5: Map 4

The demonstration in the previ-

ous readings about the natural en-

vironment of Tokyo was one fea-

ture that I had expected to be re-

vealed from the interviews. How-

ever, there were four people indicat-

ing the position of Tsukuba and Fuji

mountains and another one to pointout the Tama River that traverses

Tokyo. Tokyo bay and the sea were

present in the drawings of one fifth

of the people but this is probably

due to the proximity to the Tokyo

center. Seven interviewees precisely

illustrated the Daiba4 area in their

maps, which is the district next toTokyo bay, a perfect example of a

non-place, as it is an artificial island consisting of primarily shopping centers, en-

tertainment venues and chain hotels. Daiba is a collection of places around the

world where the district as a whole brings to mind a sea resort from Australia as it

consists of a lot of open spaces unlikely the rest of Tokyo. The Rainbow Bridge that

connects Tokyo center to this artificial island and is described as “Tokyo’s answer

to Golden Gate Bridge” (Cybriwsky, 2005, p. 223). There is a little Hong Kong dis-

trict and the Telecom Building that is a version of Le grand Arc in La Défence of Paris. A little further there is another Huge Shopping mall named Venus fort, with

interior streets and buildings reinvented with origins of a 18 th century southern

European town that actually resembles a “ Las Vegas version of Italy” (Cybriwsky,

2005, p. 224). On the same island, we can find also many examples of impressive

and massive buildings originating from Japanese architects, like the Fuji TV Head-

quarters, designed by Kenzo Tange or Tokyo Big sight convention center. There

4Daiba is a waterfront area opposite Tokyo Centre, connected by Rainbow Bridge. It is built

entirely on reclaimed land and it is a leisure and recreation area.

75




are much more of these massive buildings in Daiba which demonstrates Japan’sfascination to impress through their pizzazz architecture.

‘Home’ positioning was also important in the drawing of these maps where

one third of the people located their home in their maps. Work was also more or

less equally represented. Other places with meaning that evoke a sort of Japanese

spirit were under represented; one interviewee has positioned the important and

traditional Tsukiji5 fish market and another the famous Rainbow Bridge. Rather,

non-places have appeared on people’s maps like the Haneda and Narita airport

(one interviewee), and Disneyland (one interviewee). One interviewee has drawnan impression of Tokyo instead of a map in which we can interpret his own percep-

tion of Tokyo: chaotic, tall buildings, sameness of physical structures, the presence

of people, and the search for the sky. Two more people have also illustrated people

in their maps while others attempted to depict the spectacular image of Tokyo by

placing stars, glitters and colors in their drawings.

The maps were an appropriate tool to form a first impression of Tokyo because

it has been a quick and spontaneous practice that captures the insight of people

before insisting on specific descriptions. For example, the impression portrayedregarding the question of center was different in drawing than in the general de-

piction about the center of the city. On one hand, it was evident from the maps

the absence of a center in the city, while on the other hand, we had for half of the

people, the prominent Yamanote line encircling the center of Tokyo, creating a new

mega center.

4.2.2 Centers

Responding directly to the question of center (1b), there has been a contrived

view of what is considered to be the center, a peculiar fact for habitants of the

city. From the diversity of answers I have received, only six people understood

the structure of the multiple centers that Tokyo is bounded within, from which

four were foreigners. Otherwise, I have been receiving answers naming differ-

5Tsukiji fish market is the biggest fish wholesale market in the world and maybe the biggestwholesale market as well. (Wikipedia). Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first Tokugawa shogun and builderof Edo, has established the market and invited fishermen from all over Japan to work by supplying

the city of Edo with fish.

76



4.3. IDENTIFICATION AND ORIENTATION

ent places as centers, Shinjuku and Shibuya more notably while Chiyoda and thecentral station of Tokyo where also popular answers. A small percentage (3 peo-

ple) considered the inside of the Yamanote subway line to be the center of the city

which is an area that is already too vast (an area of 70km 2) to be appropriated

as a center. Two interviewees considered the imperial palace as the center, while

another two could not identify any part of the city as a center.

The fact that the Imperial Palace is either considered as a prominent physical

feature by some or the center of the city by others is a peculiar result given that it is

an empty place, a void center since it is closed to the general public and thereforeprohibits any social interaction. Tokyo, the city without a center was a subject of in-

terest to many anthropologists, and was used to try to explain the distinctive and

particular personalities of the Japanese people. Chie Natane, a Japanese anthro-

pologist took this fascinating idea to explain the society as mollusk, and explained

how it attributes perfectly to the decentered personalities of the Japanese people

(Sacchi , 2005, p.78). Nakane explained that in the social group of the Japanese,

the leader is an “empty figure”, “ready, apparently, to receive and accept anything that

might be offered.” Ikegami (1991, p. 11). We can also link the absence of the center inthe city with what Watsuji stated about denial of individual autonomy “a Japanese

human being is never an individual in the western sense of world; he or she is defined

by a set of relationships with others.” This new model of contextual structure of hu-

manism can find similar resemblance to the way the Japanese city is viewed and

understood from the outside as a whole and not by the attentiveness to individual

entities (Jinnai, 1994). Actually, the concept of the empty center in the Japanese

culture is a phenomenon evident in myths dating back to the 8th century. These

myths portray stories of Gods that appear in triples which in the middle one isnever actually represented (Kawai, 1982)6.

4.3 Identification and Orientation

One of the major concerns of a city that is always mutating, is that it does not

facilitate the task of orientating and of finding one’s way in the city. Architect

6As quoted in Ikegami (1991, p. 12).

77




Lynch (1960), along with the ethnologist Norberg-Schulz (1980), pointed out howorientation and identification aid in establishing a relationship with meaning be-

tween man and his environment. The notion of the spirit of the place as Norberg-

Schulz (1980) illustrated, presents the power that a place seizes which guides man

into inhabiting a place. To understand who we are and where we are coming

from we need to be able to identify with the places that we live. Orientating one’s

self in a big city like Tokyo is not an easy task, contrasting to other cities that are

based on an axial grid system and have important buildings as landmarks, or other

fixed identifiable structures that people reference to find their way around the city.In Tokyo, not only monumental structures or buildings are absent but moreover,

given the rhythm of change in the city, even buildings and facades could be altered,

or demolished at express speeds, creating a sort of confusion for the habitants.

Overlooking these facts, one of the fundamental difficulties in finding ones’

way in Tokyo is the fact that the streets have no names, or as Barthes (1982, p.

33) put it “largest city in the world is practically unclassified”. The city is divided

scrupulously like a hierarchical pyramid. It is first classify by ku, the prefecture,

then into shi, a city, then the next smaller nest is the cho, the urban ward and finallyon the inner stratum of this allotment is chokai, the neighborhood. The chokai is

appointed with a name and further divided into parcels where numbers are placed

randomly, in a first come first serve kind of logic7. The chokai is actually a self-

governing organization unit that dates back to the middle ages. When one lives

in a particular chokai, he becomes a member of the neighborhood, the smallest

group that exists in Japanese social structure besides ones’ household. The above

mentioned city structure expresses the hierarchical order that exists in Japanese

cities that as Nitschke (2003, p. 3) also confirms: “has its roots in the social behaviour

of its people, traditional and modern”. Tokyo of course could have adopted another

system of naming the streets since the city was completely leveled in World War

2 and was already a modernized city with occidental characteristics. But yet the

naming and numbering of the streets remain illegible. As Nitschke (2003, p. 2)

7The actual logic of the numbering of the parcels with in a district is according to the date thatparcel was used to accommodate a structure. It is kind of a first come, first serve, and the numberingruns consecutively. A common address in Japan might has the following format: Arao Building B2,

2-25-2, Kabukicho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-0021

78




said: “There must be a profound, perhaps unconscious, reason why the Japanese chose tolive with a system of urban spatial orientation which is nearly not understandable to an

outsider, and why they continue to do so.”

We will next analyze the responses of the questionnaire and discuss the impli-

cations of orientation and identification in such a transient city. How do its habi-

tants maintain a sense of orientation and identification with their surroundings if

they keep transforming? To what are the habitants referring to in their daily life?

Through which objects or daily practices is their Japanese identity revealed? What

spaces have emerged as identifiable structures?

4.3.1 Orientation

The questions about orientation was aiming to point out which spatial struc-

tures or other reference points do the Tokyoites identify with and use as everyday

reference points in the undertaking of their daily space-routine. It is a significant

component of the questionnaire as the answers enables us to discover the elements

that people living in Tokyo encounter everyday, and use as references to locate andmove themselves physically in the city, while creating and maintaining their sense

of orientation in an ever-changing environment 8.

The nature of these features resulting from the interviews were of diverge na-

tures, possessing further varied and hybrid qualities when compared to Lynch’s

responses, that were for most of the time related to the urban artifacts. From the

assortment of answers received, I have decided to organize them in four distin-

guished categories: I have named the first one physical references, a category which

includes physical structures like buildings, bridges and monuments. The secondone is named environmental references, which includes any natural edifices (the sky,

the sea, the mountains and so on), the third unimportant others because it embraces

elements that are of insignificant nature. The fourth and more obscure category I

named nowhere as it the interviewees could not give any description of their daily

space-routine.

From the depiction of the results, only 14 people gave descriptions that in-

8The results for this section were derived form question 2b, 2c, and question 4 and can be found

in the appendix.

79




cluded physical structures. This group of physical references, included mostly unim-portant and anonymous buildings, gray buildings, the building with the green

neon signage. It was not the building as such that proved important but some

kind of peculiar feature that the building had that made it identifiable. Those

anonymous structures were referential points for six interviewees while for three

of them was the indication of the train stations. At the same time, monumental

type buildings like Tokyo Tower, Tokyo University, the Imperial Palace and Tokyo

Station were included in five of the twenty seven descriptions. Other types of

buildings that are of insignificant architectural nature but yet of an increased im-portance due to their omnipresence and homogeneity, are structures like McDon-

alds, Tsutaya shops, Konbini stores9, Starbucks, pachinko10 and shopping centers.

These places are easily identifiable because the same physical image is produced

everywhere which makes them easy to identify, easy to recognize comparing to the

messy organization and the proliferated hybrid features of the street. Due to their

regular occurrence in the city, or in the entire country and many of them even glob-

ally they have become the new type of monuments, the new landmarks of cities.

