By : Connor Kennedy

Japan is famous for a wide range of cultural, technological, natural, and architectural facets. I recently travelled to the region with friends on a 2-week exploration eager to experience a taste of all the above (and the taste of authentic ramen and sake).

Architecturally Japan is incredible, from its Shinto shrines to the metabolism movement, to contemporary Kengo Kuma buildings, it seems there is a little bit of everything in Japan that has then been thrown together with no premeditation – and seemingly no planning laws! - making Japan’s urban context so incredibly interesting.

The Japanese Metabolism movement has always been especially interesting to me. Conceived in the 1960’s the ideology was extremely cutting edge for its time. The idea of buildings as living, adaptable organisms is a concept that we architects are still trying to completely resolve and understand even today. I feel there is still a place for this metabolic thinking in today’s architecture and it should be integrated into our modular design principles. Can we make our buildings more sustainable by making them adaptable as the Metabolists of the 60’s attempted to do?

Picture 2 (Nagakin Capsule Tower, AD Classics: Nagakin Capsule Tower, Arcspace (2013).

Osaka

We started our trip in Osaka coined as “the Manchester” of Japan as a northerner myself who studied in Manchester, I was keen to put this to the test and see if I could find any architectural or cultural similarities. The answer was…YES. Both Osaka and Manchester played pivotal roles in the industrialization of their respective countries. In the 19th century, Manchester was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom, known for its textile and manufacturing industries. Similarly, Osaka became a major center for industrialization in Japan during the same period, focusing on textiles, cotton spinning, and other manufacturing sectors. Architecturally In both cities industrial buildings are extremely frequent and have now since been repurposed into restaurants, bars, housing, and arts centres.

Culturally I found speaking to the locals in Osaka a fascinating experience, when I asked them about their Mancunian title the response, I got was more of a socio-economic stance stating that it comes from the rivalry with Tokyo similarly to the rivalry between Manchester and London with Londoners often thinking of Manchester as the “noisy little brother”.

…And of course, we tried the Takoyaki octopus balls Osaka’s famous street cuisine on the Dontonbari, if you’re ever in Osaka make sure you check these out!

Mount Fuji

We then travelled to Kawaguchiko, Lake Kawaguchi located at the foot of Mount Fuji by bullet train passing through some unbelievable scenery. The architecture in Kawaguchiko was much more traditional and vernacular. We visited Hakusan Shrine a traditional Shinto shrine which dates to 717AD. Life was of a much slower pace here and we visited a traditional Japanese Onsen. Buildings which house natural thermal springs for swimming and bathing. After the cloud parted (phew) we got a glimpse of one of the most photographed natural wonders in the world, Mount Fuji.

Tokyo

The final stop of our Japanese trip was of course Tokyo, the worlds biggest metropolis. Before we arrived, I was expecting a similar architectural context and aesthetic to Osaka, but the architecture in Tokyo seemed a little less frenetic and grander than Osaka with more open squares and green spaces. We spent the first day in Shibuya famous for its central square and pedestrian crossing, the largest in the world where 3,000 people can cross at the same time.

Tokyo based architecture professor Shane Flynn commented saying the Shibuya crossing “is a great example of what Tokyo does best when it is not trying”.

Next on the agenda was a totally contrasting area called Omoide Yokocho. Omoide Yokocho was an open-air market that formed in the burnt-out ruins of Tokyo in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War and is a truly unique district. A series of 100’s of bars, shops and street food stalls cramped into a series of small alley ways, a total contrast to the grand nature of Shibuya and more contemporary districts of Tokyo. Omoide Yokocho is truly nostalgic and ultimately bursting with character, interesting people and architecture - my favourite location of the entire trip.

Before the end of our trip and our flight to South Korea…a story for another journal post, we stopped by to check out the Shizuoka Press Center. Since the demolition of the Nakagin Capsule Tower this is arguably now the best example of Metabolic architecture inside Tokyo. The press center was designed by Kenzo Tange in 1967 and was built to enable further office modules to be attached to the central spine as demand increased or the purpose for the building changed. As stated at the beginning of this journal an incredibly interesting concept which encompasses the phrase “recyclable buildings” something which should be driving the design and construction of todays architecture.

Picture 8 , AD Classics: Shizuoka Press and Broadcasting Center / Kenzo Tange Arcspace (2013).

Summary

Japan is an incredible country with amazing culture, architecture, natural scenery and of course ramen and sake! I can’t wait to be back to explore this fantastic country even more.

By Connor Kennedy