I’ve been doing a fair bit of research in connection with the book project I’m working on. Trying to find footage (both still and video) from post-war Japan (which for the convenience of the project is loosely defined as the first three decades after 1945) has become a bit of a hobby along the way. Instead of posting too much of this on this blog, I have decided to put all these little snippets up on a new Tumblr called “1945-1975 Japan”, to be found at postwarjapan.tumblr.com. Enjoy!
We sometimes take for granted how easy it is to fly across the world. The jet-engine revolution in civil aviation of the 1950s cut distances short considerably. I stumbled upon a few timetables from the 1950s and 60s which really drive that point home.
It’s been a while that I wrote about my book project on some of Tokyo’s iconic 60s/70s buildings. Work has been ongoing over the last couple of months and the project has been growing in scope and depth. There is now four confirmed chapters written by four different authors. Architectural photographer Manuel Oka has started taking shots of the buildings. Here are some of his photos:
A friend of a friend is a researcher on Japanese public housing projects. Their history is inextricably linked to Japan’s economic miracle from the 1950s onwards. When researching the book, I thought that the chapter on urbanisation would benefit greatly from an inset about danchi.
Danchi – near Komazawa Olympic Park
I left Tokyo last Sunday – in style after a night out near Shibuya got finished off by a bowl of ramen at six am, followed by one of the first Ginza line trains back to the pad. Having been “home” in Berlin for almost a week now, it’s time for an overdue farewell post to Japan.
The Tokyo Olympics 1964 have been a recurring theme on this blog (here and here) because they fit in so nicely with the narrative of Japan’s economic miracle and reintegration into the world community. Another architectural manifestation from the Games is the Komazawa Olympic Park in Setagaya. The author of the book’s chapter on politics and avantgarde has chosen the complex as one of the insets. I took a stroll through the park to get a feel for the place.
I walked the second leg of my Yamanote Line circle trek today. Just because the route from Sugamo back to Gotanda was a little shorter (about 18 km), Tokyo decided to throw some pouring rain down on me during the last leg from Shibuya onwards. I was wondering how it would be to walk London’s circle line (27 km) or Berlin’s Ringbahn (38 km) in comparison.
Here in Tokyo, It felt completely safe to walk everywhere, from dark back alleys to busy station surroundings. It’s exciting to hear and see how each station has a slightly different feel to it, yet shares many of the same characteristics. Rush hour pedestrian traffic at the main crossroads gives way to complete solitude a few hundred meters down the road. Trendy upmarket areas near Harajuku versus makeshift homes for the homeless near Ueno; bright and neon-lit Shibuya and Shinjuku vs. the quiet small-town feel near Tabata.
Picking up the trek at Sugamo Continue reading
I had always wanted to walk the Yamanote Circle Line on foot and finally got around to doing the first half today. It was a good 20 kilometer march, ten of which I walked together with a friend of mine. The JR East operated line carries about 3.7 million people each working day, more than the entire London Underground network. The circle divides the city into two – the parts that lie within and those that lie outside. Almost every station connects you with another Metro or overland rail line. Cheap (love) hotels for those who didn’t make their last train, pachinko parlours and restaurants dot the areas around the stops.
The last few days of my stay in Japan are spent mainly outside. I’m borrowing a friend’s bike to maximise the ground I can cover in a day. Today’s tour was slightly hampered by a sandstorm that turned a lovely spring day into something dark and sepia-toned. I took a few photos near Shinagawa station in the south of Tokyo’s centre.
Taking on a topic as big as Japan’s post-war economic miracle for my book project requires a good structure and solid preparation. I have used this blog before to digress on economic topics (e.g. here and here) but have so far shunned the main prize: how did Japan manage to pull off one of the most remarkable episodes of economic growth in human history?