Pachinko parlors for example can be easily identifiable because of their frenzy col-orful appearance, the sparkling flickering lights and particularly due to the bland

technologically generated music that exits these buildings.

Another example of an identifiable structure in the urban fabric is the Kon-

bini stores. These are places that all Japanese use daily at least once a day and

have appeared frequently in the people’s descriptions. Inside these stores there is

what is needed to practically live by. There is fresh food on a daily basis, cold and

warm, beverages including alcoholic ones, newspapers, cigarettes, objects needed

for household or office use, an ATM machine, a copy machine, the possibility to

reserve tickets (ranging from buses, concerts, trains, a sport spectacle, etc.), print

your photos, pay your bills. There are also toilets that the public can use upon

request and that are always surprising clean! All these goods and services are

available on a twenty-four hour basis, which makes them truly convenient and a

9Konbini are 24 hour convenience stores like 7/11, Lawson, Sunkus that are exactly the same building produced nationwide.

10 Japanese center for gaming devices used for gambling.

80




Figure 4.6: Tokyo: Outside Shibuya train station; Identifiable elements: the MacDonald’ssign, Promisu Department store, green peas pachinko, a tree. Photo by author.

place absolutely necessary for the entire population. At the moment some 42,34511

konbini stores are calculated to exist in Japan.

In the same category of physical references we find that train stations are again

central to people’s daily spatial interaction and recognition in there urban space.

Most oral descriptions have been actually the way from home to the train station,

the way finding within the train station in order to arrive at work. Train stations are

an emerging place with highlighted meaning for the Japanese people as one uses

them and interacts with them the same way one moves in the city; it has become

their daily urban reality. The labyrinth of routes inside train stations, the widerange of shopping activities possible underground including post office, toilets,

camera shops, pachinko, becomes a new kind of urban place where all kinds of

activities can take place within these extents.

Many train stations are connected underground with all major buildings, this

way people transfer directly from the train to their work space without having to

exit. Below one example of the daily space routine of one interviewee in which

11 Japan Franchise Association, as of August 2009 (data pertaining to the month of July 2009);

Source: Wikipedia

81




we find absolutely no indication of where this place might be. The only indicationthat we might be talking about a Japanese city could be the advertisement sign of

Suntory Hall, a beer establishment:

First, I walk down the slope in front of my apartment until it hits a crossing.Then, turn to the right and walk straight until I reach the subway station. Itake subway and get off at the second station. When I get out of the platform,I ignore the first exit that is connected to an office building, and turn to theleft. Passing by the advertisement of Suntory Hall, I walk underground until Ireach the other exit. I use the escalator and get to the ground. Then, the office

building in which my law firm is located is already in front of me. I pass by a

restaurant and a tea shop on the ground level and enter the building.

Figure 4.7: Tokyo: Shinjuku underground train

labyrinth. Photo by author.

The second category of environ-

mental references has been significant

to only six people, contrary to what

I expected, as these are the static

references of Tokyo. Rivers, moun-

tains, the sea, the slopes, the hills,

and the greenery are more or lessfix elements and from the previous

readings proved to be important in

preserving Tokyo’s identity. For

Rumiko, a young female engineer

we observe in her narrative a mix-

ture of environmental elements (the

cherry trees and the river), unim-

portant others (the red post box), and physical structures (the konbini and japaneserestaurants) that reveal a pure Japanese character, yet the generality of the image

is ubiquitous in her depiction:

I used to go out of the front door, make a right turn at a red post box, walkalong with the river with cherry trees (beautiful in spring!), arrived at the sta-tion after passing a few Konbini, Ramen-ya12 , Izakaya13, and coffee shops[ . . . ]

12Ramen-Ya stands for Noodle shop respectively. These are restaurants serving solely traditional Japanese noodles.

13Izakaya derives from ‘i’ and ‘sakaya’ meaning to sit and sake shop respectively. It is a Japanese

82




Figure 4.8: Unimportant

others: warnings on thepavement, vending ma-

chine, direction signs, el-

evated car park. Photos

by author.

The third category named unimportant others thatarose, was remarkable as the non physical elements,

rather abstract begin to take an important place in the

memory of the people and were present in more than

half of the responses. Examples of these elements that

arose from the interviews where: the red post box, the

coin showers, multi-storey car parks, the tobacco ma-

chine, plastic sushi on the window display, advertising

signs in the street, restaurant front signs, city signs on thepavements, the vending machine of used women’s un-

derwear14. Signs, advertising, maps in train stations, elec-

tronic surfaces, noises from the street, people activities.

Signs in the street whether maps, advertising signs, trains

station entrance signs, shop names and so on proved to be

central to people in their everyday way finding.

We can interpret these small objects or structures into

what Judo and Kuroda called the pets of the city, that adda richness to Tokyo’s urban identity. The recognition of

these objects for the daily space routine of the people is

not surprisingly. Even though they are very temporal ele-

ments in the city, I think that their human scale makes the

habitants association to them more straightforward than

a skyscraper or a bridge. Following is an example of a

description that incorporates the pet size objects, like the

coin shower, the vending machines, unidentified build-ings and generally the anonymity of all physical struc-

tures:

First thing I see when going to the train station isthe two “Coca Cola” vending machines near my

building. Then a rental parking lot on the left, then

style drinking and eating restaurant, that for most of the times the sitting is on the floor on thetatami mats like Traditional Japanese style sitting. Izakayas are usually affordable, and they areplaces that you can drink and eat until early morning hours.

14Yes, it exists!

83




a coin shower. Next is a “Sunkus” convenient store. After a sloping road,there is a two-floor grey building on the right: this is the place when I have toturn left. Then I cross a bridge, have a school on my left, and walk along therailway track until I reach the station.

We can see in the descriptions of Maxime, a foreigner living in Tokyo, that the

unimportant others elements that are rather abstract or could be defined as non-

places like the parking and the cola machines are the objects he uses to position

himself and move though city space. These unimportant elements, anonymous

structures, global symbols take now an important place in the human memorywhen creating the mental map of the city. Maxime always takes the same road,

and like all Japanese persons are precisely aware of time, he as well knows that it

takes him 12 minutes to reach his destination.

Figure 4.9: Unimportant others: small shop in

Tokyo selling beuatiful objects becomes a point

of reference Photo by author.

Finally, from the interviews arose

the nowhere category, that accounts

for a big number of eight out of the

twenty seven of the total answers.

This category portrays people thatcould not give any accurate descrip-

tion of their daily space routine.

All these people were Japanese res-

idents. Blurred images of their en-

vironment, inability to form a men-

tal image, these are the people that

seem to be fully absorbed in their

daily routines, a ritual that they per-form in a robotic manner. They are

entering a train, closing the eyes, lis-

tening to their music while playing

with their high-tech gadgets, the only indication of reaching a destination being

the name plaque at the train station’s stop or rather the automated voice that pro-

nounces the station at each stop. The image that these people have is busy train

stations, trains cramped with people, pushing in the trains and relief upon arrival.

One young woman told me that she cannot find her way home without the use of

84




her GPS mobile phone. She went on to depict her story of losing her phone andwas incapable to locate her house after work.

One way that we could try to explain this is the excess of materiality and the

multitude of information that exist in the city. There is an excess in image, an ex-

cess of people, of buildings, of advertising signs and symbols, of noises. All this

can be overwhelming for a habitant; the entire city is composed by the omnipres-

ence of places, objects and signs that are not referential or historical elements. One

hypothesis that we have drawn from this question is that people choose subcon-sciously not to absorb their environment as reluctance to assimilate with it.

Whilst, I have specifically asked about the attention to the advertising surfaces,

being one of the most basic characteristic in Tokyo’s urban image. As discussed

before, these surfaces are actually what ornate the external envelope of a building.

They are an inseparable part of the façade, immense and decorative, however not

a static and permanent feature but an ever-changing one. 17 people answered that

they use them daily for identification and orientation while four interviewees tend

towards them when they are in search for a place. This demonstrates people’s

daily dependence and attachment to these electronic screens. Additionally, five of

the twenty seven use these surfaces as an important part of their life because they

portray the latest trends in fashion and gadgets. The remaining four interviewees

pay no attention to these advertising billboards because they overwhelm them.

An interesting observation that also arose from the interviews is that the disori-entating personality of Tokyo is the incentive for people to go out and experience

the city. Four interviewees mentioned that one of their activities in Tokyo is to

walk and explore the city. It looks like that for the Tokyoites, orientation comes

only after the experience of the city, there is a need to discover the city by walking,

by sight, by habit. The need to discover the city arises probably from the fact that

the city changes and is never the same hence memories vanish causing a constant

desire to accumulate the new environment and recreate memories to relate with

the city.

85




4.3.2 Memories

Subsequently, I have asked specifically of what are the emotions and thoughts

of their changing environment or of buildings that have vanished from the city.

Twenty people have generally accepted this reality reminding of the Zen principles

and ideology that distinguishes Japanese people and culture. Soosaku an artist

from Tokyo said to me: “it changes so fast, I cannot really follow, but it is funny15”.

While interviewee No.4 said: “If this is what is ought to happen, it is ok. Tokyo has to

keep up with the capitalist image”. These people looked at changes as something that

is ought to happen, because of the need of constant growth. Another interviewee,

Yoshi explained: "Tokyo is symbol of Japanese modern aspect and should develop itself

constantly in advanced manner. I feel happy by seeing new things. No nostalgic feeling.”.

Five people were feeling sad to see buildings go down but only if they had a histor-

ical or other personal meaning to them. Only two people were generally negative

about the transient city and the boundless growth, and both of them were people

over sixty years old.

The majority of people, 22 of them, do not hold specific memories of buildingsthat have already being torn down, while the remaining five of them could give

accurate descriptions if the place had a special meaning to them.In general we

could say that most of the young people considered this transient personality of

the city as a challenge, as it provides them for the excitement to be there and to

exist in this hallucinatory state. These younger crowds enjoy being lost in the city

and for them it is a stimulation to walk around and discover this city, which in turn

almost always endows with the unexpected.

When talking about special memories that the city has engraved in peoplesmind, a great deal of them were related with activities in which the environment

setting has a principal role. Examples included, cruise in Sumida River, Sakura

blossom viewings, picnic in parks, appreciating Tokyo’s view from a skyscraper.

For seven people, monuments like imperial palace and Tokyo Tower held a special

place in their memories, whilst of similar importance had the shopping centers.

