TOKYO

www.studiolynn.at

Institute of Architecture Oskar Kokoschka Platz 2 1010Vienna INSTITUTE OF www.i-o-a.at ARCHITECTURE

Impressum Diana Geisler Guvenc Ozel Maja Ozvaldic Bence Pap Rights This book contains material from different external sources and is for academic use only. Address Studio Lynn University of Applied Arts Vienna Oskar Kokoschka Platz 2 1010 Vienna Contact: +43 (0) 71133 - 2322

JPN
JAPANS SOCIAL STRUCTURE A largely homogeneous society, Japan does not exhibit the deep ethnic, religious, and class divisions that characterize many countries. The gaps between rich and poor are not as glaring in Japan as they are in many countries, and a remarkable 90 percent or more of Japanese people consider themselves middle class. This contrasts with most of Japans previous recorded history, when profound social and economic distinctions were maintained between Japans aristocracy and its commoners. Between the 12th and 19th centuries, feudal Japan had an elaborate four tier class system. Unlike European feudal society, in which the peasants (or serfs) were at the bottom, the Japanese feudal class structure placed merchants on the lowest rung. Confucian ideals emphasized the importance of productive members of society, so farmers and fishermen had higher status than shop-keepers in Japan. Feudal Japanese society was dominated by the samurai warrior class. Although they made up only about 10% of the population, samurai and their daimyo lords wielded enormous power. When a samurai passed, members of the lower classes were required to bow and show respect. If a farmer or artisan refused to bow, the samurai was legally entitled to chop off the recalcitrant persons head. Samurai answered only to the daimyo for whom they worked. The daimyo, in turn, answered only to the shogun. Although artisans produced many beautiful and necessary goods, such as clothes, cooking utensils, and woodblock prints, they were considered less important than the farmers. Even skilled samurai sword makers and boatwrights belonged to this third tier of society in feudal Japan. Although the shoguns ran the show, they ruled in the name of the emperor. The emperor, his family and the court nobility had little power, but they were at least nominally above the shogun, and also above the four tier system. The emperor served as a figurehead for the shogun, and as the religious leader of Japan. Buddhist and Shinto priests and monks were above the four-tier system, as well. Prostitutes and courtesans, including oiran, tayu, and geisha, lived outside of the four tier system. They were ranked against one another by beauty and accomplishment. Two periods of social upheaval in the modern era did much to soften these class divisions. The first was the push for modernization under the Meiji government at the end of the 19th century; the second was the period of Allied occupation after World War II. Among the most profound of the transformations that took place in the modern era was the empowerment of individuals rather than extended families and family lines as the fundamental units of society. As a result of this change, Japanese men and women experienced greater freedom in making personal decisions, such as choosing a spouse or career. Nevertheless, some significant social

JPN
differences do exist in Japan, as evidenced by the discrimination in employment, education, and marriage faced by the countrys Korean minority and by its burakumin. Burakumin means hamlet people, a name that refers to the segregated villages these people lived in during Japans feudal era. Burakumin are indistinguishable from Japanese racially or culturally, and today they generally intermingle with the rest of the population. However, for centuries they were treated as a separate population because they worked in occupations that were considered unclean, such as disposing of the dead and slaughtering animals. Despite laws to the contrary, their descendants still suffer discrimination in Japan. The number of burakumin is thought to be about 3 million, or about 2 percent of the national population. They are scattered in various parts of the country, usually in discrete communities, with the largest concentrations living in the urban area encompassing Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto. Despite the shift toward individual empowerment, Japanese society remains significantly group-oriented compared to societies in the West. Japanese children learn group consciousness at an early age within the family, the basic group of society. Membership in groups expands with age to include the individuals class in school, neighborhood, extracurricular clubs during senior high school and college, and, upon entering adulthood, the workplace. All along, the individual is taught to be dedicated to the group, to forgo personal gain for the benefit of the group as a whole, and to value group harmony. At the highest level, the Japanese nation as a whole may be thought of as a group to which its citizens belong and have obligations. The form of character building that instills these values is called seishin shuyo. Most groups are structured hierarchically. Individual members have a designated rank within the group and responsibilities based on their position. Seniority has traditionally been the main qualification for higher rank, and socialization of young people in Japan emphasizes respect and deference to ones seniors.

JPN
JAPANS DEMOGRAPHICS More than 57 million people live in Japans largest cities. Japan has 11 cities with populations of more than one million people. Almost 100 million Japanese, or 78 per cent of the countrys total population of 127 million, live in urban areas. The total population of Japans largest 100 cities amounts to 57.1 million or 45 per cent of all Japanese. Tokyo, with more than eight million inhabitants, is by far the largest Japanese city. (The Greater Tokyo Prefecture is estimated to have a population of some 12 million). In fact the number of residents in the Japanese capital is greater than the combined population of the next three largest cities Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya. Until 1868 Tokyo was called Edo. The name change took place when Tokyo became the countrys capital in place of Kyoto. The name Tokyo means eastern capital. With a population of 3.2 million, Yokohama, south of Tokyo, is Japans second largest city. It is the countrys largest port and a manufacturing and ship building centre. Japans third-largest city, Osaka, is the countrys third most important seaport and home to many leading Japanese manufacturers. Kyoto, known worldwide as the city where the Kyoto treaty on the environment was signed, was the Japanese capital for more than 1,000 years until the government was moved to Tokyo in 1868. However, Kyoto is still Japans religious centre. Development: During the course of the twentieth century Japan transformed itself form a largely rural country with approximately 15 per cent its population living in cities, to one of the most urbanized large countries in the world with close to 80 per cent urban population. Superlatives are routinely employed in descriptions of Japanese economic growth and urban development. Of the large developed countries, urbanization was fastest, and its resulting urban areas biggest. The Tokyo area alone holds over a quarter of the national population, and is now one of the largest urban region in the world with a population approaching 40 million. Perhaps the most extraordinary manifestation of Japanese urbanization is the enormous urban industrial belt along the Pacific coastline of the main island of Honshu. Stretching from Tokyo in the east to northern Kyushu in the west, the Tokaido megalopolis, as it is sometimes referred to, houses the overwhelming majority of the Japanese population and productive capacity. Here live some 2/3 of the population on only 23 per cent of the countrys land. Here also, where some 85 per cent of the GDP is produced, are concentrated the bulk of the countrys fixed assets, the main research and development labs, internationals communications facilities and global financial centers. The worlds best and most heavily travelled rail system knits the megalopolis together, allowing fast, safe travel between almost any two points within the area. Even with this efficient rail system, since the late 1960s increasing motorization has led to increasing road congestion, and the building of vast networks of elevated expressways that snake through the metropolitan areas. Japanese cities display a fascinating mix of similarities with and differences from cities in other

JPN
developed countries with similar levels of wealth and urbanization. The Japanese city is not a chaotic, untidy, incompetent version of Western urbanism, but that it is a coherent, very different type of urbanism. While Western cities are based on respect for context, the Japanese city is concerned only with content. Character of a Japanese City: In the 20th century rapid urbanization has disfigured the features of the historic city in Japan. Though the city might seem disorderly at first glance, there is an underlying, hidden spatial hierarchy and the city is defined by two contrasting elements: the global and the local, or also the modern and traditional character. An at this point it is important to note that this two-fold structure is formed/maintained by its hierarchical street system. In the Japanese case, typical urban areas are organized around streets rather than territorial structures. Contrary to Western cities, in which we find squares as main open spaces, Japanese cities utilize streets as the space for everyday, public activity which functions as communal space, extension of living space and as integrating elements rather than enclosure of the neighborhoods Machi, which also can be translated as street in Japanese, also means town. To understand the spatial hierarchy of the street system, we have first to set the context and distinguish between arterial streets, side- and backstreets, called roji in Japanese. The urban places of the roji are mostly small, tangled neighborhoods or narrow alleyways which no car enters and are only wide enough to allow one person to walk or cycle through and are mostly framed by the main roads and in this urban fabric there are small shops, trading craft- and traditional urban housing. Modern trends and instead exists as local network next to the macro-scale structures. Future Trends: Urban Planning for a Shrinking Population. Japans population peaked in 2005, but urban planning remains focused on efficiently managing continued population and industrial growth. Japan needs frameworks to respond appropriately to current demographic trends. Without proper controls for urban shrinkage, Japan could face chaotic contraction the sparse inhabitance of suburban neighborhoods, decay of industrial structures, and collapse of communities. The core problem is the lack of urban planning concepts for Agsystematic contraction

JPN
ZEN CULTURE Zen occupies a central place in the cultural history of Japan. The period of greatest Zen influence begins with the transplantation of Zen from China at the beginning of Kamakura period (11851333) and extends well into the Tokugawa period (1600-1868). Within the span of Japanese history the almost half a millennium in which Zen influence was dominant, was a time of extraordinary cultural growth. The imposing force of Zen culture is seen most clearly in the layout and architecture of its temples. Many of the great temples were originally imperial palaces and castles and from the very beginning were considered among the finest examples of Japanese architecture. Nanzen-ji is an example of sumptuous buildings frequently found in Zen temples. In the Buddha halls of Zen temples the primary cultic object is an image of the historical Buddha, Sakyamuni at the moment of his enlightenment. One enters the temple area through the ,,Mountain Gate, symbolizing the purging of desires and conceptual thinking as one enters the realm of emptiness and then mounts directly toward the Buddha hall. Reverencing of the Buddha image must be preceded by cleansing and purgative exercises. In these rituals washing and the purging of bodily impurities are necessary, for which purpose two wooden buildings, on the right and left are located between the gate and the Budhha hall. Dharma hall is located on the central ascending axis and constitutes the focal point of the entire complex. The grandiose buildings of the Golden pavilion (Kinkakuji) and Silver pavilion (Ginkaku-ji) mark a high point in the development of Zen architecture. After Muso Kokushis death the Golden Pavilion became the Zen monastery of Rokuon-ji. One of the most imposing of Zen temples during the medieval period of Japan was the monastery of Eihei-ji founded by Dougen. Japanese architecture is particularly so in the case of Zen temples built into nature and forms a beautiful whole with mountains and valleys, hills, lakes and streams. Under the influence of Zen garden art took on a new development toward a more spiritualized love of nature. For Zen the garden became a symbol of the cosmos. An amazing aspect of these dry gardens is the way they create an enchanting impression of watercourses or waterfalls without using a drop of water as seen in the upper level of the Saiho-ji garden. For the Zen monks this garden illustrates the two opposing aspects of reality, which can be experienced in the amenities of a harmonious life. In the silence of these stone gardens one senses the lasting power of committed practice. A wellrounded stone (zazenseki) invites one to seated meditation. The symbol-laden stone or dry gardens in the kare-sansui style flourished around the end of the Muromachi period. Without use of color of decoration and with few symbols the gardens capture the entire cosmos. The stoned gardens of Ryouanji and Daisenin are recognized as outstanding works of art. The most famous of all Zen gardens is the level stone garden adjoining the Ryouan-ji temple in Kyoto. The garden consists of nothing but sand and fifteen natural stones arranged in five groups. The garden is a symbol of the

JPN
pure mind, pure of all forms of nothingness. At the same time this barren desert is animated from within. In popular usage the garden of Ryouan-ji is called the ,,Garden of the Wading Tiger. Zen practitioners are able to give unique expression to their inner experience. Enlightenment and the creative power that it taps find spontaneous expression in Zen calligraphy which first and foremost is an expressive art form. The bonds between Zen and the art of Calligraphy are rooted in a deep, natural relationship. Paintings represent the highest form of Zen art. Landscapes painting inspired by the religious world view of Zen are the most abiding contribution of Zen to the fine arts. In Japan, ink drawing found its true home in te Zen temples where paintermonks expressed their enlightenment in their brushwork. During the Muromachi period Japanese Zen painters took up themes that had been well developed in China: Zen stories and parables, portraits and the themes in which Japanese artists excelled: landscapes. Purely religious themes of Buddhism as well, appear on all phases of Japanese Zen painting. The real pioneers of this new art form were Zen monks: Mokuan (ca. 1345) and Kaou (d.1345). The tea garden is another form of Zen art. Part of Japans tea culture the tea garden was the bridge on which Japans garden art moved from the religiously inspired Zen garden. Originally an integral part of monastic life in Zen temples, tea culture lost its monastic bonds and began to bring a Zen influence to the bourgeois social classes that were forming as medieval feudalism dissolved. The Zen master and philosopher Hisamatsu Shinichi calls the way of the tea a unique, integrated Zen cultural expression and sees it as the creation of Japanese laymans Zen. In order to bring the experience of Zen into everyday life, the art of tea draws one closer to the everyday things of life. This accounts for its affinities with pottery and explains why tea masters attribute great importance to ceramics. Originally a form of popular handicraft, tea ceramics developed as tea drinking grew in popularity. Zen masters, among them Dougen, showed an early interest in the utensils of tea drinking. Since Muromachi period, Zen aesthetics have penetrated broad areas of Japanese culture. Noh, which embraced all area of Japanese art, was also influenced by Zen. During the second half of the middle ages in Japan a profound and wide-ranging Zen culture developed; in many instances its artistic expressions were called ,,ways (dou). In many cases the Zen arts can be called ways because they give convincing and moving expression to Zen itself. There is no question that members of the priesthood were among the leaders in the development of Japans medieval culture. Moreover, nearly all of the arts of the middle and late medieval age were governed by aesthetic tastes: such as simplicity, restraint, imperfect and austere which although not exclusively Zen in origin, certainly came to be associated with the Zen attitude.

