Tokyo in paper - Yumiko Matsui

seen on Inhabitat via Urban Omnibus

followup

I arrived back in New York City this Sunday, and I'll slowly be posting my thoughts, photos, and research documents from the trip as the summer progresses.

For now, I have a post up on our class blog here, on one of our last days of the trip - Roppongi.

Mukojima

We had the privelege of visiting the neighborhood of Mukojima in Sumida ward with some members of the local Machizukuri. We had attended a lecture on disaster planning and the pivotal role of fires in Tokyo planning history given by Nakai-sensei earlier in the day at Tokyo Institute of Technology, so we had fires on our mind. 

Mukojima is a historic neighborhood which remains ordered by the historic Edo street pattern. It lies in the shadow of the newly completed Tokyo Sky Tree, and its historic pattern is vulnerable to new building and setback standards put forth by the city. Simply put, whenever a older style wooden house is demolished, the street is widened to meet the new standard.

This new layout is safer - the risk of fire is lower (due to Japan's extreme seismologic activity and history of disaster, fires in Tokyo are a constant concern) and emergency access is easier. However, these new layouts permanently alter the character of this historic neighborhood - a tradeoff that the machizukuri is trying to balance.

We also got a chance to see the neighborhoods pocket parks - former residential lots developed into public space - partially to serve as firebreaks.

jogging in Yoyogi

I was under the impression that running was not as popular in Japan as it was in the United States, but I happened to see many runners while doing my morning jogs in Yoyogi Park, next to NOMYC. I was happy to see Yoyogi under very heavy use - passive users stroll and admire the rose garden, while more active users hit the cycle track, run, or excerise their dogs in the dog run. 

Yoyogi for me contained most of the elements that make a successful park, and I hope I get the opportunity to visit a few more times before I go.

Kamakura

We're on our way back from a short trip to Kamakura. It's surprisingly the first really touristy trip we've taken so far - we saw two wonderful sites. Unfortunately it was the peak of field trip season, and Kamakura was packed with school kids. The middle schoolers from Aoyama were apparently on assignment to practice their English with visiting Americans, and we each had our photos taken with about 15 groups of students.