There were as well stories describing personal memories that could only become a

15 Japanese people often use the word funny when they want to express something that is inter-

esting and fun.

86




reality in Tokyo like Jean-Francois story. Jean-Francois, a French engineer marriedto a Japanese and permanently residing in Tokyo narrates: “When colleagues came to

my place just before my marriage and make me dress like a Shibuya girl16 and walk around

in Tokyo with a sign "free kiss”. The best was it was easy to catch girls to try it ! That’s

really Disneyland, in Paris I would have probably gotten into trouble ...”

4.3.3 Identification

Question 5 aimed directly in enquiring of these features, tangible or intangibleelements, physical structures or just activities in Tokyo that divulge Japanese spirit

or people’s identity. People were asked to point out these elements in the city that

“make you feel closer to your “Japanese identity” ". The results were of diverse nature.

Eating Japanese food and going out to traditional Izakaya was top of the list, as

seven people considered food as an important feature of the Japanese identity.

Figure 4.10: Tokyo: Washoku, Japanese traditional

food. Photos by author.

Japanese cuisine which is

called washoku is indeed an in-

dication that reveals the exclu-sivity of the Japanese identity,

given its long history and the

fact that it has remained unal-

tered from western influences. It

is as well, one significant ele-

ment of Japanese culture that is

widely exported. The rich vari-

ety of dishes and the attention to seasonality are not the only reasons that foodin Japan is considered to be authentic and truthful to its origins. The way food

is prepared and served demonstrates once again how the notion of beauty that is

absent from the city is found rather in smaller objects or deeds. Saito (2007, p. 116)

explains:

16Shibuya girls is a fashion statement that some Japanese girls seem to follow. This is a stylewhere the girls bleach their hair, spent hours per day in tanning salons and have indeed a verydark skin. To contrast their dark colour they wear pale lipsticks, punkish colourful clothes, andhigh platform shoes. Shibuya girls have become a tourist attraction of Tokyo, and they are walking

around craving to be photographed.

87




The highly sophisticated aesthetics involved in Japanese food, engaging allthe senses [. . . ] an important focus of Japanese food is its handling of theingredients. In general, the manipulation of each ingredient (cutting, choice of cooking method, seasoning arrangement) is done so as to bring out the best of its native qualities

Serving and presenting the food is also crucial, as the Japanese cuisine, requires

various plates each destined to receive the appropriate content. Saito says that

“[. . . ]the arrangement is not only evident in restaurants but also in everyday meals at

home.” The idea of exposing one’s identity in the city through other activities not re-lated directly to spaces can find a lot of other indications in the Japanese paradigm.

A discussion I had with Yoshi, a young manager, of a famous car industry estab-

lishment, elucidated my enquiries: “Tokyo is always creating modern Japanese culture

and enjoying it makes us feel very Japanese. Identity is not always linked with tradition.”

We can use the example of the rite of packaging in Japan, to present such a cultural

practice not relating with tradition, yet it transmits an indispensable Japanese qual-

ity and is not as straightforward as one will imagine. This is an action performed

with a meticulous and rather spiritual effort. Every shape requires different meth-ods of wrapping, while the context of the enclosure decides on the material for

wrapping. In Japan, one can find hundreds of books with instructions of how to

package items. Fumihiko Maki (1979) declares: “I know of no other culture that has

produced such a rich accumulation of wrapping systems so beautiful and functional, for

accommodating the wide variety of contents and shapes for the enclosures” (p. 60). These

are patterns in everyday life that show a great aesthetic sensitivity, where beauty

is exposed in the unfolding sequential experience that these acts are performed.

Practices of everyday life that are customary employed by a large percentage of people, also revealed the place-identity even though only a few pointed them out

in the interview. These are actions exclusively Japanese and include taking shoes

off in ones’ house and in restaurants, sitting on the floor, bowing, having a Japanese

bath at home or at the local public bath, the sento. These activities have one feature

in common, the need for cleanliness. Cleanliness for the Japanese is an expres-

sion of ethnic values as well as an affirmation of ethnic superiority. Shoes are re-

moved and left at the entrance of the house (even if this is an apartment in Tokyo),

as not to allow the external evil and dirty to penetrate their house. This habit is

88




performed still in many restaurants in Tokyo, regardless of their western appeal,where customers and staff alike wear slippers to enter. Naturally, shoes should

be removed when entering all religious establishments or teahouses in Japan. In-

deed Tokyo is an extremely clean capital, the streets are usually clean of garbage,

public spaces are extremely clean while public toilets are spotless. This practice

in not only initialized by government, but it is always striking to see that Toky-

oites that carry their portable ashtrays or plastic bags so they will not throw any

waste on the street. Other everyday objects that people carry for the stipulation for

cleanliness include hot towel to wash hands before eating, special face tissues toremove sweat, normal tissues, gloves and hats (to protect against the sun as beauty

is considered to be the white skin color).

Additionally, two people pointed out the simple act of bowing as a practice

that exposes their identity. This simple act is a gesture used to greet someone, a

fundamental practice in the everyday life of the Japanese people. It is a form of po-

liteness, and performed mutually by everyone who resides in Japan regardless of

the place’s features. People bow in front of God statues in shrines, they bow in the

McDonalds counter, in a petrol station and when talking to the phone even though

nobody is looking at them. The custom is not presupposed by the physicality of

place but rather by the intangible values of peoples’ mental qualities.

Fashion is also an identifiable feature that we can employ to define Tokyo’s

uniqueness, as well as an expression of cultural identity. We find particularly in

Tokyo streets, more than any other city in Japan or in the globe an extreme vari-

ety of fashion styles. Besides traditional costumes or western modern outfits, the

popular fashion involves an integration of various styles piled together in a sophis-ticated system of hierarchizing layers, textures and colors that result in an original

and fresh look. On top of that, Tokyo street fashion is particularly outstanding

as it is possible to count at least ten alternative styles that we do not encounter

in other parts of the world. Examples are Cosplay style where people dress up

as their favorite anime characters, Kogal, where girls dress up in high school look

alike uniforms, or the emerging style of Dolly Kei, that is inspired from the Middle

Ages with a twist of fairy tale theme, vintage clothes or religious symbols. Sacchi

(2005, p. 210) accounts how even in the financial crises of the 90’s the shopping

89




habits of the habitants did not change:A Tokyo en somme, on vend et on achète tout, comme si rien-ou presque-rien s’était passé. Un peuple de fashion victims, pour le quel le shoppingest un impératif catégorique, sur l’autel duquel on sacrifie sans hésitationn’importe quoi ; . . . le shopping prend ici les dimensions d’un phénomènepsychologique du masse, et les architectures consacrées à la vente des pro-duits du luxe constituent une composante importante de l’image urbaine17.

Figure 4.11: Tokyo: Fashion. Photos by

author.

Engaging in traditional activities like

Noh theatre, Kabuki, traditional Japanesedance, martial arts, festivals that represent

the Japanese culture was another important

delineation that proved as important as

food. Festivals, called matsuri in Japanese

are often spectacular events, with tradi-

tional costumes and processions through

cities. There are hundreds of them and

all of them aim to revoke ancient Japaneseheritage. One interviewee mention that he

feels ‘Japanese’ while attending the Tokyo

Sumida Fireworks (Hanabi) Festival is cel-

ebrated on the last Sunday in July. It is a

spectacular show with 20,000 fireworks and

a crowd of more than one million attending

to watch the Tokyo sky light up. Fireworks,

call Hanabi in Japanese are a common cul-tural ritual used for matsuri celebrations. It

is a tradition inherited from China and fired

up for the first time in Edo in 1733 to mark

the opening of the river for boats. In a way, the Japanese spirit is kept alive

17Translation by the author: In short, at Tokyo, one sells and buys everything, as if nothing-oralmost-happened. A crowd of fashion victims, for which shopping is a dogmatic imperative, like analtar where things are sacrificed without any hesitation; [...] shopping here takes the dimensions of a mass psychological phenomenon and the architecture is dedicated to the sale of luxury products

is an important component of the urban image.

90




through the continuation of these customs, and as these proceedings take place inthe city, the city itself becomes the ground were tradition and history is reinvented.

Through the many celebrations of deities and other ancestral and ethnic legacies

that are omnipresent in Tokyo, people start experiencing them by becoming part

of them hence the sense of belonging and identification with place is strengthen.

Figure 4.12: Tokyo: Matsuri. Photo by author.

Activities or events related to naturealso proved important for the people’s

identity. Five people mentioned activ-

ities such as the sakura blossom view-

ing, having picnic in parks as to con-

nect them to their true nature. Another

interviewee mentioned that walking

around Tokyo and exploring the city

makes him feel Japanese, because thecity offers innumerable surprises. An-

other one said that the lack of time

while living in the capital made them

feel as particularly Japanese, as if the

absence of time this is what the Neo-

Tokyo represents. A few answers also related identity to the Japanese psyche’s

nature to be organized, clean and polite as a common feature that all Japanese

people possess. One interviewee said to be that using the train marks his Japaneseidentity, and this train culture made him feel utterly Japanese! One more said

that the only thing that can help him get close to his roots in Tokyo was to watch

Japanese television which is a genuinely Japanese practice broadcasting Japanese

dramas about everyday Japanese life, silly shows, and Japanese anime that gener-

ally present the pop culture that is evident in contemporary Japan. Another inter-

viewee recognizes Karaoke spaces as a way to feel ‘Japanese’. Karaoke venues are

consisted of individualized room-boxes that exist in multi floor buildings that our

interviewee regularly goes to practice his singing abilities.

91




4.3.4 Public Spaces

Finally other interesting statements about identification arose from people’s re-

gard to public spaces. We have drawn essential remarks about the meaning of

public spaces and what kind of places consider as public. Even though parks were

a common understanding of a public space, (yet at Tokyo many of the parks have

an entrance fee), there were a lot of responses that suggest a new meaning of public

space. Shopping centers were considered as public space by six people. A young

Japanese girl mentioned that purikura as what she performs frequently as a public

activity. Purikura are sticker photos decorated with a choice of hundreds symbols,

taken in individualized photo booths that exist everywhere, either free standing in

streets, department stores, trains stations, or in purikura centers.