JPN
BUDDISHM IN JAPAN Buddhism has been practiced in Japan since at least 552, though some Chinese sources place the first spreading of the religion earlier during the Kofun period (250 to 538). Buddhism has had a major influence on the culture and development of Japan over the centuries, and remains an important part of the culture.About 90 million people in Japan claim to be Buddhist practitioners and/or believers,which accounts for about 70% of the population. Due to syncretism in Japan, many Buddhists also profess adherence to Shinto these are not exclusive, and there is substantial overlap. In modern times, Japans most popular schools of Buddhism are Amidist (Pure Land), Nichiren Buddhism, Shingon Buddhism and Zen Buddhism. The arrival of Buddhism in Japan is ultimately a consequence of the first contacts between China and Central Asia, where Buddhism had spread from Nepal. These contacts occurred with the opening of the Silk Road in the 2nd century BC, following the travels of Zhang Qian between 138 and 126 BC. These contacts culminated with the official introduction of Buddhism in China in 67 AD. Historians generally agree that by the middle of the 1st century, the religion had penetrated to areas north of the Huai River. The Kamakura period was a period of crises in which the control of the country moved from the imperial aristocracy to the samurai. In 1185 the Shogunate was established at Kamakura. This period saw the introduction of the two schools that had perhaps the greatest impact on the country: (1) the Amidist Pure Land schools, promulgated by evangelists such as Genshin and articulated by monks such as Hnen, which emphasize salvation through faith in Amitabha and remain the largest Buddhist sect in Japan (and throughout Asia); and (2) the more philosophical Zen schools, promulgated by monks such as Eisai and Dogen, which emphasize liberation through the insight of meditation, which were equally rapidly adopted by the upper classes and had a profound impact on Japanese culture. Additionally, it was during the Kamakura period that the influential monk Nichiren began teaching devotion to the Lotus Sutra. Eventually, his disciples formed their own school of Nichiren Buddhism, which includes various sects that have their own interpretations of Nichirens teachings. After the Sengoku period of war, Japan was re-united in the AzuchiMomoyama period (1573-1600). This decreased the power of Buddhism, which had become a strong political and military force in Japan. Neo-Confucianism and Shinto gained influence at the expense of Buddhism, which came under strict state control.Japan closed itself off to the rest of the world. The only traders to be allowed were Dutchmen admitted to the island of Dejima. New doctrines and methods were not to be introduced, nor were new temples and schools. The only exception was the baku lineage, which was introduced in the 17th century during the Edo

JPN
period (1600-1868) by Ingen, a Chinese monk. Ingen had been a member of the Linji school, the Chinese equivalent of Rinzai, which had developed separately from the Japanese branch for hundreds of years. Thus, when Ingen journeyed to Japan following the fall of the Ming Dynasty to the Manchus, his teachings were seen as a separate school. The baku school was named after Mount baku (Ch. ; Hungb Shn), which had been Ingens home in China. Also notable during the period was the publication of an exceptionally high quality reprint of the Ming Dynasty Tripitaka by Tetsugen, a renowned master of the baku school. Japan has seen a decline in Buddhist practice in the 21st century, with roughly 100 temples a year closing. However 70% of Japanese people still follow Buddhism in some form, and 90% of Japanese funerals are conducted according to Buddhist rites. Societal influence During the Kamakura (11851333) and Muromachi (13361573) Buddhism, or the Buddhist institutions, had a great influence on Japanese society. Buddhist institutions were used by the shogunate to control the country. During the Edo (16001868) this power was constricted, to be followed by persecutions at the beginning of the Meiji-restoration (1868 1912). Artistic influence In Japan, Buddhist art started to develop as the country converted to Buddhism in 548. Some tiles from the Asuka period (shown above), the first period following the conversion of the country to Buddhism, display a strikingly classical style, with ample Hellenistic dress and realistically rendered body shape characteristic of Greco-Buddhist art. Buddhist art became extremely varied in its expression. Many elements of GrecoBuddhist art remain to this day however, such as the Hercules inspiration behind the Nio guardian deities in front of Japanese Buddhist temples, or representations of the Buddha reminiscent of Greek art such as the Buddha in Kamakura. The artistic inspiration from Greek floral scrolls is found quite literally in the decoration of Japanese roof tiles, one of the only remaining element of wooden architecture throughout centuries. The clearest one are from the 7th century Nara temple building tiles, some of them exactly depicting vines and grapes. These motifs have evolved towards more symbolic representations, but essentially remain to this day in many Japanese traditional buildings. .

JPN
JAPANS POP CULTURE Pop culture is one of Japans biggest exports. Across the globe both children and adults have become fascinated with the quirky aesthetics of Japanese fashion and entertainment, accounting for major influence worldwide. From anime to video games and everything in between, Japan is responsible for some of the worlds most popular hobbies. So feel free to unleash your inner otaku and explore everything Japanese pop culture has to offer. Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, manga, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation can be traced to traditional art forms. Contemporary forms of popular culture, much like the traditional forms, provide not only entertainment but also an escape for the contemporary Japanese from the problems of an industrial world. When asked how they spent their leisure time, 80 percent of a sample of men and women surveyed by the government in 1986 said they averaged about two and one-half hours per weekday watching television, listening to the radio, and reading Japanese newspapers or magazines. Some 16 percent spent an average of two and one-quarter hours a day engaged in hobbies or amusements. Others spent leisure time participating in sports, socializing, and personal study. Teenagers and retired people reported spending more time on all of these activities than did other groups.

In the late 1980s, the family was the focus of leisure activities, such as excursions to parks or shopping districts. Although Japan is often thought of as a hard-working society with little time for pleasure, the Japanese seek entertainment wherever they can. It is common to see Japanese commuters riding the train to work, enjoying their favorite manga or listening through earphones to the latest in popular music on portable music players. A wide variety of types of popular entertainment are available. There is a large selection of music, films, and the products of a huge comic book industry, among other forms of entertainment, from which to choose. Game centers, bowling alleys, and karaoke parlors are well-known hangout places for teens while older people may play shogi or go in specialized parlors. Kawaii is a Japanese term which means cute and beautiful. Cuteness seems to be a highly valued aesthetic quality in Japanese society and particularly Japanese pop culture, and overpowering cuteness seems to carry less of the stigma of infantilization as it does in many other cultures. The word Manga when translated directly means whimsical drawings. In many cases manga can be perceived as comics with unique looking characters that are usually placed in different situations of life. But they are not to be mistaken for Americanized styles comics where they depict heroes saving the day or as such, but they represent pieces of Japanese culture and history.

JPN
They take parts of everyday life dealing with politics, religion, economy, family and gender, and integrate it as such into the world of manga to create their stories. Manga in itself has a long history dating back to 10th century, where depictions of animals were drawn as being part of the upper class, these scrolls would go on to be known as the Chj giga or The Animal Scrolls. Scrolls found later on in the twelfth century would depict images of religion such as the Gaki Zoshi (Hungry Ghost Scrolls) and the Jigoku zoshi (Hell Scrolls). Both dealing with an aspect of religion, unlike The Animal Scrolls it provided a more instructive view instead of a comedic style. Looking at manga from a more present perspective it can be understood that it is more than just simple drawings made for pleasure, although some are just that. It has become part of their culture and as such it has integrated every part of life into these illustrations. Originally manga began as part of the newspapers that everyone would buy every day, this would change during the Pacific War where manga in newspaper became restricted and as such manga would see a halt. After the war, during the 1950s they would see an incline in picture card shows which were storytelling with the use of pictures to engage the audience in the show, and the highly popular rental manga that would allow their readers to rent these illustrated books for a period of time. Anime is a movie or episode of sorts which utilizes an animated cartoon art style to convey a story. Unlike Western cartoons, anime frequently tends to have more detailed character design. This can be used to allow for a better connection between the viewer and the character. Anime is based most of the time on animated comics or manga, manga is an ancient form of comic writing which dates all the way to the 12th century. The world of animated films in Japanese popular culture has been a growing trend since the 1920s. Influenced by Walt Disney and his animated characters, Osamu Tezuka (19251989), also known as manga no kamisama (which means, God of Comics) would begin his forty year evolution of animation, or anime, that would change the content of Japanese comic books. With the creation of his first animated character Astroboy that was unlike any other animated character; he found the hearts of the Japanese public with a robotic boy who has spiky hair, eyes as big as fists, with rockets on his feet. Through the decades in which anime has been created, there have been various types of genre which have been made. They include various types from mechs to sci-fi; all have their own meaning when being made and have a representation on Japanese society.[9] Such as the anime film Howls Moving Castle (film) made in 2004, which entitled many anti-war themes within it and by doing so made it more influential on the Japanese community. The growth of anime over the decades has been very important culturally for Japan because anime allows for a common ground to be explored. Anime have expanded in such a way in Japanese culture that they have been made into by products that sell toys,

JPN
clothing lines, and even many have been turned into video games to allow for a broader market to be touched. ROBOTICS IN JAPANESE CULTURE Robotics both not only reflects but also influences Japanese culture. Interwoven in the fabric of the society, robots and automatons appear in a wide range of roles and are often cast in a positive, neutral, or ambivalent light. From Sonys Aibo robotic dog and Astro Boy to robotic workers and automated assembly lines, robotics have been seen as embraceable and accessible. Union workers feared in the 1960s theyd be replaced by robots and in the 1979 science fiction/horror film Alien, Ash the android took over a starship to protect corporate interests and not the human crew. The Japanese view robots as friends and distinct beings, while the western idea of robots sometimes implies soulless machines that would dispassionately wipe out human, given the chance. While both views have more optimistic and cynical scenarios, the Japanese appear are far more amenable to robots. Possible reasons for this difference are a long history of real-world applications for robots, the frequent use of robots as heroic protagonists in Japanese popular culture, the view of robots as a source of entertainment and companionship, and differences between Eastern and Western spiritual philosophies. Buddhist and Shinto philosophies dealing with inanimate objects are more open than those found in much of Western philosophy. The Japanese have a tradition of granting spiritual properties to inanimate objects. Shinto itself is the colorful animist religion native to Japan. Shintoism views the world as unified, instead of a world where mind and matter are separate. Among the most famous proponents of applying this view to robots is Masahiro Mori, a famous roboticist who wrote a 1974 book entitled The Buddha in the Robot: A Robot Engineers Thoughts on Science and Religion. The Japanese have a long history of working with robots, starting with their original forays into clock-making after mechanical clocks and firearms were introduced from the West by Jesuit missionaries during the 16th and 17th centuries, according to Timothy Hornyaks Loving the Machine. However, in 1639, the Tokugawa shogunate cut off contact with the West with the exception of the trade port of Nagasaki. This resulted in the domestic clockmaking industry producing elaborate clocks designed to deal with the traditional Japanese timekeeping methods, and while this technology was only available to the rich, it did lay the groundwork for the development of the first karakuri automata. hese devices ranged from larger automata and bunraku-style puppets butai karakuri on ceremonial floats to smaller room dolls zashiki karakuri, such as the famous tea-serving automaton. The designers of these karakuri, such as Yorinao Hosokawa, a Kyotodwelling inventor from the late 17 Century, and the 19-Century Hisashige Tanaka, the Gadget Wizard who would go on to found a technology firm that would later develop into the giant electronics corporation named Toshiba. hese