New understanding of public spaces came about as people were considering

train stations (three people), Streets (two people), Konbini (two people), Karaoke

halls (two people), public baths (one person), internet cafes (one person), love ho-

tels (one person). Those places of transitory character previously defined as non-

places, several of them embedded by technology are finding new meanings as im-

portant and referential public places for the Tokyoites. The nature of these public

spaces as resulted from the discussions, were described in their totality with char-

acteristics like safety and cleanliness. These places can also be described as an

intertwining of private and public spaces, an attempt to reinvent house activities

so that they are performed outside due to lack of space in the domicile. Public

baths, karaoke rooms, love hotels, internet spaces, are transitory in the sense that it

is a product consumed for short periods of time at a very cheap price, yet they are

shared and common for all people twenty-four hours a days. New public spacesalso suggest the necessity to be technologically equipped.

4.4 Conclusion

The chaotic image of Tokyo produces situations of disorientation, ambiguity in

distinguishing physical structures caused by its disordered urbanism, the emer-

gence of homogenous structures and the excess of information that exists in the

city. Taking a quick glimpse at Tokyo a hundred years ago, we can see the radical

92



4.4. CONCLUSION

transformation that the city has gone through, evident both in the image of the city, but above all in the sentimental attachment that people had for this place. The cel-

ebrated writer Natsume Soseki18 nostalgically describes his neighborhood in the

beginning of the 20th century:

“[...] several houses in the district were built in the impressive go down style.[...] One of them was the impressive Omiya Denbei, visible as you went upthe road. And when you went along the road that goes downslope, there was asake shop called Kokuraya, which had wide frontage [. . . ], it was a place witha history19 [. . . ] There was also an oak woodworking shop and a smithy. A

little towards Hachiman Hill road there was also a covered vegetable marketwith a spacious dirt floor.[. . . ] There was, of course, a bean-curd merchant,[. . . ]the front gate of the Seikanji Temple”. Soseki (1915, p. 204-205).

In Soseki‘s description (1915), we can distinguish a clear image of the city; the

description is rendered with specific buildings and names that he portrayed with

accuracy. We can see that the traces of history have been indispensable in his per-

ception and identification of his neighborhood. His familiarity with the place pro-

vokes feelings of attachment, emotions that were not evident through our inter-

views. We have observed that for the most of our interviewees, it is Tokyo’s image

as a whole that has more impact on them, not the specific meanings of places, his-

torical accounts neither the human relations. The two most identifiable structures

were the Imperial Palace and the Tokyo Tower, structures that offer no public us-

age but are there as symbols of power and tradition in one hand, and innovation

and modernity on the other. It was peculiar for people to identify with structures

that are ‘void’ in their social usage.

Even though the habitants’ relation with the city presents a certain detachmentand indifference towards city structures, people use their current environment as a

backdrop to conduct daily activities related to their core identity. What this chap-

ter confirmed through the evidence of the sentimental detachment with the place,

is that firstly, place-identity in such a transient city cannot be recognized (at least

totally) from its physical entities. It is the people who are faithful followers of

18Natsume Soseki is one of the most important Japanese writers of the Meiji era “ a transcendentfigure in modern Japanese history and literature”, as Laurence Rogers write in Tokyo, a literallystroll. It is not by coincidence then than his portrayed is figures in the Japanese 1000 Yen note bill.

19The author here goes on to give exact details and information about the place.

93




a strong culture, and reinvent tradition into their contemporary lifestyle. Iden-tity, like beauty discussed in the previous chapter is found in the deepest layers of

things. Particularly, “Japanese” identity is revealed in the zeal of cleanliness, in tra-

ditional celebrations, in beautiful small objects, in the appreciation of nature, in the

meticulous food preparation and serving and in packaging of objects. Observing

closer these everyday rituals reveal a different type of beauty and one central for

the Japanese identity. Although the place possesses an unfamiliar urban structure,

it turns into a mediator for the revelation of Japanese uniqueness. It becomes a

setting for daily rituals to be carried out: the superficial department store becomesa stage set where the saleswoman will ritually wrap a package, nameless and ugly

modern looking restaurants are spaces become a ground were dining on the floor

takes place, and the seaside near the restructured Sumida River reinvents ancient

traditions through firework celebrations. Even if their environment is in a constant

state of change, Japanese people are still closely bounded to their traditions; people

still bow everywhere to greed someone, take their shoes off inside their houses, eat

commonly Japanese food, enjoy wearing their traditional clothes and following a

matsuri celebration. We can conclude that Tokyo comprises notions of a progres-sive place, translating successfully into what Massey (1994, p.244) announced:

It is a sense of place, an understanding of ’its character’, which can only beconstructed by linking that place to places beyond. A progressive sense of place would recognize that, without being threatened by it. What we need, itseems to me, is a global sense of the local, a global sense of place.

A further conclusion observed form the interviews is that the non-human inter-

actions in the spatial configurations have proven more important that the human

interactions. Interviewees were identifying with small and unimportant objects inthe undertaking of their daily space routine, and human relationships were almost

absent. Yet, the people’s involvement in Tokyo have proven important in the sense

that through their activities and practises, daily transactions and spatial interac-

tions, reveal a strong tradition where identity is omnipresent in a mental level in

this non-place. Kobayashi and Wadwekar (2009, p. 3) remind us that “ Japanese per-

ceive their built environment through their activities, not through the physical presence”.

The integration of the human aspect in the city serves not only as a way to

widen our understanding of the city in a more interpersonal approach but above

94



4.4. CONCLUSION

all it has enabled to establish the link between place and human identity. Theinterviews have facilitated us to prove that a mutual correlation exists in the dis-

tinctiveness of the city and that of its inhabitants. The juxtaposition between the

two can be measured through various associations:

Figure 4.13: Tokyo: People manifesting.

Photo by author.

Firstly, the absence of center in the

city presents an equivalent absence of

center in the social group in Japan. Like

the city’s structure that is to be eval-

uated when looking at it as an inte-gral whole so does a Japanese human is

never considered as an individual but as

part of the group he belongs (his neigh-

borhood group, his work group, or his

family). The salary man, a term widely

used, is the average working man in the

Japanese society. It is defined as those

men20 that work on a salary base andare part of big corporations, identified

by their white collar shirts and suits.

The term usually refers to middle class lifestyle, low wages, and long working

hours. The company requires this salary man to identify completely with the com-

pany, follow blindly the working methods and never question. It is a similar man-

ner samurai obeyed their feudal lords. Huang (2004, p. 74) establishes the link

between people and city through the embodiment of modern samurai and the am-

biguous meaningless structures like the Tokyo Metropolitan office, by stating “whocan be a more qualified user of that space than the modern samurai, the middle class Toky-

oites, like the salaryman.”

A second analogue we can describe is how the anonymity of the physical struc-

tures that causes conditions of indifference and detachment is a parallel with the

human alienation. The built environment has evoked a general disinterest and

impassiveness in the emotions of the habitants which presents a similar absence

20 A woman in an equal position is referred to as career woman demonstrating the undermining

role of woman in the Japanese society.

95




of emotions in interpersonal relations. This condition is enhanced by the use of modern technology in the city that has led to an emergence of new places, where

citizenship can be practiced individually and not in relation with others. The alien-

ation is a condition provoked by the city as for emotional ties to develop between

people and places, social interactions need to take place, in the literal sense of the

word21 . In Tokyo the social interactions or the use of public space are limited in big

shopping centers, manga kissa cafes, the individualized karaoke rooms, love hotels

or trains. With the appearance of these places, social interactions are not possible,

given that these daily transactions are more efficiently conducted companionlessand without the need of human interaction. The habitant becomes so captivated

by the use of technology that is omnipresent and much depends on it to perform its

daily spatial routines, a common concern in cities that advanced technologies are

omnipresent. Similarly place dependence is enhanced through people’s identifica-

tion with electronic screens omnipresent in the city. The condition of the peoples’

attachment to technology and gadgets leave us not shocked by the fact that in the

year 2008, five out of ten of the best selling Japanese novels- frequently depicting

stories of human solitude - were written on mobile phones22, usually by peoplecommuting long hours in trains, indicating both the absence of time and space in

their lives that is counterbalance in these "other places" and technology.

A further association observed is the dualism in identity in both personal and

urban characteristics. Even though the physical environment is supermodern,

somehow one feels the strong impact of tradition, and this was achieved by the

way foreign imported models have been successfully translated into local stan-

dards. The element of surprise in the city is an exceptional characteristic of Tokyo

today. Behind a façade, a surface, a street, or a person, one always discovers morethan what is apparent on the outside. In the special urban setting, Japanese identity

is concealed behind the huge avenues laden by tall buildings, and the modern look

presupposed by a world leading commercial capital we still find labyrinth-like al-

leys, temples, and characteristics that associate the city to its pre-modern condi-

tions. The identity and lifestyle of the Tokyoite is somewhat similar; the Tokyoite

21Graaf (2009b, p. 267).22The Economist, Nomads at last, April 10, 2008

96



4.4. CONCLUSION

can be a fanatic otaku23

, equipped with the latest technological gadgets, living inmodern apartments but yet is deeply rooted in tradition.

This is evident from his everyday space routine and activities like going to Noh

theatre, enjoying Japanese cuisine, or celebrating old traditions. On the outside,

what is visible and conceivable is to set an image that promotes advanced ideas of

an extra modern society, imposing on the habitants to follow this model.

Figure 4.14: Tokyo tower. Photo by

author.

The suggestion of the duality in identity or

the multiplicity of identities juxtaposed both

in the city’s structure and in social structure isalso apparent in many contemporary Japanese

movies. This intriguing relationship is evident

in Tsukamoto films, were the subject body is

overwhelmed by the powers of the city’s ab-

stract space and starts to mimic these forces, ac-

quiring a double identity. Huang (2004, p.60).