JPN
small tea-serving social robots laid the groundwork for the Japanese cultural perception of robots over the next couple centuries, according to Hornyak. Another factor in the positive portrayal of robots was the often techno-euphoric nature of popular culture during the post World War II era, which was buttressed by various manga and anime series during the following decade and has had a lasting effect on their view of robots up until the present day. More than anything else, this has contributed to the long-running acceptance of robots by the Japanese, and the most famous depiction of a heroic robot involves a little pointy-haired robot boy named Atom. As Japan rebuilt itself into a major economic power after the war, a medical student by the name of Osamu Tezuka created a manga series that ran from 1951 to 1968 about a doe-eyed, 100,000-horsepower robot boy by the name of Mighty Atom, known to Americans as Astro Boy. While he portrayed technology as a value-neutral tool, he pointed out that a lack of planning or misuse of technology could result in disaster Stefan Krebs, in the article Tetsuwan Atomu and the Difficult Cohabitation of Humans and Robots, wrote, The authors explicit goal is to build a bridge between the two cultures: human and machine. On the other hand, Real Robots originated in the early 1980s with the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino, and the Super Dimension Fortress Macross series, and emphasize smaller, more realistic massproduced hardware, military pilots, and the use of ranged weapons. At the same time, however, they continue the concept of the noble Japanese samurai, in design and occasionally in the form of armament, especially in the Gundam franchise. Another big role for real-world robots in Japan is entertainment, which started with karakuri and Gakutensoku. The concept of a social machine built solely to make people happy has continued well into the present day, with a large number of corporations using robot development programs for PR. Hondas Asimo and Sonys Qrio act as ambassadors as their parent companies, but have also provided useful research into how to produce more capable bipedal walking robots that can move using a faster, more flexible dynamic gait like humans instead of a wind-up toys static gait. Asimo is the most famous robot in Japan, and the worlds most advanced bipedal robot. At a mere four-feet, three-inches tall, it looks like a child from another world arrived on earth via the depths of space. Asimo introduces itself in an androgynous voice both buoyant and youthful, in contrast to the dark, somewhat sinister visor fronting its faceless head. In the case of QRIO, a gnome-sized, more childlike robot from Sony is the showman compared to the more staid Honda Asimo. Qrios name was short for Quest for Curiosity, and was a reflection of Sonys consumer electronics experience. It was the consummate social robot, conducting orchestras, dancing in formation, and interacting with visitors using its 60,000-word vocabulary. Sadly, Sony axed its entertainment robot division on January 26, 2006 for economic according to MacWorld, killing off the AIBO and ORIO programs.

JPN ART
ART - PAINTINGS HISTORY Painting is undoubtedly the most popular of all Japanese art forms, and one of the most studied. Japanese painting can be both elegantly simple and stunningly complex, and its influence can be seen in the paintings of all cultures. The Japanese painting style we know today was greatly influenced by Chinese painting styles. During the Muromachi period (1338-1573), Japan was opened to increased trade with China, and Chinese paintings began making their way into the homes of wealthy Japanese noblemen. The noblemen developed a taste for the Chinese paintings, and began to commission works in this style. Japanese artists didnt copy the Chinese style outright, they blended it with Japanese tastes and made it their own. ing emerged in which whole pieces were painted with gold leaf backgrounds, producing an effect much like religious mosaics of the Western Medieval period. It was also during this time period that the Ukiyo-e style of woodblock printing began to emerge. This represented a break from other Japanese art forms, in that woodblock prints were reproducible; a middle-class family could own a copy of a famous piece of art and still have a house to hang it in. Perhaps it is the sense of space in Japanese paintings that attracts many people to them, the flavor of an ancient aesthetic that pervades each work, or the delicate handling of subtle effects. Exactly what draws so many to Japanese painting is unclear; what is certain is that it is unique and beautiful. UKIYO-E With the emergence of a new middle class in Japan at the end of the seventeenth century, the need for a more affordable art form became more pressing than ever. Woodblock printing which permitted multiple copies became the ideal medium for Japanese artists of this time period. The Japanese word for woodblock prints, Ukiyo-e, means pictures of the floating world. The surreality of woodblock prints, the vibrancy of their colors, and the immediate nature of their presentation, brings to mind a more sharply defined world. For example, Akasaka Kiribtake by Hiroshige [shown right], seems to transport the viewer into another world. The colors blend into each other in a sophisticated style. Each woodblock print is actually the

In general, Japanese painting of the Muromachi period includes a deep sense of space, and attempts to tell a story. In the succeeding Momoyama period (1573-1603), the traditional style of landscape painting was developed, most often produced on gigantic screens that filled entire rooms. During the Edo period (1603-1867), a new style of paint-

JPN ART
product of up to three processes: the design, the woodblock cut, and the print. An original design is drawn and then pasted down on a cherry block of wood. Next, the cutter chisels the design into the woodblock. The block is then inked and a sheet of dampened paper (called a key print) is rubbed until the impression is transferred on to it. The artist then chooses the colors he wants and a separate block is carved for every color to be used in the print. Finally, the blocks go to the printer, who, using mulberry paper, rubs the dyes onto the blocks and transfers each impression. The resulting print was a more affordable piece of art, within the reach of middle class households throughout Japan and the world. One interesting aspect of woodblock prints was the mulberry paper on which the final product emerges. The mulberry paper was custom-made for each woodblock print. The dyes used to produce the print sink into the paper, and their colors deepen as the print becomes older. Unfortunately, few of these prints survive precisely because of the fragile nature of this paper. However, the prints left behind give us a window into a fantastic floating world. MURALS Mural painting, one of the oldest and most popular forms of painting in Japan, can be traced back to the earliest cave drawings of prehistoric man. In its present form, however, Japanese mural painting can be traced back to Horiyuji, in the eighth century. Evolving though the ages, the art form didnt reach its peak until the Edo period (1576-1867). This was a period of castles and warring lords battling for social status; each new castle required entire walls adorned with artistic creations. One interesting development during this time period came out of necessity: gold foil paintings. The castles of this era were built primarily as defensive structures; most had high walls and tiny windows, blocking out almost all natural light. To brighten the castle interior, many murals of the period were painted on a background of gold leaf, or liquid gold applied with a brush. What appeared in the foreground was up to the artist; lions, dragons, tigers, seasons, boats, bridges, gardens and flowers were all subjects of murals in ancient castles. Often, a lord would employ a group of artists to decorate his castle, usually a master artist and his school. Most of the murals they created were left unsigned, and it is difficult to tell whether an individual piece was painted by the master or a skilled apprentice. The subject of a mural didnt have to be complicated; one of the most revered mural series included only life-size pine trees on gold foil. Another art form done by muralists was screen painting. These paintings sometimes were black and white, but always highly evocative. One famous screen

JPN ART
depicts only four groups of trees in heavy fog, with most of the screen being left blank; the image of space and the simplistic style combine to form a unified piece. obsolete by technology. Even the ink for calligraphy is still produced in the traditional manner. The ink is made from the carbon residue from burnt pine needles, and compressed into black sticks. To mix the ink, a wet stone is rubbed with the stick, forming a liquid ink. This ink can then be poured into a pan for dipping by a calligraphy brush. Surprisingly enough, an excellent calligraphic haiku doesnt take very long to produce; in a matter of seconds it is completed. One of the defining characteristics for good calligraphy is its rhythm and continuous nature; this can only be truly achieved in one brush stroke. However, before beginning, a calligrapher must take time to get a feel for the piece of writing Some even meditate before picking up the brush

CALLIGRAPHY Japanese calligraphy, or sho, was first introduced into Japan in the 600s AD by Chinese Buddhist monks. They recorded Buddhist scriptures in florid brush strokes that approached art. As the style became more popular in Japan, calligraphy was used with secular poetry, such as the haiku. There are five types of Japanese calligraphy: tensho (seal), sosho (cursive), gyosho (semi-cursive), kaisho (block) and reisho (scribe). It is usually written in a combination of kanji (chinese characters) and kana characters, which express sounds. In addition to expressing writing, many works of calligraphy, especially those during the Kamakura period, include brush paintings beside them. These paintings are drawn in the same pen that the words are written in. This multiple use not only helps illustrate the scenes described in the calligraphy, but also unifies the work, defining it as a work of art. Calligraphy is similar to pre-Gutenberg bibles, except that calligraphy has survived the ages as a means of expression, not being made

JPN ART
SCULPTURE HISTORY One of the art forms in Japan most appreciated in the Western world is sculpture. Sculptors throughout Japanese history have used an extensive variety of media for their work including clay, bronze, stone, dry lacquer, and most importantly wood. In league with the other forms of art, the sculptors showed respect for all of these mediums. The earliest forms of sculpture appeared in the Joman period which began in 2200 BC. The Joman period is named for the twisted rope decorations which people made to cover clay pots. These primitive sculptures from this period were often figurines and were made of clay. The purpose of the Joman figurines is still in debate. Some people have suggested that the figurines were dolls for children and others have thought they were images of Japanese deities. All of the early sculptures, however, are both fascinating and puzzling. One example which characterizes the enigmatic figurines is a sculpture from the Joman period which was discovered near Tokyo. The eccentric body and feline-like face do not reveal a great deal about the sculptures subject. Currently, it is not known whether this sculpture depicts an animal or a human figure. Another strange sculpture from the Joman period is a small figure with a heart-shaped head and a small, circular mouth. Hundreds of years later, the Japanese still continued a tradition of clay sculptures. A type of sculpture which became prominent approximately 1700 years ago was hollow clay cylinders called haniwa. These creations were placed around the stone burial chambers of Japanese emperors and other important officials. Because the chambers were covered with mounds of dirt, the haniwa kept the earth from washing away. The haniwa were of simple form, often taking the form of humans, animals, and sometimes even houses. One particularly important influence which took shape during the sixth century was the introduction of Buddhism into Japanese society. The religion of Buddhism originated in India and spread to China and Japan. For this reason, much of the sculpture from this period has a distinct Chinese feel. A new variety of media was used including wood, bronze, and gold. Early wooden statues were typically carved from a single tree trunk. Stone was not widely used in Japanese sculpture in this period nor other periods because of its scarcity throughout the countrys history. Another innovative period in Japanese art was the time between 1185 and 1333, or the Kamakura period. A civil war in 1180 was fought between the two military clans, the Taira and the Minamoto. The Minamoto clan was victorious and they established their new government in the village of Kamakura. In order to please the new military rulers, artists took a new, realistic approach to their artwork. This art included the sculpture which was led by the Kei school of sculptors. This school was led by sculptor Unkei who created realistic masterpieces. Much of early Japanese sculpture, especially from the Joman period is puzzling and difficult to interpret. But the sculpture from all periods of Japanese history is important as it helps to describe Japa-

JPN ART
nese people and their culture. Sets were made in odd numbers including, three, five, and seven rather than an even number. The Edo period also provided a great deal of influence on potters creations. In this 268 year period (1600-1868), new, dramatic designs were created. New forms of ceramics appeared including porcelains bright with color. Japanese practices in pottery developed throughout the period would influence a great number of artists in European and American countries in the twentieth century. The opening of Japan to the West did not harm to the art of ceramics and practices were continued, as artists again used innovative techniques with different clays, firings, and glazes. Pottery is still an extremely vibrant part of Japanese art. Many exhibitions take place during the year, and thousands of potters in Japan are able to make a living from their art.

CERAMICS Ceramics and pottery are one aspect of Japanese art that has always flourished. It is believed that the early Joman period pottery, some dating back to 10,000 B.C., may be the oldest in the world. The people from this period hunted, fished, and gathered and used the pots primarily for cooking uses. In the Joman period, as well as present day, the focus of beauty in ceramics is the natural clay used as well as their firing technique. Several other periods of time in Japan invited changes to ceramics. Modernization of ceramics occurred as Buddhism was brought to Japan. Advanced techniques for pottery were developed, and the Japanese also adopted several new styles, including Chinese three-color lead glazes, and high-temperature Korean firing. Both additions to the school of ceramics in Japan created an influx of exciting new shapes. In later years, a major source of influence in ceramics was the tea ceremonies which took place in Japan. These ceremonies influenced potters to make creations simplistic in shape and design. The sets of dishes potters created for tea ceremonies or for other purposes often reflected their belief that art should be asymmetrical.

JPN ART
NETSUKE A class similar to that of the early sculpture was created much later in Japanese history. This form of sculpture, called netsuke (pronounced net-skeh in Japanese), developed over a period of three hundred years and continues today. The netsuke was similar to the early Joman sculptures in that the two types of sculptures were both comprised of small figurines. The original purpose of Netsuke was to act as a pocket. Kimonos, the traditional Japanese form of dress, do not contain pockets, and thus are not able to easily carry items. Small personal items were tucked by women in their sleeves but men tied personal items to their kimono sash. These personal items including tobacco purses, pipes, and writing utensils were placed inside a pouch called a sagemono which was tied using a silk cord. Netsuke was created in order to prevent the silk cord from slipping through the obi. Soon after its creation, netsuke began to function as an aesthetic object as well. Artists, who often left their work unsigned, began carving elaborate objects using any and all materials available to them. Some used rare materials including ivory and stone, and others used extremely common materials such as narwhal, boars tusk, boars teeth, amber, and stag antler. Contemporary artists have also experimented with netsuke. These new carvers are from many countries around the world, including the United States, Canada, Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and some European countries. The different locations of the carvers has helped usher in new themes to this form of sculpture that are not generally evident in Japan. Because of their intricate designs the netsuke has become widely coveted in modern times. Large private collections exist in Europe and in the United States. Museums which frequently display netsuke collections include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Disney World EPCOT Center, and the British Museum in London. Netsuke can also be purchased from Asian art dealers and the auction houses of Sothebys and Christies, both of whom feature Japanese art auctions

JPN ARCH
UNKEI One of the most famous Japanese sculptors of all time is Unkei. Born in 1148, he lived during the Kamakura period of Japanese history and introduced realism and injected spiritual intensity into Japanese sculpture. The greatest of Unkeis many works are his wooden statues for Buddhist temples. His most famous statue appears at the Todai-ji Monastery in Nama and depicts two guardian deities. Unkei was assisted i in his craft by his six sons. The eldest, named Tankei, continued his fathers style and added his own style relating to Chinese Song scripture. Tankei supervised the restoration of the thousand statues of the Thousand-armed Kannon in Kyoto.

NOTES

JPN ARCH
ARCHITECTURUAL HISTORY Japanese architecture ( Nihon kenchiku?) has traditionally been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (fusuma) were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to be customized to different occasions. People usually sat on cushions or otherwise on the floor, traditionally; chairs and high tables were not widely used until the 19th century. Since the 19th century, however, Japan has incorporated much of Western, modern, and post-modern architecture into construction and design, and is today a leader in cutting-edge architectural design and technology. The earliest Japanese architecture was seen in prehistoric times in simple pithouses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers. The introduction into Japan of Buddhism in the sixth century was a catalyst for large scale temple building using complicated techniques in wood. Influence from the Chinese Tang and Sui Dynasties led to the foundation of the first permanent capital in Nara. Its checkerboard street layout used the Chinese capital of Changan as a template for its design. A gradual increase in the size of buildings led to standard units of measurement as well as refinements in layout and garden design. The introduction of the tea ceremony emphasised simplicity and modest design as a counterpoint to the excesses of the aristocracy. During the Meiji Restoration of 1868 the history of Japanese architecture was radically changed by two important events. The first was the Kami and Buddhas Separation Act of 1868, which formally separated Buddhism from Shinto and Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, breaking an association between the two which had lasted well over a thousand years and causing, directly and indirectly, immense damage to the nations architecture.[1] Second, it was then that Japan underwent a period of intense Westernization in order to compete with other developed countries. Initially architects and styles from abroad were imported to Japan but gradually the country taught its own architects and began to express its own style. Architects returning from study with western architects introduced the International Style of modernism into Japan. However, it was not until after the Second World War that Japanese architects made an impression on the international scene, firstly with the work of architects like Kenzo Tange and then with theoretical movements like Metabolism. General features of Japanese traditional architecture Much in the traditional architecture of Japan is not native, but was imported from China and other Asian cultures over the centuries. Japanese traditional architecture and its history are as a consequence dominated by Chinese and Asian techniques and styles (present even in Ise Shrine, held to be the quintessence of Japanese architecture) on one side, and by Japanese original variations on those themes on the other.

JPN ARCH
Partly due also to the variety of climates in Japan and the millennium encompassed between the first cultural import and the last, the result is extremely heterogeneous, but several practically universal features can nonetheless be found. First of all is the choice of materials, always wood in various forms (planks, straw, tree bark, paper, etc.) for almost all structures. Unlike both Western and some Chinese architecture, the use of stone is avoided except for certain specific uses, for example temple podia and pagoda foundations.[2] The general structure is almost always the same: posts and lintels support a large and gently curved roof, while the walls are paper-thin, often movable and in any case non-carrying. Arches and barrel roofs are completely absent. Gable and eave curves are gentler than in China and columnar entasis (convexity at the center) limited. contributes to the buildings atmosphere. The interior of the building normally consists of a single room at the center called moya, from which depart any other less important spaces. Inner space divisions are fluid, and room size can be modified through the use of screens or movable paper walls. The large, single space offered by the main hall can therefore be divided according to the need. To the contrary, some walls can be removed and different rooms joined temporarily to make space for some more guests. The separation between inside and outside is itself in some measure not absolute as entire walls can be removed, opening a residence or temple to visitors. Verandas appear to be part of the building to an outsider, but part of the external world to those in the building. Structures are therefore made to a certain extent part of their environment. Care is taken to blend the edifice into the surrounding natural environment. The use of construction modules keeps proportions between different parts of the edifice constant, preserving its overall harmony.(On the subject of building proportions, see also the article ken). Even in cases as that of Nikk Tshg, where every available space is heavily decorated, ornamentation tends to follow, and therefore emphasize, rather than hide, basic structures. Being shared by both sacred and profane architecture, these features made it easy converting a lay building into a temple or vice versa. This happened for example at Hry-ji, where a noblewomans mansion was transformed into a religious building.

The roof is the most visually impressive component, often constituting half the size of the whole edifice. The slightly curved eaves extend far beyond the walls, covering verandas, and their weight must therefore be supported by complex bracket systems called toky, in the case of temples and shrines. Simpler solutions are adopted in domestic structures. The oversize eaves give the interior a characteristic dimness, which

JPN ARCH
Prehistoric period The prehistoric period includes the Jmon, Yayoi and Kofun periods stretching from approximately 5000 BCE to the beginning of the eighth century CE. During the three phases of the Jmon period the population was primarily huntergatherer with some primitive agriculture skills and their behaviour was predominantly determined by changes in climatic conditions and other natural stimulants. Early dwellings were pit houses consisting of shallow pits with tamped earth floors and grass roofs designed to collect rainwater with the aid of storage jars. Later in the period, a colder climate with greater rainfall led to a decline in population, which contributed to an interest in ritual. Concentric stone circles first appeared during this time. During the Yayoi period the Japanese people began to interact with the Chinese Han Dynasty, whose knowledge and technical skills began to influence them.[3] The Japanese began to build raised-floor storehouses as granaries which were constructed using metal tools like saws and chisels that began to appear at this time. A reconstruction in Toro, Shizuoka is a wooden box made of thick boards joined in the corners in a log cabin style and supported on eight pillars. The roof is thatched but, unlike the typically hipped roof of the pit dwellings, it is a simple V-shaped gable. The Kofun period marked the appearance of many-chambered burial mounds or tumuli (kofun literally means old mounds). similar mounds in Korean Peninsula are thought to have been influenced by Japan. Early in the period the tombs, known as keyhole kofun or zenp-ken kofun (?, lit. square in front, circular in back old tombmound), often made use of the existing topography, shaping it and adding manmade moats to form a distinctive keyhole shape, i.e. that of a circle interconnected with a triangle. Access was via a vertical shaft that was sealed off once the burial was completed. There was room inside the chamber for a coffin and grave goods. The mounds were often decorated with terracotta figures called haniwa. Later in the period mounds began to be located on flat ground and their scale greatly increased. Among many examples in Nara and Osaka, the most notable is the Daisen-kofun, designated as the tomb of Emperor Nintoku. The tomb covers 32 hectares (79 acres) and it is thought to have been decorated with 20,000 haniwa figures. Towards the end of the Kofun period, tomb burials faded out as Buddhist cremation ceremonies gained popularity.

Reconstructed dwellings in Yoshinogari

JPN ARCH
Asuka and Nara architecture The most significant contributor to architectural changes during the Asuka period was the introduction of Buddhism. New temples became centers of worship with tomb burial practices slowly becoming outlawed. Also, Buddhism brought to Japan and kami worship the idea of permanent shrines and gave to Shinto architecture much of its present vocabulary. Some of the earliest structures still extant in Japan are Buddhist temples established at this time. The oldest surviving wooden buildings in the world are found at Hry-ji, to the southwest of Nara. First built in the early 7th century as the private temple of Crown Prince Shtoku, it consists of 41 independent buildings; the most important ones, the main worship hall, or Kon-d (Golden Hall), and the five-story pagoda), stand in the centre of an open area surrounded by a roofed cloister (kair). The Kon-d, in the style of Chinese worship halls, is a two-story structure of post-and-beam construction, capped by an irimoya, or hipped-gabled, roof of ceramic tiles. Heij-ky, modern day Nara, was founded in 708 as the first permanent capital of state of Japan. The layout of its checkerboard streets and buildings were modeled after the Chinese capital of Changan. The city soon became an important centre of Buddhist worship in Japan. The most grandiose of these temples was Tdaiji, built to rival temples of the Chinese Tang and Sui Dynasties. Appropriately, the 16.2-m (53-ft) Buddha or Daibutsu (completed in 752) enshrined in the main hall is a Rushana Buddha, the figure that represents the essence of Buddhahood, just as Tdaiji represented the centre for imperially sponsored Buddhism and its dissemination throughout Japan. Only a few fragments of the original statue survive, and the present hall and central Buddha are reconstructions from the Edo period. Clustered around the main hall (the Daibutsuden) on a gently sloping hillside are a number of secondary halls: the Hokked (Lotus Sutra Hall), the Kfuku[3] and the storehouse, called the Shs-in. This last structure is of great importance as an art-historical cache, because in it are stored the utensils that were used in the temples dedication ceremony in 752, as well as government documents and many secular objects owned by the Imperial family.

Kon-d and pagoda at Hry-ji, Ikaruga, Nara, Built in 7th century

JPN ARCH
Heian period Although the network of Buddhist temples across the country acted as a catalyst for an exploration of architecture and culture, this also led to the clergy gaining increased power and influence. Emperor Kammu decided to escape this influence by moving his capital first to Nagaokaky and then to Heian-ky, known today as Kyto. Although the layout of the city was similar to Naras and inspired by Chinese precedents, the palaces, temples and dwellings began to show examples of local Japanese taste. Heavy materials like stone, mortar and clay were abandoned as building elements, with simple wooden walls, floors and partitions becoming prevalent. Native species like cedar (sugi) were popular as an interior finish because of its prominent grain, while pine (matsu) and larch (aka matsu) were common for structural uses. Brick roofing tiles and a type of cypress called hinoki were used for roofs. It was sometime during this period that the hidden roof, a uniquely Japanese solution to roof drainage problems, was adopted. The increasing size of buildings in the capital led to an architecture reliant on columns regularly spaced in accordance with the ken, a traditional measure of both size and proportion. The Imperial Palace Shishinden demonstrated a style that was a precursor to the later aristocratic-style of building known as shinden-zukuri. The style was characterised by symmetrical buildings placed as arms that defined an inner garden. This garden then used borrowed scenery to seemingly blend with the wider landscape. The chief surviving example of shindenzukuri architecture is the H--d ( ?, Phoenix Hall, completed 1053) of Byd-in, a temple in Uji to the southeast of Kyto. It consists of a main rectangular structure flanked by two L-shaped wing corridors and a tail corridor, set at the edge of a large artificial pond. Inside, a single golden image of Amida (circa 1053) is installed on a high platform. Raigo (Descent of the Amida Buddha) paintings on the wooden doors of the H--d are often considered an early example of Yamato-e, Japanese-style painting, because they contain representations of the scenery around Kyto. The priest Kkai (best known by the posthumous title Kb Daishi, 774835) journeyed to China to study Shingon, a form of Vajrayana Buddhism, which he introduced into Japan in 806. At the core of Shingon worship are the various mandalas, diagrams of the spiritual universe which influenced temple design. The temples erected for this new sect were built in the mountains, far away from the court and the laity in the capital. The irregular topography of these sites forced their designers to rethink the problems of temple construction, and in so doing to choose more indigenous elements of design. At this time the architectural style of Buddhist temples began to influence that of the Shint shrines. For example, like their Buddhist counterparts the Shint shrines began to paint the normally unfinished timbers with the characteristic red cinnabar colour. During the later part of the Heian Period there were the first documented appear-

JPN ARCH
ances of vernacular houses in the minka style/form. These were characterised by the use local materials and labour, being primarily constructed of wood, having packed earth floors and thatched roofs. were later rebuilt by the Kamakura shogunate to consolidate the shoguns authority. Although less elaborate than during the Heian period, architecture in the Kamakura period was informed by a simplicity due to its association with the military order. New residences used a bukezukuri style that was associated with buildings surrounded by narrow moats or stockades. Defense became a priority, with buildings grouped under a single roof rather than around a garden. The gardens of the Heian period houses often became training grounds. After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate in 1333, the Ashikaga shogunate was formed, having later its seat in the Kyoto district of Muromachi. The proximity of the shogunate to the imperial court led to a rivalry in the upper levels of society which caused tendencies toward luxurious goods and lifestyles. Aristocratic houses were adapted from the simple buke-zukuri style to resemble the earlier shinden-sukuri style. A good example of this ostentatious architecture is the Kinkaku-ji in Kyto, which is decorated with lacquer and gold leaf, in contrast to its otherwise simple structure and plain bark roofs. In an attempt to rein in the excess of the upper classes, the Zen masters introduced the tea ceremony. In architecture this promoted the design of chashitsu (tea houses) to a modest size with simple detailing and materials. The style informed residential architecture with lighter, more intimate buildings relying on slender rafters and pillars with sliding inner partitions fusuma and outer sliding walls shji. Although woven grass and