In a similar way the hero of Tokyo Eyes24 pos-

sesses a double contrasting identity. A com-puter debugger, polite and sweet guy swipes

delicately into a harmless murderer shooting

wrongdoers in Tokyo city. Every time before

shooting he puts on a pair of thick glasses as if

to become the other person, the super hero that

will save Tokyo from all kind of offenders, usu-

ally the impolite and rude, heartless or chauvin-

istic people. The theme of becoming a strong

hero that is palpable in Japanese movies can be

explained with the desire to match the urban space of Tokyo. The idea of double

identity is also a distinguished element of the protagonists of Japanese animation

films, like the films of Satoshi Kon in which we observe a lot of urban translations

23A Japanese term used to describe persons that are fascinated by animation films, video gamesand manga

24French-Japanese thriller-romance directed by French film/documentary maker Jean-Pierre

Limosin. It was presented in the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

97




especially an emphasis on the multi-culturism, chaotic imagery where everyonesucceeds in coming together. His main characters are possessing a double iden-

tity shaped by their environment. For example, Mima in Perfect Blue is influenced

by media and technology and in Paprika the main hero has two alternate and ex-

tremely different personalities, a violent one and a more charming and friendly one

on the other side. Similarly in Japanese literature, Keiichiri Hirano in his futurist

roman Dawn, is proposing a new concept of ‘dividualism’ as the structural founda-

tion of a person. Hirano is suggesting here that even if we possess one body we

have many personalities, and is the ensemble of all these personalities that givesus our identity (Kunieda, 2010).

The dual identity characteristics are observations drawn from the interviews

and personal observations. They were examined and validated as well through

ongoing Japanese literature, anime movies and contemporary films. However, a

more extensive research should be carried to evaluate this correlation and elucidate

the impact that such a place has on the people.

98



CONCLUSION

The power of a landscape does not derive from the fact that it offers

itself as a spectacle, but rather from the fact that, as mirror and mirage, it

presents any susceptible viewer with an image at once true and false of

a creative capacity which the subject (or Ego) is able, during a moment

of marvelous self-deception, to claim as his own.

— Lefebvre (1991, p.189)

The aim of this work was to investigate new ways for analyzing the urban iden-tity of a contemporary city that under the shadow of economic booms and glob-

alization is undergoing constant construction and development. Consequently,

these mutations can direct into a total transformation of the urban fabric, raising

questions of urban memory loss and a new place-identity merging. The physi-

cal changes bring similarly cultural and social changes that could put at risk the

meaning and values that place carries. We have throughout this work, as Massey

(2001) suggested, not considered place as something static, because social inter-

actions and the physical environment that constitute its being are not motionless,neither frozen in time. According to Massey (2001) the contemporary place should

be consider as processes.

Tokyo has been an appropriate case study as a place-process. We have ex-

plained that Tokyo can be addressed as a non-place due the multiple homogenous

structures enhanced by the advanced technological nature along with the fact that

it is in a constant state of transition; it possesses little physical reminders of its long

history. Despite its ultra modern look, and its novel physical nature, there is some-

thing undoubtedly Japanese in its identity, a reasoning that drove us in the pursuit



and exploration of these features. Hence after, what is important to highlight isthat Tokyo is a living example of a city that despite its contemporary physical im-

age, the spirit of the place has its roots to Japanese traditional aesthetics. Massey

(1991) questioned in one of her essays whether it is not possible for the place to

be progressive in our times, to be appropriate for this ‘time-space compression”

era (the current global-local times). Tokyo appears to be a place that corresponds

to this anticipation. We have proved that even if Tokyo is above all a metropolis,

thus a product of the global market world and of homogenized spaces, it has a

distinctive character of its own that is revealed mostly through everyday practicesrather than through the physical matter of the architecture. In its global context it

possesses many local features.

Throughout our research, we have unveiled hidden meanings that are bounded

in the city’s urban structure that help us to appreciate its complex identity. The

tangible and intangible values of Tokyo were the approach that facilitated into a

holistic view and understanding of the place. The consideration of the tangible

values was evaluated through an investigation of the physical identity of Tokyo

historically, with an emphasis on the drastic restructuring of the 1980s. This ac-

count has verified that the very matters that we have considered to be a threat for

Tokyo’s identity, like the kitsch, the ugly, its transient state, the copy-paste and un-

historical places are the same elements that we can exploit to distinguish Tokyo’s

present identity today from other cities in the world. The chaotic and unstable

built environment or the messy urban cityscape are in reality features that enforce

the imageabilty of the city; as new and strong images are created and recreated

constantly leading to the conclusion that we can find meanings and values in tem-

porary notions or spaces that are generally considered to weaken the spirit of the

place. This refection has been further validated in the last chapter where we have

confirmed that people are attached and find meanings in their ambiguous envi-

ronment.

What’s more, the study of Tokyo’s urbanity has demonstrated another way of

examining the cities. Tokyo is an example of an alternative interpretation of a

place, since it carries a strong sense of place not through a powerful presence of

its long history, but rather in its ability to respond to changes and adapt to the

100



conditions of the given times, an approach adopted since ancient times. This wasexplained by the term wakon yosai, employed during the Meiji era, a method that

encouraged the copying of western culture, architecture, technology and then ap-

plied in their local traditions and ways of living.

Nonetheless, what this research expressed is that a city in a transient process

discloses history and tradition through other means besides its built environment.

The descriptions of people regarding their daily space-routine show almost no

indications, or referential physical features of a Japanese place-identity. It is via

intangible features that are less fragile that the Japanese unique identity was re-vealed like the appreciation of nature, daily lifestyle, or Zen like principles. We

have been able to associate the transient character of Tokyo with Zen teachings

that encourage temporality and ephemerality through the dictum all things must

pass. We have established how the temporary identity of Tokyo is actually a per-

manent feature via an insight in Zen philosophy that determines how the Japanese

perceive their environment. Our effort to ascertain Tokyo’s identity led us to the

translation of metaphors and other conceptual connotations of Japanese culture,

along with an investigation of its spatial configuration. We have investigated the

abstract meanings and cultural values that are omnipresent in the contemporary

identity of Tokyo, like the notion of beauty and aesthetics of traditional architec-

ture. The understanding of everyday life through teachings of Zen and nature, or

ancient beliefs on aesthetics has proven to be fundamental ideas that one can in-

terpret and juxtapose with the city’s urban condition, rendering a more lucid and

comprehensible Tokyo.

Nevertheless, what has proved of utter significance in order to appreciate theuniqueness and identity of Tokyo is to observe human interaction and the practice

of everyday life in Tokyo. We can also argue from our results that the peoples’

engagement in their daily activities, such as their cuisine, their language, their ap-

preciation for small things, the common zeal for cleanliness are all components that

are part of the city and can be pointed out to distinguish the particular “Japanese”

character of Tokyo. Through the study of people, we have traced, firstly those qual-

ities physical and abstract that people identify within their city and secondly we

have indicated new emerging places in the city as well as new modes of habitation.

101



The new emerging places are generally characterised by their ephemeral features;examples include love hotels, trains, internet cafes or other places with a strong

presence of advanced technology. We have addressed these emerging places as

non-places, but in fact we observe an additional parameter: the exploitation of

these places arises due to lack of personal space and the search to extend domestic

activities in the city. These are spaces that can be described as third places25 and are

worthy of further investigation as these places that are neither public nor private

are an emerging phenomenon of growing cities and are bound to change entire

cities.This research has directed us into making further verdicts a propos to the jux-

taposition of the city structure and the social structure, observations that resulted

from the interviews. People appear to be the essential apparatus that the city en-

compasses to preserve its identity because mainly of the Japanese savoir vivre that

is closely bounded to Japanese traditions. Yet, the deeper the consideration, we

witness a new kind of human emerging, the one that starts to merge with the city,

and starts to receive the impacts of such a powerful city. Huang (2004) claims that

the Tokyoite becomes a body upon which forces of violence are exerted from thecity, making him acquire a double contrasting identity26. Caillois similarly argues

that a living organism tends to imitate its environment, a consequence of being in

a powerful space (Huang 2004, p. 58). In Tokyo people are deprived of their body

space and it looks like the Tokyoite becomes a mobile body in an ever fragmented

space. The lack of space along with the fleeting condition of the city itself urges

the habitants into fusing with the city creating the decorpolization of the habitants.

Toyo Ito who examines thoroughly the predicament of flux and fast changing so-

ciety and named the residents of Tokyo living in this liquid state and comparedthem to “urban nomads wandering in artificial forests,” for whom, “a tent would suffice

25Term employed by sociologist Ray Oldenburg, in his book “The great, Good Place”,1989.26Could this be a way to look at what happened in 1995 in the unfortunate event of the Tokyo

gas attacks? The attacks were led by the spiritual group Aum Shinrikyo killing 12 people andinjuring 5,000. Castells (1997, p. 101) explains how this was viewed as an act against globalizationand threat of losing one’s own identity :“the ultimate goal was [. . . ] to save Japan [.. . ] from thewar of extermination that would result from the competing efforts of Japanese corporations andAmerican imperialism to create a new world order and a united world government ”. This extremeact left puzzled the world as Japan is regarded as an ordered, fair society, and the most ethnically

homogenous one amongst the world big cities.

102



as shelter”27

.Another association we have detected is that the same way that the city-amoeba

changes and adapt to current needs, so do Japanese people, said to have a sponge28

like personality, mimic the city and can adjust their lifestyle to incorporate new

situations. The millions of habitants that live in Tokyo and are proud of their envi-

ronment, orientate and identify in a city in which its built environment is a mobile

practice, turning themselves into urban nomads to assimilate with this condition.

They appoint new meanings to their environment and adapt to new ways of inhab-

itation to satisfy their desire to be a part of this city. Within this context the secondand last chapter have revealed a selection of novel type of spaces that emerged.

These spaces arose, firstly, to reflect the changing economic and global space of

the city, secondly recreate abstractly the vague city’s form into a microcosm of am-

biguous spaces and thirdly to accommodate the pervasive needs of private space

that was taken away from Tokyo habitants. The diminishing personal space for

the habitants, along with the long process of the daily commute encourages this

traveling culture within the city, and the search for spaces that can be an exten-

sion of one’s living room. We are therefore confronted with new spaces that are an“architectural hybridization of public, domestic, and commercial realm” marked by the

“existence of commercial venues distributed throughout the city that serve as an extension

of the private residence” (Jorge Almazán Caballero, 2006, p. 301) This correlation of

city structure and people can be elaborated further into the following sequence:

fleeting city-mobile places-urban nomads. This trend of nomadic lives that orig-

inated in the 80’s with the unrealized works of Archigram and Tokyo Ito have

found concrete meanings today as “commercial space is rapidly providing setting to

accommodate the nomadic urban lifestyles” (Almazán Caballero, 2006, p.308).The parallel that we have initiated between the association of city structure and

the people has been induced by Huang (2004), who argues that Tokyoites start to

absorb the city and desire to be identical with it. She brings evidence on the subject

27Roulet, Roché-Soulié and Ito (1991). Toyo Ito in an interview with Sophie Roulet and SophieSoulie, entitled "Towards a post-ephemeral architecture,” in Sophie Roulet and Sophie Soulie, eds.,Toyo Ito (Paris: Editions Moniteur, 1991), p. 96-97.