Phoenix Hall at Byd-in, Uji, Kyoto Built in 1053 Kamakura and Muromachi periods During the Kamakura period (1185 1333) and the following Muromachi period (13361573), Japanese architecture made technological advances that made it somewhat diverge from its Chinese counterpart. In response to native requirements such as earthquake resistance and shelter against heavy rainfall and the summer heat and sun, the master carpenters of this time responded with a unique type of architecture, creating the Daibutsuy and Zenshy styles. The Kamakura period began with the transfer of power in Japan from the imperial court to the Kamakura shogunate. During the Genpei War (11801185), many traditional buildings in Nara and Kyoto were damaged. For example, Kfuku-ji and Tdai-ji were burned down by Taira no Shigehira of the Taira clan in 1180. Many of these temples and shrines

JPN ARCH
straw tatami mats first began to appear in the Kamakura period, they were often thrown all over the floor. In the Muromachi period they began to have a regular size and be closely fitted together. A typically sized Chashitsu is 4 1/2 mats in size. In the garden, Zen principles replaced water with sand or gravel to produce the dry garden (karesansui) like the one at Ryan-ji. fied buildings. All of this was set within massive stone walls and surrounded by deep moats. The dark interiors of castles were often decorated by artists, the spaces were separated up using sliding fusuma panels and bybu folding screens. The shoin style that had its origins with the chashitsu of the Muromachi period continued to be refined. Verandas linked the interiors of residential buildings with highly cultivated exterior gardens. Fusuma and bybu became highly decorated with paintings and often an interior room with shelving and alcove (tokonoma) were used to display art work (typically a hanging scroll). Matsumoto, Kumamoto and Himeji (popularly known as the White Heron castle) are excellent examples of the castles of the period, while Nijo Castle in Kyto is an example of castle architecture blended with that of an imperial palace, to produce a style that is more in keeping with the Chinese influence of previous centuries

Ryan-ji dry garden in Kyoto Azuchi-Momoyama period During the AzuchiMomoyama period (15681600) Japan underwent a process of unification after a long period of civil war. It was marked by the rule of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, men who built castles as symbols of their power; Nobunaga in Azuchi, the seat of his government, and Hideyoshi in Momoyama. The nin War during the Muromachi period had led to rise of castle architecture in Japan. By the time of the Azuchi-Momoyama period each domain was allowed to have one castle of its own. Typically it consisted of a central tower or tenshu (?, lit. heaven defense) surrounded by gardens and forti-

Matsumoto Castle in Matsumoto, Nagano, Completed in 1600

JPN ARCH
Edo period The Tokugawa Shogunate took the city of Edo (later to become part of modern day Tky) as their capital. They built an imposing fortress around which buildings of the state administration and residences for the provincial daimys were constructed. The city grew around these buildings connected by a network of roads and canals. By 1700CE the population had swollen to one million inhabitants. The scarcity of space for residential architecture resulted in houses being built over two stories, often constructed on raised stone plinths. Although machiya (townhouses) had been around since the Heian period they began to be refined during the Edo period. Machiya typically occupied deep, narrow plots abutting the street (the width of the plot was usually indicative of the wealth of the owner), often with a workshop or shop on the ground floor. Tiles rather than thatch were used on the roof and exposed timbers were often plastered in an effort to protect the building against fire.Ostentatious buildings that demonstrated the wealth and power of the feudal lords were constructed, such as the Kamiyashiki of Matsudaira Tadamasa or the zone Shimoyashiki. Edo suffered badly from devastating fires and the 1657 Great Fire of Meireki was a turning point in urban design. Initially, as a method of reducing fire spread, the government built stone embankments in at least two locations along rivers in the city. Over time these were torn down and replaced with dz storehouses that were used both as fire breaks and to store goods unloaded from the canals. The dz were built with a structural frame made of timber coated with a number of layers of earthen plaster on the walls, door and roof. Above the earthen roofs was a timber framework supporting a tiled roof. Although Japanese who had studied with the Dutch at their settlement in Dejima advocated building with stone and brick this was not undertaken because of their vulnerability to earthquakes Machiya and storehouses from the later part of the period are characterised by having a black coloration to the external plaster walls. This colour was made by adding India ink to burnt lime and crushed oyster shell. The clean lines of the civil architecture in Edo influenced the sukiya style of residential architecture. Katsura Detached Palace and Shugaku-in Imperial Villa on the outskirts of Kyto are good examples of this style. Their architecture has simple lines and decor and uses wood in its natural state. In the very late part of the period sankin ktai, the law requiring the daimys to maintain dwellings in the capital was repealed which resulted in a decrease in population in Edo and a commensurate reduction in income for the shogunate.

Hondo of Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Built in 1633

JPN ARCH
Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods Towards the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Western influence in architecture began to show in buildings associated with the military and trade, especially naval and industrial facilities. After the Emperor Meiji was restored to power (known as the Meiji Restoration) Japan began a rapid process of Westernization which led to the need for new building types such as schools, banks and hotels. Early Meiji Architecture was initially influenced by colonial architecture in Chinese treaty ports such as Hong Kong. In Nagasaki, the British trader Thomas Glover built his own house in just such a style using the skill of local carpenters. His influence helped the career of architect Thomas Waters who designed the Osaka Mint in 1868, a long, low building in brick and stone with a central pedimented portico. [31] In Tky, Waters designed the Commercial Museum, thought to have been the citys first brick building. In Tokyo, after the Tsukiji area burnt to the ground in 1872, the government designated the Ginza area as model of modernisation. The government planned the construction of fireproof brick buildings, and larger, better streets connecting the Shimbashi Station and the foreign concession in Tsukiji, as well as to important government buildings. Designs for the area were provided by the British architect Thomas James Waters; the Bureau of Construction of the Ministry of Finance was in charge of construction. In the following year, a Western-style Ginza was completed. Bricktown buildings were initially offered for sale, later they were leased, but the high rent meant that many remained unoccupied. Nevertheless, the area flourished as a symbol of civilisation and enlightenment, thanks to the presence of newspapers and magazine companies, who led the trends of the day. The area was also known for its window displays, an example of modern marketing techniques. The Bricktown of Ginza served as a model for many other modernisation schemes in Japanese cities. In the Taish and early Shwa periods two influential American architects worked in Japan. The first was Frank Lloyd Wright who designed the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo (19131923) and the Yodok Guest House (1924), both of which used locally quarried ya stone.[42] Wright had a number of Japanese apprentices under his tutelage, such as Arata Endo, who constructed the Kshien Hotel in 1930.

Yamamura House, Ashiya, Frank Lloyd Wright, built in 1924 Late Showa period After the war and under the influence of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, General Douglas MacArthur, Japanese political and religious life was reformed to produce a demilitarised and democratic country. Although a new constitution was established in 1947, it

JPN ARCH
was not until the beginning of the Korean War that Japan (as an ally of the United States) saw a growth in its economy brought about by the manufacture of industrial goods. In 1946 the Prefabricated Housing Association was formed to try and address the chronic shortage of housing, and architects like Kunio Maekawa submitted designs. However, it was not until the passing of the Public Housing Act in 1951 that housing built by the private sector was supported in law by the government. Also in 1946, the War Damage Rehabilitation Board put forward ideas for the reconstruction of thirteen Japanese cities. Architect Kenz Tange submitted proposals for Hiroshima and Maebashi. In 1949, Tanges winning competition entry to design the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum gave him international acclaim. The project (completed in 1955) led to a series of commissions including the Kagawa Prefectural Office Building in Takamatsu (1958) and Old Kurashiki City Hall (1960). At this time both Tange and Maekawa were interested in the tradition of Japanese architecture and the influence of local character. This was illustrated at Kagawa with elements of Heian period design fused with the International Style. In 1955, Le Corbusier was asked by the Japanese government to design the National Museum of Western Art in Tky. He was assisted by his three former students: Maekawa, Sakakura and Takamasa Yoshizaka. The design was based upon Le Corbusiers museum in Ahmedabab, and both of the museums are square and raised on piloti. Due largely to the influence of Tange, the 1960 World Design Conference was held in Tky. A small group of Japanese designers who came to represent the Metabolist Movement presented their manifesto and a series of projects. The group included the architects Kiyonori Kikutake, Masato taka, Kisho Kurokawa and Fumihiko Maki. Originally known as the Burnt Ash School, the Metabolists associated themselves with idea of renewal and regeneration, rejecting visual representations of the past and promoting the idea that the individual, the house and the city were all parts of a single organism. Although the individual members of the group went in their own directions after a few years the enduring nature of their publications meant that they had a longer presence overseas. The international symbol of the Metabolists, the capsule, emerged as an idea in the late 1960s and was demonstrated in Kurokawas Nakagin Capsule Tower in Tky in 1972.

Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, built in 1955

JPN ARCH
In the 1960s Japan saw the both the rise and the expansion of large construction firms, including the Shimizu Corporation and Kajima. Nikken Sekkei emerged as a comprehensive company that often included elements of Metabolist design in its buildings. and symbolism. In the Umbrella House (1961) he explored the spatial relationship between the doma (earth-paved internal floor) and the raised tatami floor in the living room and sleeping room. This relationship was explored further with the House with an Earthen floor (1963) where a tamped-down earthen floor was included in the kitchen area. His use of a roof to anchor his design for the House in White (1966) has been compared with Frank Lloyd Wrights Prairie Houses. Shinohara explored these abstractions as Three Styles, which were periods of design that stretched from the early sixties to the mid seventies. A former employee of Kenzo Tange was Arata Isozaki who was initially interested in the Metabolist Movement and produced innovative theoretical projects for the City in the Air (1961) and Future City (1962). However he soon moved away from this towards a more Mannerist approach similar to the work of James Stirling. This was particularly striking at the Oita Branch for Fukuoka Mutual (1967) with its mathematical grids, concrete construction and exposed services. In the Gunma Prefectural Museum (1971 74) he experimented with cubic elements (some of them twelve metres to a side) overlaid by a secondary grid expressed by the external wall panels and fenestration. This rhythm of panelling may have been influenced by Corbusiers detailing on the Museum of Western Art in Tky. Japanese cities where they lack European-like piazzas and squares often emphasise the relationship of people with the everyday workings of the street. Fumihiko Maki was one of a number of architects who were interested in the re-

Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the 1964 Summer Olympics The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo saw a large boost to new design. Venues were constructed and the Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built between 1961 and 1964 by Kenzo Tange, became a landmark structure famous for its suspension roof design, recalling traditional elements of Shinto shrines. Other structures include the Nippon Budokan, the Komazawa Gymnasium and many others. The Olympic Games symbolised the re-emergence of Japan after the destruction of World War II, reflecting the new confidence in its architecture. During the 1960s there were also architects who did not see the world of architecture in terms of Metabolism. For example Kazuo Shinohara specialised in small residential projects in which he explored traditional architecture with simple elements in terms of space, abstraction

JPN ARCH
lationship of architecture and the city and this can be seen in works like saka Prefectural Sports Centre (1972) and Spiral in Tky (1985). Likewise, Takefuma Aida (member of the group known as ArchiteXt) rejected the ideas of the Metabolist Movement and explored urban semiology. courtyards (such as the Azuma House in saka in 1976). His architecture is characterised by the use of concrete, but it has been important for him to use the interplay of light, through time, with this and other materials in his work. His ideas about the integration of nature converted well into larger projects such as the Rokk Housing 1 (1983) (on a steep site on Mount Rokk) and the Church on the Water (1988) in Tomamu, Hokkaid. The late eighties saw the first work by architects of the so-called Shinohara school. This included Toy It and Itsuko Hasegawa who were both interested in urban life and the contemporary city. It concentrated on the dynamism and mobility of the citys urban nomads with projects like the Tower of Winds (1986) which integrated natural elements like light and wind with those of technology. Hasegawa concentrated on what she termed architecture as another nature. Her Shnandai Cultural Centre in Fujisawa (1991) combined the natural environment with new high-tech materials. Highly individualist architects of the late eighties included the monumental buildings of Shin Takamatsu and the cosmic work of Masaharu Takasaki.Takasaki, who worked with the Austrian architect Gnther Domenig in the 1970s shares Domenigs organic architecture. His Zero Cosmology House of 1991 in Kagoshima Prefecture constructed from concrete has a contemplative egg-shaped zero space at its centre.

Rokk Housing 1, Kbe, built in 1985 In the late seventies and early eighties Tadao Andos architecture and theoretical writings explored the idea of Critical regionalism the idea of promoting local or national culture within architecture. Andos interpretation of this was demonstrated by his idea of reacquainting the Japanese house with nature, a relationship he thought had been lost with Modernist architecture. His first projects were for small urban houses with enclosed

JPN ARCH
THE TEA HOUSE In Japanese tradition, architectural spaces designed to be used for tea ceremony (chanoyu) gatherings are known as chashitsu (, literally tea rooms).[1] The architectural style that developed for chashitsu is referred to as the sukiya style (sukiya-zukuri), and the term sukiya () may be used as a synonym for chashitsu.[2] Related Japanese terms are chaseki (), broadly meaning place for tea, and implying any sort of space where people are seated to participate in tea ceremony,[3] and chabana, tea flowers, the style of flower arrangement associated with the tea ceremony. Typical features of chashitsu are shji windows and sliding doors made of wooden lattice covered in a translucent Japanese paper; tatami mat floors; a tokonoma alcove; and simple, subdued colours and style. The ideal floor size of a chashitsu is 4.5 tatami mats. Tea houses versus tea rooms: In Japanese, free-standing structures specifically designed for exclusive tea ceremony use, as well as individual rooms intended for tea ceremony, are both referred to as chashitsu. The term may be used to indicate the tea room itself where the guests are received, or that room and its attached facilities, even extending to the roji garden path leading to it.[5] In English, a distinction is often made between free-standing structures for tea, referred to as tea houses, and rooms used for tea ceremony incorporated within other structures. Tea houses are usually small, simple wooden buildings. They are located in the gardens or grounds of private homes. Other common sites are the grounds of temples, museums, and parks. The smallest tea house will have two rooms: the main room where the host and guests gather and tea is served, and a mizuya, where the host prepares the sweets and equipment. The entire structure may have a total floor area of only three tatami mats. Very large tea houses may have several tea rooms of different sizes; a large, well-equipped mizuya resembling a modern kitchen; a large waiting room for guests; a welcoming area where guests are greeted and can remove and store their shoes; separate toilets for men and women; a changing room; a storage room; and possibly several anterooms as well as a garden with a roji path, an outdoor waiting area for guests and one or more privies. Tea rooms are purpose-built spaces for holding tea gatherings. They may be located within larger tea houses, or within private homes or other structures not intended for tea ceremony. A tea room may have a floor area as small as 1.75 tatami mats (one full tatami mat for the guests plus a tatami mat called a daime (), approximately 3/4 the length of a full tatami mat, for the portable brazier (furo) or sunken hearth (ro) to be situated and the host to sit and prepare the tea); or as large as 10 tatami mats or more; 4.5 mats is generally considered the ideal in modern tea rooms. A tea room will usually contain a tokonoma and a sunken hearth for preparing tea in the winter. An ideal free-standing tea house is surrounded by a small garden having a path

JPN ARCH
leading to the tea room. This garden is called roji (), or dewy ground. Along the path is a waiting bench for guests and a privy. There is a stone water-basin near the tea house, where the guests rinse their hands and mouths before entering the tea room through a small, square door called nijiriguchi, or crawling-in entrance, which requires bending low to pass through and symbolically separates the small, simple, quiet inside from the crowded, overwhelming outside world. The nijiriguchi leads directly into the tea room. The tea room has a low ceiling and no furniture: the guests and host sit seizastyle on the floor. All materials used are intentionally simple and rustic. Besides the guests entrance, there may be several more entrances; at minimum there is an entrance for the host known as the sadguchi, which allows access to the mizuya. Windows are generally small and covered with shji, which allows natural light to filter in. The windows are not intended to provide a view to the outside, which would detract from the participants concentration. There is a sunken hearth (, ro) located in the tatami adjacent to the hosts tatami, for use in the cold months; this hearth is covered with a plain tatami and is not visible in the warm months, when a portable brazier (, furo) is used instead. There will be a tokonoma (scroll alcove) holding a scroll of calligraphy or brush painting, and perhaps a small, simple, flower arrangement called a chabana ( ), but no other decoration. Chashitsu are broadly classified according to whether they have a floor area larger or smaller than 4.5 tatami, a differentiation which affects the style of ceremony that can be conducted, the specific type of equipment and decoration that can be used, the placement of various architectural features and the hearth, and the number of guests that can be accommodated. Chashitsu which are larger than 4.5 mats are called hiroma (literally, big room), while those that are smaller are called koma (literally, small room). Hiroma often are shoin style rooms, and for the most part are not limited to use for chanoyu. Other factors that affect the tea room are architectural constraints such as the location of windows, entrances, the sunken hearth and the tokonoma, particularly when the tea room is not located within a purpose-built structure. Not all tea rooms can be made to conform to the ideal seen in the image.

JPN ARCH
HOUSING IN JAPAN Two patterns of residences are predominant in contemporary Japan: the singlefamily detached house and the multipleunit building, either owned by an individual or corporation and rented as apartments to tenants, or owned by occupants as condominiums. Additional kinds of housing, especially for unmarried people include boarding houses (which are popular among college students), dormitories (common in companies), and barracks. Interior design: To understand the cultural difference, it is important to know that traditional Japanese housing does not have a designated utility for each room aside from the entrance area (genkan), kitchen, bath room and toilet. This is possible because all the necessary furniture is portable, being stored in oshiire, a small section of the house which is used for storage. Somewhat similar to modern offices, partitions within the house are created by fusuma, sliding doors made from wood and paper, which are also portable and easily removed. Therefore, kitchen, bathroom, toilet and genkan with one multi-purpose living space create one complete Japanese housing unit. The minimum Japanese housing arrangement, which is still possible to find consists of just genkan and one living room/ space. Real estate advertisements provide a glimpse into the modern Japanese home. They typically list in the manner of 2LDK or 3LDK, L designating living room, D designating dining room and K designating kitchen. The expression living room is slightly deceptive because the living room, though not necessarily decorated in traditional Japanese style with tatami, are presumed to be multi-purpose. Additionally, they often quote the sizes of the rooms, most importantly, the living room, with measurements in tatami (j in Japanese; the traditional straw mats, which come in a standard size, 180 cm by 90cm,) or square meters. Genkan: One characteristic of a Japanese home is the genkan, or entryway. It includes a small area, at the same level as the outside, where arriving people remove their shoes. As they take off their shoes, people step up onto a raised floor. The rest of the residence is at the raised level of this floor. Toilet: The toilet in Japanese housing, is located away from the bathroom and separate from it. It usually is in a small stall-like room with only the toilet in it. When entering the bathroom, one traditionally wears plastic or latex slippers in place of their house slippers, and removes them upon exiting the bathroom. Kitchen: The modern Japanese kitchen features appliances such as a stove and broiler (grill), and an electric refrigerator. The stove may be builtin or free-standing, and is usually gas-burning, although recently induction heating ranges have become popular. Broilers are designed for cooking fish, and are usually a part of the stove. Built-in ovens large enough

JPN ARCH
to bake or roastare uncommon, as are built-in dishwashers. Bathroom: Japanese housing typically has multiple rooms for what in Western housing is the bathroom. Separate rooms for the toilet, sink, and ofuro (bathing room) are common. Small apartments, however, frequently contain a tiny single bathroom called a unit bath that contains all three fixtures. The room containing the bathtub is waterproof with a space for washing, and often for showering, adjacent to (rather than in) the tub. Washitsu: Many homes include at least one traditional Japanese styled room, or washitsu. It features tatami flooring, shoji rather than draperies covering the window, fusuma (opaque sliding vertical partitions) separating it from the other rooms, an oshiire (closet) with two levels (for storing futon), and a wooden ceiling. It might be unfurnished, and function as a family room during the day and a bedroom at night. Other bedrooms, as well as living rooms, dining rooms, and kitchens, are in a Western style. Windows usually open by sliding laterally, although many kitchen windows open by tilting. One room mansion: A one room mansion is a Japanese apartment style in which there is only one small room (10 m/3.0 tsubo in many cases) and usually a compact bathroom. Heating: Space heating, rather than central heating, is normal in Japanese homes. Kero sene, gas, and electric units are common. Dwellings are commonly sold and rented without heating or cooling equipment. Occupants purchase appliances and take them when they move. A traditional type of heater known as a kotatsu is also still widely used today. The kotatsu can come in multiple forms, but the more common is as an electric heating element attached to the underside of a short table: the table is typically surrounded by a light duvet-like cloth to keep the heat in. This type of table is common in the washitsu. Automobiles: Outside of the downtown areas of large cities, many Japanese people park their cars at or near their homes. Some singlefamily houses have built-in garages; others have carports or unsheltered spaces on the grounds. Construction materials: For freestanding houses, wood frames are popular. Two-by-four construction is an alternative to the native style. Houses may be clad in siding or faced with ceramic tile. Interiors often have drywall, painted or with a wall covering. Tile is a common roofing material. Clay tiles often bear a color and a glaze. Large buildings are typically constructed of reinforced concrete. Roof coverings include asphalt and synthetics. Living patterns: Many young Japanese adults choose to live with their parents, rather than seeking a separate residence, a phenomenon known as parasite singles. After marriage, the young couple often lives in

JPN ARCH
the same house as their parents. Traditionally, the elderly also continue to live with their children rather than being put into homes for the elderly. The number of elderly people living at home has led to a great demand for care products for home use, and also the so-called barrierfree housing, which contains fewer steps and obstacles for the elderly. Apartment sharing between strangers is rare in Japan, most single people preferring to live in small sized individual apartments.

JPN ARCH
GARDENS IN JAPAN HISTORY The art of Japanese gardens dates back to at least 592 AD, during the reign of Empress Suiko. There is documented evidence that suggests the art had actually been progressing long before then, because these early gardens were very well-developed. Early gardens contained artificial hills, ornamental pools, and many other features of Japanese gardens today. The first major development in the history of Japanese gardens came in the Nara period (646-794 AD), when trade with China began in earnest. This brought many changes to Japanese culture, and even more elaborate gardens in the castles of Japans elite class. These gardens included animals, birds and fish to provide movement, and were used as sites for feasts and parties given by noblemen. As the fascination with other cultures began to wear off in the Heian period (794-1185 AD), those who could afford to build gardens had a renewed interest in traditional Japanese styles and customs. This change brought an elegant mix of Chinese customs and Japanese style to gardens, known as Shinden. The layout of these gardens was dictated by myth and legend; for example, streams had to run from east to west because in ancient Chinese lore, the East was the source of purity and the West was the outlet of impurities. As the fascination with other cultures began to wear off in the Heian period (794-1185 AD), those who could afford to build gardens had a renewed interest in traditional Japanese styles and customs. This change brought an elegant mix of Chinese customs and Japanese style to gardens, known as Shinden. The layout of these gardens was dictated by myth and legend; for example, streams had to run from east to west because in ancient Chinese lore, the East was the source of purity and the West was the outlet of impurities.

JPN ARCH
Not many changes were made to the Shinden style until the middle of the Kamakura period (1185-1392) when Zen Buddhist priests began creating gardens for meditation instead of merely for entertainment. Decorativeness was played down in favor of meditative qualities; gardens in this era tended to include stones, water and evergreens, remaining constant throughout the year. This minimalist theory was carried to even greater extremes in the Muromachi and Higashiyama periods (1392-1573) when gardens contained only stones. Created in the style of the monochrome landscape paintings popular during the time, these gardens used specially picked stones as metaphors for objects in nature. Also developed during this time was the flat garden, or the Hira-niwa. During the Momoyama period, most likely as a reaction to the frugality of the Zen garden design, royal gardens once again became vibrant and lush. These gardens were full of hills, waterfalls, and a variety of plants. However, the old Zen tradition lived on in tea gardens. Walking gardens were invented, constructed so as to be pleasing to the eye from any angle, and paths had to be woven into the structure of the garden itself. The result, right up to the modern day, is a great variety in Japanese gardens. From Zen rock gardens to tea gardens to walking gardens, the art of Japanese gardens is still very much alive. FLAT GARDENS Flat gardens, or Hira-niwa, are constructed without hills or water; the flat ground level symbolizes water. In fact, the ground is usually covered with pebbles, raked in circles and straight lines to give the impression of ripples. These gardens contain stones, trees, stone lanterns and wells and are representative of the seaside or of grand lakes. Carefully selected and placed groups of stones symbolize islands; sometimes a waterfall is suggested by upright oblong stones. Hira-niwa reached their height of popularity during the Edo period, as described in history of Japanese gardens, and are most often found in Buddhist temples as objects of contemplation. The most austere contain only stones, carefully laid out to look pleasing but also to facilitate contemplation. The garden design is very subtle; stone placement oftentimes suggests far off lands and mystical locales. Many modern flat gardens also contain wells and stone lanterns. The wells usually have a purpose in these gardens: purification of those who wish to observe the gardens. They are typically constructed with wood, and have either a pulley system or a large spoon for drawing out the water. Stone lanterns are not only ornamental, but serve to illuminate the gardens at night.