28From a personal communication with Professor Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama, Kyoto University, hehas expressed that people have a personality similar to a sponge, that is soft flexible and can adapt

to fit in different states.

103



Figure 4.15: Tokyo: In department store 109. Photo by author.

by an insight in many Japanese films. She has expressed the power that the city

has over people as manifested through the urban plans of the construction boom

where said “. . . in abstract space, the conceived space overrides the concrete space of

everyday life” (Huang, 2004, p.59) 29. We have observed from the overall question-

naire results that people are proud users of their city even if their concrete space is

diminishing as the city’s economic space is expanding. This reality has been widely

accepted by the habitants as the new identification with the city. We can argue that

the Zen approach towards development and reconstruction of the Japanese cap-ital has turned the Tokyoites into a subconscious decorpolization with their city.

Huang (2004) describes decorpolization as a condition arising from the desire to

mimic one’s space and wherein a body assimilates to his environment, blurring

the boundaries of the body and the city limits, causing conditions of psychastenia.

This theme of the people assimilating with the city remains open-ended and re-

quires further research. In what ways do we have a parallel projection of identities

and through which means does the city form the identity of the habitants or vice

29This thought was initiated by Lefebvre in his book The Production of Space, 1991.

104



versa. Certainly, supplementary investigation is needed in that area will enable tomeasure identities of the people-city relationship when talking about cities with

non-fixed values. Subsequent in depth investigation to understand the complex

future metropolis should aim to find other elements and various methodological

approaches in regards to how and by which means such powerful cities have an

impact on its users-inhabitants. Will the end of masterplan launch the creation of

micro plans to be inserted in the cities facilitating mobile practices? How the mo-

bility of contemporary cities lead in new forms of life? Should we start thinking,

as urbanists, to provide elements for such flexible and mobile places in the city?

105



REFERENCES

- ALLEN, S. and AGREST, D., Practice : architecture, technique, and representation,Australia, G+B Arts International, 2000, p. xxv, 199 p.

- ALTMAN, I. and LOW, S. M., Place attachment, New York, Plenum Press, 1992,

p. xix, 314 p.

- ASHIHARA, Y., The hidden order : Tokyo through the twentieth century, Tokyo ;

New York, Kodansha International, 1989, 158 p.

- AUGÉ, M., Non-lieux : introduction à une anthropologie de la surmodernité, Paris,

Seuil, 1992, p. 149.

- BARTHES, R., Empire of signs, New York, Hill and Wang, 1982, p. x, 108 p.

- BERQUE, A., J’en ai revé, c’était Tokyo. Premices d’un fantasme collectif , Annales.

Histoire, Sciences Sociales. , 49, 1994, p. 585-593.

- BOGNAR, B., What goes up, must come down, Harvard design Magazine, 1997.

- BOGNÁR, B., The new Japanese architecture, New York, Rizzoli, 1990, 222 p.

- C.L. TWIGGER-ROSS, M. BONAIUTO and BREAKWELL, G., Identity the-

ories and enviromental psychology, in M. Bonnes, T. Lee and M. Bonaiuto, eds.,

Psychological theories for environmental issues, Ashgate, Aldershot, Hants, England ;Burlington, VT, 2003, 284 p.

- CANTER, D. V., The psychology of place, London, Architectural Press, 1977, p.

x, 198 p.

- CASEY, E. S., Body, self and landscape: A geographical inquiry into the place

world, in P. C. Adams, S. D. Hoelscher and K. E. Till, eds., Textures of place : exploring

humanist geographies, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2001, p. xxxiii,

461 p.

- CASTELLS, M., The power of identity, Malden, Mass., Blackwell, 1997, p. xv,



461 p.- CERTEAU, M. D., The practice of everyday life, Berkeley, University of California

Press, 1984, p. xxiv, 229 p.

- CHANG, T. C., Place, memory and identity: Imagining ‘New Asia’, Asia Pacific

Viewpoint, 46, 2005, p. 247–253.

- COHEN, A. P., Signifying identities: anthropological perspectives on boundaries

and contested values, London ; New York, Routledge, 2000, p. vi, 178 p.

- CRESSWELL, T., Place, in E. Inc., ed., Elsevier Inc., 2009.

- CRINSON, M., Urban memory: history and amnesia in the modern city, London ;New York, Routledge, 2005, p. xxiii, 225 p.

- CUBA, L. and D.HUMMON, A place to call home: Identification with dwelling,community

and region., The Sociological Quarterly, 3, 1993, p. 111-131.

- CYBRIWSKY, R., Changing patterns of urban public space: Observations and assess-

ments from the Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas, in J. E. Robertson, ed., Cities,

Blackwell Pub., Malden, MA ; Oxford, 1999, p. pp. 223–231.

- CYBRIWSKY, R., Tokyo ’s Third Rebuilding: New Twists on Old Patterns

pp218-30, in J. E. Robertson, ed., A companion to the anthropology of Japan, Blackwell

Pub., Malden, MA ; Oxford, 2005, p. xxiii, 518 p.

- DAVIS, W., Religion and national identity in modern and postmodern japan,

in P. Heelas, ed., Religion, modernity, and postmodernity, Blackwell Publishers, Ox-

ford, UK ; Malden, Mass., 1998, p. vi, 338 p.

- ESHUN, H., A Methodological basis for Japanese Studies-with regard to "Relatum’

as its foundation, Japan Review, 9, 1997, p. 41-63.

- GIERYN, T., A space for place in sociology, Annual Review of Sociology, 26, 2000.- GOSPODINI, A., European cities and place-identity, University of Thessaly 2002,

p. 18.

- GRAAF, P. V. D., The Lost Emotion: Feeling at Home in Sociology Inequality, Inclu-

sion and the Sense of Belonging, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2009a.

- GRAAF, P. V. D., Out of Place? Emotional Ties to the Neighbourhood in Urban

Renewal in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, University of Amsterdam, 2009b.

- GRAHAM, B., ed., Modern Europe: Place, Culture, Identity, 1998.

- PROSHANSKY,H.M., FABIAN, H.M. and KAMINOFF, R., Place-identity: Phys-

108



ical world socialization of the self , Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3 1987, p.57-83.

- HARVEY, D., The condition of postmodernity: an enquiry into the origins of cultural

change, Oxford [England] ; Cambridge, Mass., USA, Blackwell, 1989, p. ix, 378 p.

- HAUGE, A. L., Identity and place:a critical comparison of three identity theories,

Architectural Science Review, 50 2007.

- HAYDEN, D., The power of place: urban landscapes as public history, Cambridge,

Mass., MIT Press, 1995, p. xvii, 296 p.

- HUANG, T.-Y. M., Walking between slums and skyscrapers : illusions of open space

in Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press, 2004,

p. x, 171 p.

- POSTALC,I., AYSEGÜL, A., and EREN, I., The New Urban Memory, in n. I.

Congress, ed., Cities between integration and disintegration, Istanbul, 2006.

- IKEGAMI, Y., Semiotics and culture, in Y. Ikegami, ed., The Empire of signs :

semiotic essays on Japanese culture, J. Benjamins Pub. Co., Amsterdam ; Philadelphia,

1991, p. xi, 333 p.

- ITO, T., Shinjuku Simulated City, The Japan Architect, 3, 1991.

- JINNAI, H., The Modernization of Tokyo during the Meiji Period: Typological Ques-

tions, in A. Petruccioli, ed., Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard

University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996.

- JINNAI, H., Tokyo : a spatial anthropology, Berkeley, University of California

Press, 1994, p. xii, 236 p.

- JORGE ALMAZÁN CABALLERO , Y. T., Tokyo Public Space Networks at the In-

tersection of the Commercial and the Domestic Realms. Study on Dividual Space, Journalof Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, 5, 2006, p. 301-308.

- KEITH, M., and STEVE, P., Place and the politics of identity, London ; New York,

Routledge, 1993, p. viii, 235 p.

- KIMURA, B., Hito to hito to no aida, 1972, p. 238 p.

- KING, A., Re-Presenting World cities: Cultural Theory/Social Practice, in P.

L. Knox and P. J. Taylor, eds., World cities in a world-system, Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge ; New York, 1995, p. pp. 215-231, 335 p.

- KING, G., The Crows’ Realm, in D. Norihiko, ed., Architecture and Urbanism of

109



Tokyo, 2008.- KITAYAMA, K., Tokyo Metabolizing, in J. Pavillion, ed., 12th International Ar-

chitecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Italy, 2010.

- KNOX, P. and MARSTON, S. A., Places and Regions in Global Context: Human

Geography Prentice Hall, 2004.

- KNOX, P. L. and MARSTON, S. A., Places and regions in global context: human

geography, Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education, 2006.

- KOOLHAAS, R., MAU, B., SIGLER, J., WERLEMANN, H. and OFFICE FOR

METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE., Small, medium, large, extra-large : Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rem Koolhaas, and Bruce Mau, New York, N.Y., Mona-

celli Press, 1998, p. xxxi, 1344 p.

- KUNIEDA, S., Oubliez l’individu, souriez aux "dividus", Courrier International,

Hors Série 2010, p. 68-69.

- KURODA, J. and KAIJIMA, M., Made in Tokyo, Kajima Institute Publishing Co,

2001.

- KUROKAWA, K., Learning from Tokyo, Architectural Design, 64, 1994, p. 8-19.

- LEFEBVRE, H., The production of space, Oxford, OX, UK ; Cambridge, Mass.,

USA, Blackwell, 1991, p. 454 p.

- LEWICKA, M., Place attachment, place identity, and place memory:Restoring the

forgotten city past, Journal of Environmental Psychology 28 2008, p. 209–231.

- LOW, S. M. and LAWRENCE-ZÚÑIGA, D., The anthropology of space and place

: locating culture, Malden, MA, Blackwell Pub., 2003, p. ix, 422 p.

- LYNCH, K., The image of the city, Cambridge [Mass.], Technology Press, 1960,

p. 194 p.- MAKI, F., The roof at Fujisawa, Perspecta, 24, 1988.