JPN ARCH
HILL GARDENS The Japanese name for hill gardens, Tsukiyama-sansui, means hills and water: the foundations of a classic hill garden. This garden is like a three-dimensional picture. Whereas traditional gardens were viewed from only one point, modern gardens are designed with winding paths throughout them, to display the garden to its full advantage. Usually these paths are made of carefully selected flat stones. Water plays a very important role, and nearly every garden contains a waterfall and a pond. Waterfalls are an essential part of hill gardens, as they not only help water flow down the hill, they also provide great symbolism. They are usually constructed with two large stones, giving the appearance of great distance and size. They are often shaded by several tasteful bushes or trees which form a partial screen. The ike, or pond, is meant to represent a sea, lake, or pond in nature. It is usually rimmed with stone-work piling, and always contains an island. Islands have great symbolic significance in Japanese hill gardens. The islands are built with rocks as their base and dirt piled neatly on top, in order for plants to grow. Sometimes a garden designer will include a bridge to an island. If so, often there will be a stone lantern or other worshipping object. The general layout of this type of garden is designed to give the appearance of great distance and expansiveness, as if the whole world were contained in this one garden. Some have suggested that this is because there is so little space in Japan. A more philosophical viewpoint is that the creators of these gardens wish to present the essence of nature, or nature boiled down to its essential components.

TEA GARDENS The Japanese tea garden plays an integral part in the tea ceremony, and as the ceremony has grown more elaborate through the years, so have the tea gardens. Japanese tea gardens are now comprised of two parts: the sotoroji (outer garden) and the uchi-roji, (inner garden). The outer section (soto roji) consists of a place where guests wait for the master to appear; the inner section contains the tea house itself. Stone lanterns light the pathway, either made of gravel or flat stones, between these two sections. The tea garden is usually made in a style similar to a hill garden, but is different in several respects. First of all, the tea garden contains a wash basin, or Tsukubai. The Tsukubai is surrounded by Yaku-ishi, or (literally accompanying stones); one in front used for standing on, one on the right, and one on the left. The basin itself can be any shape, as long as it can be easily used. In fact, broken stone lanterns are often put to use as new wash basins. The tea garden also contains a resting place, for breaks in the tea ceremony. This resting area was not in the original tea gardens. The resting places principal purpose, is to convey the spirit of wabi, or quiet soli-

JPN ARCH
tude in nature. While the outer garden contains deciduous plants and trees and is open and spacious, the inner garden is densely filled with evergreens, symbolizing its everlasting peace. The tea gardens of today have relatively few stones; flowering plants and extravagant designs are avoided, in favor of indigenous plants and materials found commonly along Japanese roads and in the countryside. Again, garden designers seek to find the essence of nature, and present it as a contemplative subject. The modern form of Japanese tea garden is the one most well-known around the world. continued up through today. Ikebana arrangements are usually created from three main parts: the shin (the tallest piece), soe (the medium piece), and hikae (the shortest piece). Each flower must somehow enhance the others shape or color. Most often, Ikebana artists use two different types of plants for their creation. Each school of Ikebana arrangement has developed their own set of rules and formulas to determine the placement of these plants. Three schools of theory exist in the art of Ikebana. The first is Ikenobo, is the oldest and the most traditional. The second is called Ohara, whose main rule is that the creator of the arrangement should express their feelings for the flower in the arrangement. Oharas practices with Moribana, a type of ikebana created in a flat vase, raised Ikebana to a modern level. Members of Ohara have four different methods to work with; they include color, mass-effect, line, and abstract design. Arrangements from the school are also divided into five separate categories. The final school is named Sogetsu. The most important aspects in Sogetsu design are lines and color. As with all schools, the Sogetsu school desires for its creations to bring out the beauty and uniqueness in each flower. Artists delicate consideration to detail and exact placement of flowers in Ikebana is what makes this form of art particularly stunning. BONSAI The sculpted trunk and branches of the Japanese bonsai plants immediately capture ones eye; this is no typical pot-

IKEBENA It has been said in reference to the Japanese art of Ikebana that flowers are cut and not killed. This statement is extremely true as the vivacious Ikebana flower arrangements attempt to capture a flowers soul. The fundamentals of this practice were developed during the seventh century by a Buddhist man named Senmu. His concept for Ikebana was that the art should show harmony between man and nature and each composition should consist of three parts. The early practices of Ikebana have

JPN ARCH
ted plant. Similar to other types of art, the origin of bonsai was thought to have taken root in China and then transferred to Japan during the middle of the Heian period (794-1185). When the plant reached the Japanese island, however, regional gardening techniques influenced the development of bonsai in Japan, distinguishing it from the Chinese variety. The term derived for this artistic practice became known as bonsai meaning cultivation in a pot. The goal of bonsai is to create a plant, small in size, that would suggest a larger natural scene. The majority of cultivation techniques for bonsai were developed in the Endo period (1603-1868). These techniques are used by bonsai artists to shape the trees branches and trunk. A variety of different trees are used for bonsai, including Japanese black pines, Japanese cedars, Japanese maples, and Japanese white pines. A bonsai also depends upon repotting for its survival. Some trees are repotted every two to three years, to ensure that old, dead roots are removed and the roots will be able to absorb air, water, and fertilizer more easily. If properly cared for, bonsai trees can live many years. Examples exist today of bonsai almost five hundred years old. Bonsai is viewed according to a predetermined criteria of beauty. One important quality is root spread, or the amount the roots of a bonsai appear above the earth. Bonsai trees usually do not attain a good root spread until they are much older. Another factor is the rise of the trunk. The rise is the way the tree rises off its base and also the shape of the base. The last important element is the arrangement of the bonsais branches. A great number of trunk and planting styles appear within the art of bonsai. The most basic of these forms is the straight trunk style. Other varieties include the curved-trunk, triple-trunk, Literati style (a simple unsophisticated style), windswept style, raised roots style, and cascade style (where bonsai grows outside and below the rim of the pot). The variety and complexity of bonsai underscores its position as a truly unique art form.

MAP JPN ARCH

METABOLISM In the late 1950s, a small group of young Japanese architects and designers joined forces under the title Metabolism. Their vision for cities of the future inhabited by a mass society were characterized by large scale, flexible and expandable structures that evoked the processes of organic growth. In their view, the traditional laws of fixed form and function were obsolete. Metabolism arose in post-World War II Japan, and much of the work produced by the movement is concerned with housing issues. After the disbanding of CIAM in 1958, the ideas of Team X had influenced young architects around the globe, including young Japanese architects. The World Design Conference of 1960 was held in Japan, and a group of young Japanese architects were involved with the planning. Under the guidance of Kenzo Tange, the architects Takashi Asada, Kisho Kurokawa, Kiyonori Kikutake, and writer Noboru Kawazoe met often and discussed the direction of Japanese architecture and urbanism. During the World Design Conference, the Metabolist group presented their first declaration as a bilingual pamphlet called Metabolism 1960: The proposals for a New Urbanism. Contributors to this work were Noboru Kawazoe, Kiyonori Kikutake, Fumihiko Maki, Masato Otaka, Kisho Kurokawa, and Kiyoshi Awazu. There are four copies of this pamphlet in libraries around the world; in the United States, one copy is found at Harvard University and one in the rare books collection of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. The ideas of Metabolism as implemented in modern culture were philosophical as well as architectural, and ostensibly based on Buddhist notions of impermanence and change. The individual members of the group soon went their own way, their contributions to the Osaka Exposition of 1970 can be seen as their last major work. The groups work is often called technocratic and their designs are described as avant-garde with a rhetorical character. The work of the Metabolists has often been compared to the unbuilt designs of Archigram. Metabolist designs relied heavily on advanced technology, and they often consist of adaptable plug-in megastructures. Famous projects included the floating city in the sea (Unabara project), Kiyonori Kikutakes Marine City, Tower City, Ocean City, Wall City, Kisho Kurokawas Agricultural City and Helix City. The most famous built example of Metabolism is Kurokawas Nakagin Capsule Tower (1972). Kisho Kurokawa was one of the most notable of the Metabolists to emerge from Japan during this time. Kurokawa was born in central Japan in the city of Nagoya. As a child in World War II, Kurokawa saw many Japanese cities reduced to rubble in various air-raids, and this essentially is what encouraged him to study architecture. He attended a university in Kyoto from which he graduated in 1957, and then moved to Tokyo to continue his education. Kurokawa received his PhD in 1964, where he was supervised by the world-renowned architect Kenzo Tange.

JPN ARCH
Around this time, Kurokawa was able to establish his company Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates. Capsule Life: Nakagin Capsule Tower Kurokawa initially had it in mind that the owners of these capsules, as time went by, would be able to interchange capsules, move them, and even connect them to create larger living spaces for families of businesses. In addition, to fully make use of the buildings capability for sustainability, the capsules were designed to be replaced every 25 years. Unfortunately, this has not been the case; the owners, through neglect and complacency, have not replaced the capsules and the Nakagin Tower has either been demolished or soon will be.

TOK ARCH MAP

DAY 01 GINZA

Tokyo Gallery

TOK ARCH
TOKYO INTERNATIONAL FORUM >> Rafael Vinoly, 1996 The Tokyo International Forum, Japans largest congress center, is situated on the boundary between Marunouchi, Tokyos central business area and the Ginza shopping and entertainment district. Rafael Violy Architects won the 1989 International Design Competition, the first international architectural competition in Japan, held by the Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA). The tracks of Japan Railways, the citys principal system of transportation, bounds the eastern elevation with two of the most heavily used train stations, Tokyo and Yarakucho stations, located to the north and south. The International Forum includes two theaters, one among the largest in the world, over 6,000 square meters of exhibition space, several conference rooms, restaurants, shops and other amenities

TOK ARCH MAP

SWATCH GINZA >> Shigeru Ban The Nicolas G. Hayek Center, the new headquarters for swatch group japan is located in ginza, tokyos main business district. The 13 floor building was designed by Shigeru Ban who envisaged the building as a hanging garden reminiscent of the ones found in ancient babylon. It focuses on swatchs luxury labels, and each of these labels have their own flagship stores inside, connected by a hydraulic glass elevator. Everything in an apparently borderless shop world flooded in white light is concentrated on presenting the watches. MIKIMOTO >> Toyo Ito Mikimoto is one of the most famous names in Japanese jewellery with a history dating back to 1899. While the main Mikimoto shop is dedicated to high-end jewels, this store focuses on casual fashion baubles and accessories. Ito was inspired by the mysteriousness of a jewellery box and imagining bubbles around pearls and floating petals. The building also features a lounge and an atrium, which serves as both an exhibition hall and as an area for seminars for women. Painted in a subtly sparkling mica-laced pale pink, the four walls are a marvel of engineering. Each comprises two 56 m tall steel sheets; manufactured in sections, welded together on-site, and installed barely 20 cm apart. With concrete poured between, the steel is strong enough to support the 9 stories.

TOK ARCH
DE BEERS GINZA >> Jun Mitsui, Jim Lambiasi, Kazumasa Toku The DE BEERS Ginza Building design is intended to reflect the sophisticated Ginza streetscape and fit appropriately into this dynamic context. In the process of the design, the first image that came to mind was a twisting form of light in motion. A ribbon of light coming out of the earth sparkles in the atmosphere as an aurora with ever-changing color and form. The DE BEERS Ginza building representing gracious light like aurora was felt most appropriate for the site. The fluid and flexible form of the building was also inspired by the beauty of the female outline. The sparkling light on the surface of the gently curved form of the building subtly suggests the shimmering reflection of diamond.This was the aesthetic essence of the DE BEERS Ginza building design. HERMES >> Renzo Piano Hermes a company famous for its upscale hand bags and apparel. The 6,000 square meter (65,000 square feet) building contains shopping space, workshops, offices, exhibition spaces and multimedia areas all topped by a roof garden. A recess that divides the long facade in two forms a courtyard which provides access to the subway two levels below. Its facade, made entirely of specially designed and fabricated glass block 45cm by 45cm (17in by 17in) each, is both aesthetically pleasing and technologically innovative.