- MAKI, F., Japanese City Spaces and the Concept of ’Oku’, Japan Architect, 265,

May 1979, p. 51-62

- MASSEY, D., A Global Sense of Place, Marxism Today, 6, 1991.

- MASSEY, D., Space, place, and gender, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota

Press, 1994, p. viii, 280 p.

- MIYAKE, R., Pursuit for Internal Microcosms, The Japan Architect, 6, 1987.

- NITSCHKE, G., From Ambiguity to Transparency: Unperspective, perspective, and

110



a perspective paradigms of space, Japan Today, 35 1995.- NITSCHKE, G., Street or neighbourhood, KYOTO Journal, 55 2003.

- NORBERG-SCHULZ, C., Genius loci: towards a phenomenology of architecture,

New York, Rizzoli, 1980, p. 213

- OSBORNE, B., Landscapes, Memory, Monuments, and Commemoration: Putting

Identity in Its Place, Canadian Ethnic Studies, XXXIII 2001, p. 39-77.

- FORSTALL, R., and J.B. PICK, Which are the largest? Why published populations

for major world urban areas vary so greatly, in U. o. I. a. Chicago, ed., City Futures

Conference, 2004.- RELPH, E. C., Place and placelessness, London, Pion, 1976, p. [10], 156 p.

- RICHIE, D., Tokyo: A view of the city, London, Reaktion Books, 1999, 141 p.

- ROBERTSON, R., Glocalisation: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity,

in M. Featherstone, S. Lash and R. Robertson, eds., Global modernities, Sage Publi-

cations, London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif., 1995, p. ix, 292 p.

- ROULET, S., ROCHÉ-SOULIÉ, S. and ITO, T., Toyo Ito, l’architecture de l’éphémère,

Paris, Editions du Moniteur, 1991, 164 p.

- SACCHI, L., Tokyo : Architecture et urbanisme, Flammarion, 2005, p. 249.

- SAITO, Y., Everyday aesthetics, Oxford ; New York, Oxford University Press,

2007, p. xiii, 273 p.

- SANDE, H. V., Bindings. Investigation on the interest of inter-bindings in Tokyo’s

contemporary city, in http://www.reseau-asie.com, ed., 3ème Congrès du Réseau

Asie - IMASIE, Paris, 2007.

- SASSEN, S., The global city : New York, London, Tokyo, Princeton, N.J., Princeton

University Press, 1991, p. xvi, 397 p.- SEPE, M., Complex mapping of the urban landscape:new methods and complex maps,

Institute for Service Industry Research, National Research Council, Napoli 2004.

- SEPE, M., Place Identity and Place Maker: Planning the Urban Sustainability, Jour-

nal of Urban Planning and Development, 136, 2010, p. 139.

- SMITH, H., Tokyo as an Idea: An Exploration of Japanese Urban Thought until

1945, Journal of Japanese Studies, 4, 1978, p. 45-80.

- SOSEKI, N., From Behind the study door, in L. Rogers, ed., Tokyo stories : a

literary stroll, 2002, University of California Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1915, p. xlviii,

111



267 p.- SWYNGEDOUW, E., Glocalisations, Temple University Press, Philadelphia,

PA, 2004.

- TABUCHI, H., For Some in Japan, Home Is a Tiny Plastic Bunk New York Times,

New York, 2010, p. A1.

- TANIZAKI, J. I. O., In praise of shadows, New Haven, Conn., Leete’s Island

Books, 1977, 48 p.

- TOMLINSON, J., Globalization and Cultural Identity, in D. Held and A. G.

McGrew, eds., The global transformations reader : an introduction to the globalizationdebate, Polity Press ;Distributed in the USA by Blackwell Pub., Cambridge, UK,

Malden, MA USA, 2003, p. xviii, 602 p.

- VIRILIO, P., Speed and Information: Cyberspace Alarm!, CTheory 1995.

- WADWEKAR and KOBAYASHI, The End of Master Plan: New Collage Cities

of Future, in V. V. P. Manfred SCHRENK, Dirk ENGELKE, Pietro ELISEI, ed.,

REAL CORP 2009: Strategies, Concepts and Technologies for Planning the Urban Fu-

ture, Catalunya/Spain, 2009.

- WALEY, P., Re-scripting the city: Tokyo from ugly duckling to cool cat, Japan Fo-rum, 18 2006, p. 361 - 380.

- WICKER, A. W., An introduction to ecological psychology, Monterey, Calif., Brooks/Cole

Pub. Co., 1979, p. xii, 228 p.

112



APPENDIX A

QUESTIONNAIRE

Interviewee details

-Tokyo citizen/how long?

-Resident of (ward)/Transportation Means

- Age/Gender

-profession

-Japanese/Foreigner

1. Tokyo Impression

a. What are the first things that come to your mind that symbolize Tokyo?Descriptions that relate to the physical image of Tokyo.

b. Is there any part of Tokyo you consider as the centre of the city?

c. What are distinctive features of Tokyo/of the area that you live? Could you

tell me elements that are particular for you, easy to identify and help you orientate

in the city. These elements might be large or small, environmental, or physical, or

abstract elements.

d. How much do you pay attention to the billboards, the electronic announce-

ments, notices and generally all signs that are omnipresent in Tokyo?

2. Tokyo Image

a. Map by interviewee

I would like you to make a quick map of Tokyo. This is just a conceptual image

that you have about Tokyo and it is like you are making a rapid description to

someone about the city. This is a rough sketch and not an accurate drawing. (If you

have problems understanding I have drawn a sample map of how I will describe

in a map the city of New York. I have lived in NY for 3 years and this is how I



will describe it by drawing a map) It is important to draw the map as you haveit in your mind and NOT TO COPY OR REPRODUCE A MAP. This process is

called cognitive mapping in environmental psychology and it is this image that I

am interested to look. YOUR MAP DOES NOT NEED TO BE ACCURATE; I JUST

WANT YOUR IMPRESSION OF TOKYO CITY;

b. Map/Notes by interviewer. -Can you please give me accurate descriptions

of your daily trip from home to work/school etc...(or a route that you have per-

formed regularly when living in Tokyo). I am interested to know of the images you

see, what are the points of reference you see on the way that guide you throughyour destination.

- Any particular feelings while taking this trip? How long does it take? Do you

always take the same road? Have you ever had the feeling of being lost?

3. Tokyo-sense of place-memory map

a. Is there any special place with a particular meaning for you in Tokyo?

b. Any particular feelings when a neighborhood takes a new form? Was there

for you, once, a special place that now no longer exists? Emotions seeing new

things come up, other things to go down.

c. Any special memories that you carry with you from the Tokyo of 10/20/30

–where appropriate-years ago? Did you orientate yourself the same way? Using

the same routes?

4. Tokyo Recognition

(From the answer of 3a ask the following questions) a. Would you describethe district you know well to me? If you were taken there blindfolded what kind

of clues would you look for to know where you are? b. Would you show me on

your map where is the district you know well? And where are its boundaries (if

applicable) c. Would you show me on your map the direction of north?

5. Identity

a. Living in such a contemporary and global city, in what sorts of activities/spaces/habits

make you feel closer to your ‘Japanese identity’.

114



6. Tokyo Lifestylea. What kind of services or activities does the city centre offer to you?

b. What is your understanding of public space? Which parts in Tokyo would

you describe as a successful public space?

c. What kind of outdoor activities do you do in Tokyo? -Any special facil-

ity/activity that you would have liked to be available in the city? -Are you satisfied

by the around of green/open spaces?

d. Tokyo being the most international city in Japan, do you see yourself in-

volved in more international activities?e. Do you believe that living in the city of Tokyo has engaged you in living in a

particular lifestyle? Has it changed in any ways the way you live your life or has

it relieved a certain side of your personality? Please explain in which ways.

f. What is the importance of orientation and recognition of city elements to

Tokyoites?

g. Do you feel any pleasure from knowing where you are and where you are

going? Or displeasure in the reverse?

h. DO you find Tokyo an easy city to get around and identify its parts?

i. Which city has for you a good orientation? Why?

j. What are your best memories of Tokyo city? If possible could you be specific

in spatial terms identifying the place of importance.

7. Quality of living

Would you rank the following, in order of importance, as your criteria when

choosing a place of living in Tokyo City?’1. Access to green/open spaces

2. Access to shopping facilities

3. Ease Of transportation

4. “Ron” type district (backstreets, with small communal streets, more tradi-

tional streets.)

5. Modern district

6. Square meters/price

7.Parking place

115



8. Reduced noise level of district9.Access to cultural/educational facilities(school for children)

10.Access to place of work or study

116



APPENDIX B

ON INDENTITIES

The choice of Tokyo, has not been accidental. I have lived for three years in

Kyoto, Japan, where I have been induced by a heavy dose of the power of this

place. The connection with the place still remains strong today; to the extent that

I feel nostalgic when I recall the times I spend there. The structure of the city, the

strong identity of the city, the reflection of culture in the everyday life have been

easily accessible giving the chance to be experienced by non-locals, like me. Be-

cause of my stay in Japan I am approaching this research as both an insider and an

outsider. This dual status , gives first the advantage that I have a good understand-

ing of the culture, and the social issues and on the other hand, the distance from

the subject allows a more open observation and interpretation of the results, that

might be omitted by a genuine insider. My interest for human identity and how

this is shaped by the environment was intrigued after my three year stay in Japan.

At that time I was astounded at the way the Japanese society has achieved such a

beautiful equilibrium in bringing together their Asiatic identities, traditional, dif-

ferent and complex with the menacing omnipresence of the contemporary western

identities. I think that Japan is an adequate model to investigate identities at times

of transformation, political, urban and social.In this work we talk about identify of the city, so I want to clarify that we are

referring to the urban identity and at the same time of human identity. In this

work i have perceive the two as inter connected, as our urban environment reflects

our human aspirations and principles. Human identities and the question of ego

are much related to the real world we are living to our activities and our various

relations within a place. These are theories that have been long suggested and

evident in the work of Martin Heidegger.

In Tokyo the question of identity is particularly pertinent as there are often



and radical transformations that shift fixed meanings of identity. Japan has experi-enced such an enormous economic boom which was reflected directly on the urban

identity of Tokyo and to human identity of the people who live there. Besides serv-

ing as a palpable model for the study of cities under rapid transformation, Tokyo

also opens the way in a new direction at looking at cities in the contemporary era.

118



APPENDIX C

TOKYO FACTS AND FIGURES

Facts about Tokyo for the metropolitan government website :

Source: http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/PROFILE/overview01.htm

Tokyo history appendix

• 1603 Tokugawa Ieyasu establishes Shogunate Government (Tokugawa Shogu-

nate) in the town of Edo. Edo period begins.

• 1657 Major fire in Edo claims over 100,000 lives.

• 1721 First population census conducted (Edo’s population about 1.3 million).

• 1854 Treaty of Peace and Amity between Japan and the U.S. concluded (Japan

ends seclusion policy).

• 1867 Tokugawa Yoshinobu, last shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, resigns

and returns governing power to the Emperor.

•

1868 New Meiji government established. Meiji era begins.

• 1868 Edo renamed Tokyo and becomes a prefecture.

• 1872 First railway line opens between Shimbashi, Tokyo and Yokohama.

• 1877 First Industrial Exhibition held at Ueno Park.

• 1882 First zoo opened in Ueno.

• 1888 Municipal organization system introduced.



•

1889 Constitution of the Empire of Japan promulgated. Tokyo City and 15wards established.

• 1894 Tokyo-fu Government Building completed in Marunouchi.

• 1912 Taisho era begins.

• 1920 First census conducted. Population of Tokyo-fu rapidly increases and

becomes 3,699,428.

• 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake claims the lives of around 140,000 people anddestroys about 300,000 houses.

• 1926 Showa era begins.

• 1927 First subway line opens between Asakusa and Ueno.

• 1931 Tokyo Airport opens in Haneda.

• 1935 Tokyo’s resident population reaches 6.36 million (almost the same as

New York City and London).

• 1941 Port of Tokyo opens.

• 1943 Metropolitan administration system established.

• 1945 March 10: Tokyo hit by heaviest air raid since beginning of war.

• 1947 Constitution of Japan promulgated.

• 1947 Tokyo launches 23 special-ward administration system.

• 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan and Japan-U.S. Security Treaty concluded.

• 1962 Tokyo population reaches 10 million.

• 1964 Olympic Games held in Tokyo.

• 1989 Heisei era begins.

• 1993 Rainbow Bridge opened.

120



History of TokyoThe history of the city of Tokyo stretches back some 400 years. Originally

named Edo, the city started to flourish after Tokugawa Ieyasu established the

Tokugawa Shogunate here in 1603. As the centre of politics and culture in Japan,

Edo grew into a huge city with a population of over a million by the mid-eighteenth

century. Throughout this time, the Emperor resided in Kyoto, which was the for-

mal capital of the nation. The Edo Period lasted for nearly 260 years until the Meiji

Restoration in 1868, when the Tokugawa Shogunate ended and imperial rule was

restored. The Emperor moved to Edo, which was renamed Tokyo. Thus, Tokyo became the capital of Japan. During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japan began its avid

assimilation of Western civilization. Buildings made of stone and bricks were built

on the sites of the mansions of feudal lords, and the major roads were paved with

round stones. In 1869 Japan’s first telecommunications line was opened between

Tokyo and Yokohama, and the first steam locomotive started running in 1872 from

Shimbashi to Yokohama. Western hairstyles replaced the traditional topknot worn

by men, and bowler hats, high collars, and bustled skirts were the height of fash-

ion. In 1882 Japan’s first zoological gardens were opened in Ueno. In 1885 thecabinet system of government was adopted and Ito Hirobumi became Japan’s first

prime minister. With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan

in 1889 Japan established the political system of a modern state.

During the Taisho era (1912–1926), the number of people working in cities in-

creased, and a growing proportion of citizens began to lead consumer lifestyles.

Educational standards improved, and the number of girls going on to study at

higher schools increased. Performing arts such as theater and opera thrived. InSeptember 1923 Tokyo was devastated by the Great Kanto Earthquake. The fires

caused by the earthquake burned the city center to the ground. Over 140,000 peo-

ple were reported dead or missing, and 300,000 houses were destroyed. After the

earthquake a city reconstruction plan was formulated, but because the projected

costs exceeded the national budget only a small part of it was realized.

Beginning shortly after the Great Kanto Earthquake, the Showa era (1926–1989)

started in a mood of gloom. Even so, Japan’s first subway line was opened between

Asakusa and Ueno in 1927, and in 1928 the 16th general elections for the House of

121



Representatives of the Diet (or Parliament) were held for the first time after theenactment of universal male suffrage. In 1931 Tokyo Airport was completed at

Haneda, and in 1941 the Port of Tokyo was opened. By 1935 the resident popu-

lation of Tokyo had grown to 6.36 million, comparable to the populations of New

York and London.

However, the Pacific war, which broke out in 1941, had a great impact on Tokyo.

The dual administrative system of Tokyo-fu (prefecture) and Tokyo-shi (city) was

abolished for war-time efficiency, and the prefecture and city were merged to form

the Metropolis of Tokyo in 1943. The metropolitan administrative system was thusestablished and a governor was appointed. In the final phase of the war, Tokyo

was bombed 102 times. The heaviest air raid was on March 10, 1945, in which there

was great loss of life and material damage. The war came to an end on September

2, 1945, when the Japanese government and military representatives signed the

Instrument of Surrender. Much of Tokyo had been laid waste by the bombings

and by October 1945 the population had fallen to 3.49 million, half its level in 1940.

In May 1947 the new Constitution of Japan and the Local Autonomy Law took

effect, and Seiichiro Yasui was elected the first Governor of Tokyo by popular vote

under the new system. In August of that year, the present 23 special ward system

began in Tokyo Metropolis.

The 1950s were a time of gradual recovery for the nation. Television broad-

casting began in 1953, and Japan joined the United Nations in 1956. Economic

recovery was aided in particular by the special procurement boom arising from

the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950. This led to Japan’s entry into a period

of rapid economic growth in the 1960s. Due to technological innovations and theintroduction of new industries and technologies, this period saw the beginning of

mass production of synthetic fibers and household electric appliances such as tele-

visions, refrigerators, and washing machines. As a result, the everyday lives of the

residents of Tokyo underwent considerable transformation. In 1962 the popula-

tion of Tokyo broke the 10 million mark. In 1964 the Olympic Games were held in

Tokyo, the Shinkansen (“Bullet Train”) line began operations, and the Metropolitan

Expressway was opened, forming the foundation for Tokyo’s current prosperity.

Entering the 1970s, the strain of rapid economic growth became apparent as the

122



country was beset by environmental issues such as pollution of the air and rivers,as well as high levels of noise. The Oil Crisis of 1973 brought the many years of

rapid economic growth to a halt. In the 1980s, Tokyo took large steps in economic

growth as a result of its increasingly global economic activity and the emergence

of the information society. Tokyo became one of the world’s most active major

cities, boasting attractions such as cutting-edge technology, information, culture,

and fashion, as well as a high level of public safety. From 1986 onwards, land and

stock prices spiraled upwards, a phenomenon known as the “bubble economy.”

Japan enjoyed tremendous growth under the bubble economy, but with the burstof the bubble at the beginning of the 1990s, sinking tax revenues caused by the

protracted economic slump led to a critical state in metropolitan finances.

After two successive fiscal reconstruction programs Tokyo was able to over-

come its financial crisis, and now continues to strive to achieve the goals of the

10-Year Plan, Tokyo’s blueprints for the city, to become a truly attractive and ma-

ture city rich in greenery.

Geography of Tokyo

Tokyo Metropolis is located in the southern Kanto region, positioned in ap-

proximately the center of the Japanese archipelago. It is bordered to the east by the

Edogawa River and Chiba Prefecture, to the west by mountains and Yamanashi

Prefecture, to the south by the Tamagawa River and Kanagawa Prefecture, and to

the north by Saitama Prefecture.

The Tokyo Megalopolis Region, or Greater Tokyo Area, is made up of Tokyo

and the three neighboring prefectures of Saitama, Kanagawa, and Chiba. This areais home to around 28% of Japan’s total population. The National Capital Region is

made up of Tokyo and the seven surrounding prefectures of Saitama, Kanagawa,

Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Yamanashi.

Tokyo Metropolis is a metropolitan prefecture comprising administrative en-

tities of special wards and municipalities. The “central” area is divided into 23

special wards (ku in Japanese), and the Tama area is made up of 26 cities (shi),

3 towns (machi), and 1 village (mura). The 23 special-ward area and the Tama

area together form a long, narrow stretch of land, running about 90 kilometers east

123



to west and 25 kilometers north and south. The Izu Islands and the OgasawaraIslands, two island groups in the Pacific Ocean, are also administratively part of

Tokyo, despite being geographically separated from the metropolis. The islands

have between them two towns and seven villages. In addition, islands compris-

ing the most southern and most eastern lands of Japan also fall under the admin-

istrative district of Ogasawara-mura; these are, respectively, the Okinotorishima

Islands, which have an exclusive economic zone of about 400,000 square kilome-

ters, and Minamitorishima Island. The overall population of Tokyo is about 12.99

million (as of October 1, 2009), and the area is about 2,188 square kilometers. Theclimate is generally mild.

124



ABSTRACT

In this thesis, we are going to enquire on the identity of the city, as a complex andperplex place of our contemporary era, contradicting and unstable engendering

situations of transience and transformation (Graham, 1998). As the new places

emerging in cities are marked by urban features that make them hard to identify,

we have to look for new methods in reading and explaining the city with its novel

features. In what ways can we measure the identities of contemporary places that

are marked by non-fixed values and physical attributes? In this work, we are go-

ing to demonstrate how and why the contemporary city is not only an artificial

construct, but identified by a set of habits, customs and life styles. Our concernsare epitomized through the case of Tokyo because enduring continuous construc-

tions have constantly transformed its urban structure. Moreover, questions regard-

ing the identity of the city find justification in this city of rapid urbanization, fast

changing societies, and the importation of western elements. Tokyo was chosen

because its distinctive features of complexity, liquidity and impermanence makes

it a suitable city to conduct such a study. This work can be used as an initial model

to understand and evaluate cities that experience rapid urbanization.

Keywords: city, identity, Tokyo.

Measuring Identities of Transient Places-The Case of Tokyo-Memoire_2011_Antoniou

Documents

Transcript of Measuring Identities of Transient Places-The Case of Tokyo-Memoire_2011_Antoniou