TOK ARCH MAP

ARMANI TOWER >> Massimiliano & Doriana Fuksas Working with the designer has been an unusual assignment for us, usually it is the building, the external architecture that takes precedence over the content. For the Ginza project the opposite has been true: the exterior is a glass tower, totally merging into the Ginza skyline, its glass surface mirroring and relaying reflections of the sky and the surrounding buildings, full of different lights and colours throughout both day and night. The permeability of the surface is toned down by a cascade of brightly lit leaves that delicately float down the facades and, according to the time of day or the season, are modified in intensity and colour. This has been like working under a microscope, examining every tiny little detail, trying to find the ultimate solution. DIOR GINZA >> Kumiko Inui , 2004 Dior Building in Tokyo is located in one of Tokyos famous shopping districts, architect Kumiko Inui designed a doubleskin facade composed of perforatedaluminum panels and printed-aluminum panels with lighting in between. Both the perforated and the printed panels express Diors famous canage pattern, and at night they create a moir effect that gives the building a ghostlike appearance. Like a lot of the buildings on Ginza Street, its lit up by LED lighting at night, which makes it appear to float in the sky. Above the building shines a star, Diors lucky motif.

TOK ARCH
LOUIS VITTON GINZA >> Jun Aoki 2002 Louis vuitton ginza namiki store is a renewal of the first store directly operated by louis vuitton in japan. When the store was extended, Jun Aoki designed the new facade. Namiki street in ginza is a high class district, arguably the most historic such district in japan. The street has a cozy scale. The abundant use of stone lends it an elegant, privileged character. The design of the new facade should be contemporary in character yet maintain the prestigious nature of the street. However, an effort was made to alter the sense of scale of the pre-existing building. In addition, the stone was used, not as a solid, opaque material, but as a gentle, translucent material. The exterior finish is made of panels of GRC similar in materiality to limestone inlaid with the same white marble used in the taj mahal in India. The inlaid marble is backlit so that at night, squares of different sizes appear on the exterior wall. The store has two different faces, one during the day and another at night. By day it is a single mass of stone, 16m deep, 20m wide and 21m high. It suggests that there is only one large space inside. At night various squares of light, large and small appear on the face of the building. The squares of light are randomly arranged, and the intensity of the light behind each one changes; it is almost as if the squares were breathing. Even so, the exterior suggests an interior arrangement of ample spaces that is at odds with the actual division of the interior into seven horizontal layers.

TOK ARCH MAP

GUCCI GINZA> > James carpenter & Frida Giannini Designed without compromise by Frida Giannini, with a multi dimensional glass faade by James Carpenter, the store gleams with natural light, warmed by rich, natural materials. At night it radiates with a light installation by Shozo Toyohisa. For the first time ever Gucci has taken over an entire building for its flagship store in Tokyos most exclusive shopping district. The glass tower, eight stories high, is a beacon for fashionistas across the city.

CHANEL GINZA >> Peter Marino The idea for Chanels ritziest location in Tokyo was by no means simple. The faade would at once serve as communications media, daylighting source, and fashion iconplus it would need to allow views between interior and exterior at all times. The design team, led by Peter Marino + Associates Architects, envisaged a 10-story-high media wall, flashing messages and patterns by means of an LED system. Yet this active, communicating curtain wall would be unusual both in scale and in the required level of functionality. The 215-foot-tall, 10-story faade, which encloses (from top to bottom) a restaurant, offices, exhibition and concert venues, and three floors of highend retailall capped by a rooftop garden. Views and daylight were priorities, but not at the expense of solar heat gain.

TOK ARCH
UNIQLO GINZA >> Klein Dytham Architects 2005 Uniqlo is completely different to the higher end brands in Ginza. KDa decided to give Uniqlo a simple basic approach. The Uniqlo facade is made up of one thousand illuminated cells, which can be controlled to create awesome Tetrisstyle patterns. The four-square Uniqlo logo shines through all. The Shiseido Gallery >> Richardo Bofill, 2001 The Shiseido Gallery, which opened its doors in 1919, is said to be the oldest art gallery still operating in Japan. In the years since, it has pursued its non-profit activities nearly continuously, closing only occasionally due to earthquakes, war, reconstructions, and other vicissitudes, always dedicated to the ideal of discovering and creating new value. To date, the Shiseido Gallery has hosted over 3,100 exhibitions, many of which served as the public debut for burgeoning artists who would later make major contributions to the course of Japanese art. In the 1990s the Gallery shifted its emphasis to contemporary art and began a dynamic program aimed at introducing the expression of that era, noted for combining vanguard contemporaneity with a sense of simple purity. In 2001 the Gallery facilities were relocated to the underground level of the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building. This space includes a five-meter ceiling that makes it the tallest exhibition hall in the Ginza district, a feature which has caught the attention of both Japanese and foreign artists for the expressive possibilities it opens up as an exhibition venue.

TOK ARCH
OPAQUE GINZA> > SANAA Opaque Department Store Ginza is a fashion, cosmetics and related department store that includes a salon and restaurant. The Japanese tradition teaches the importance of speaking in a low voice, or even silence when communicating the most important things. Silence, simplicity and transparency as opposed to technological noise, self reverence, of the need for attention, makes SANAAs architecture stand out. They look for diverse answers that limit waste, whether it be material or semantic. Sejima experimented with white glass and paper-thin walls in the Opaque Ginza building, which was one of the first in the area to use white glass rather than green, spawning a fascination with the approach. During night time the facade is usually lighted in white, occasionally GINZA GALLERIES If you happen to be in the area around lunch time, Hibiki[1] on the top of the Ginza Green building offers an amazing Japanese buffet lunch for 1000. After stuffing yourself with organic greens, Morimae[2], a bonsai shop just around the corner has a beautiful (and affordable!) selection on display. They even offer a service to tend to your bonsai if you take off for a month long trip to Tibet. For a perfect own roast hand drip cup of coffee, Lambre[3], which has been pouring since 1948, cant be beat. And if you like your art to be provocative, the exhibitions of erotic art at Vanilla Gallery[4] are usually just that.

also used as a display for installation. Because of the lighting effect the external image is lightened and you are given an illusion of transparency, looking through the interior parts. But however, there is still a wall to block the sight beyond the glass wall. Sejima likes everthing to be very white and characterless - removing as much information as possible leads to that sort of ethereal glow.

NOTES
For a trip back in time and a plate of delicious curry, be sure to stop by New Castle{1} curry shop. Under the tracks of Yurakucho Station, youll find an inexhaustible array of hole-in-the-wall izakaya, yakitoriya and other assorted shops of dubious nature.{2} For something different, try a quick shoe-shine{3} on weekday afternoons. In the evening we recommend Aroina Tabeta{4} for an authentic back-alley Bangkok-style Thai fix. If youre in the mood for more art, then a visit to the Le Forum Gallery{5} is a must: located on the top floor of the glass-walled Maison Herms building, this vast, naturally lit gallery space is frequently home to excellent exhibitions.

MAP
DAY 02 OMOTESANDO

TOK ARCH
NAKAGIN CAPSULE TOWER >> Kisho Kurokawa, 1971-72 On the entrance floor of the buliding there is a self-service caf, and the first floor is occupied by offices. From this first level upwards there are 140 one-room flats each consisting of a capsule measuring 4x2,5x2,5m. The 140 capsules are hung on the concrete towers that contain the vertical communications; they are identical, prefabricated steel cells fitted with bath unit, conditioning system and colour television. Constructed at Osaka, they were transported to Tokyo by truck. The assembly time for each capsule was three hours. (Within one month the capsules were all sold, as city pied--terre for buisinessmen, professional pepople, etc.). In actual fact this is an imitation capsule, for whilst from the outside everything looks promising an absolutely western, the inside is that of a traditional Japanese middle class house to the point of having imitation wood beams to hold up the strong concrete structure. The nesessary choice has not been made. If people want to accept a different type of house they must change their ways of living, and if they dont want to give up their habits (which is also quite right since there is no need to), they must be able to give up the idea of living in a future-oriented buliding. The conflict between architect and client here has evidently been determinant: the outside for the architect and the inside for the client. And nothing has been conceded to the surroundings. Specifications: - 14 story steel and concrete structural - 140 pre-fabricated capsules attached by 4 high-tension bolts - 3,000 square meters of floor area

TOK ARCH MAP

SHIZUOKA TOWER >> Kenzo Tange, 1967 The building houses the Tokyo branch offices the Shizuoka Newspaper Company; it is about a dozen stories high and occupies a site measuring about 2,000 sqm. Basically, it is a cylindrical shaft 190 ft. tall built of concrete and finished with cast aluminum panels, anodized a very dark bronze. This shaft contains elevators, stairs and utilities; and from it are cantilevered glass-enclosed capsules that contain the actual office spaces. Kenzo Tange: I came to the idea of building a pillar of the city with a meaning of indirect stimulus... I built this tower with the idea of bringing urban scale to this dynamic point of the town. Structuring the functions of architectural and urban spaces is the theme of this building as well as of the original plan for the home office of the Dentsu Advertising Co., the Tsukiji Area Plan, and the Yamanashi Culture Center. The two methods used in this series of works are the high-rise core shaft and the multi-level dimensional lattice. The site of this highly symbolic, single-shaft building is cramped, but the building itself, particularly when seen from the nearby highway or from the windows of the New Tokaido Super Express train, is an important landmark in the townscape. The controlling point in the design is the determination to create a building partaking of both the urban scale and the human scale. The methodology will find fuller application in the home ottice of the Shizuoka Newspaper, currently in planning.

TOK ARCH
STYLE.COM >> Tadao Ando, 2005 Andos latest contribution to the district is an unusual origami-like structure fashioned from 16-mm steel plates. Although the site is relatively aple by Tokyo standards (352m), part of the area is limited to steelframe or wood construction not exceeding two stories. Furthermore, the lease for the site covers two areas, one for a ten-year period, and one for half that duration. He architect thus was called upon to concentrate most of the building on the ten-year plot. Two stories plus a basement arranged as a continuous interior space. This design store has a total floor area of 469 m and a footprint of 210 m. In the tradition of Tokyos sunshine law, that requires new buildings not to block more than a certain percentage of neighbors light, Ando crafted the form until he found the ideal solution. The dark steel building is painted with zincbased primer flour polymer paint. The interior space of the store, filled with design furniture and objects, has a slightly more cavernous and complex feeling than most Ando buildings. Metal and concrete meet in unexpected ways. The folded interior spaces correspond to the relatively complex exterior and provide contrasts between the light near the entrance space below and the dark areas of the shop. Austere grays and whites are used for interior finishes, allowing the objects displayed to stand out more easily in this strongly architectural environment.

TOK ARCH MAP

STYLE.COM CASA >> SANAA, 2000 DIOR OMOTESANDO >> SANNA , 2003 The building is gift-wrapped in a translucent skin. The effect is achieved by using clear glass on the outside and a second displaced layer of translucent acrylic on the inside. Further designs can be added to the buildings skin like butterflies, logos, or whatever is needed to adapt the building to a sale, or a change in season. White stripes are printed on the acrylic walls so that the buildings appearance changes depending on the light during the day and the level of penetration of lighting at night. A few white horizontal aluminium bands further break the continuous volume into several unequal segments. Not revealing entirely what is behind the white drapes, it exudes an air of mystery that invites one to step into the luxury world of Dior and explore. Internally, a different world awaits revelation. Instead of the eight floors of boutique space perceived earlier from the street, there is only one basement floor and five aboveground levels. The reason for this apparent misrepresentation of floors is the enlargement of mechanical space from the minimum requirement of 1.5m to greater heights that befit the overall faade composition. Instead of hiding them, Sanaa expressed and skilfully incorporated them to create a slender volume that built right to the maximum allowable height. The stair core that links the various floors has glass tower that stands from the basement to the roof, housing mirror-finished stainless steel and backlit display shelves within.

TOK ARCH
GYRE >> MVRDV, 2007 Designed by Dutch firm MVRDV and administered by Takenaka Corporation, the Gyre Building toes the line of highsounding branding and lofty cultural aspirations. There are luxury French brands, organic bakery-cafes, a photography gallery, a French bistro with creative spice use, and an outpost of New Yorks Museum of Modern Arts (MOMA) design store. This extensive tenant mix is huddled together in a translucent black Gyre, which according to Takenaka means eddy and rotation. Gyres curated theme is conscious luxury. Gyre, also known as The Swirl, is generated from five identical rectangular floorplates that are rotated on a vertical axis and then trimmed to fit the site on Omotesando street in Tokyo. The programme asked for a building that could serve one or several users and companies. It therefore had to communicate on two scale levels: the level of the building as a whole and the level of the individual shop inside the building. The space is programmed for five floors, each floor area is 75% of the total plot. By gradually twisting these floors around a central core, a series of terraces emerge, connected by stairs and elevators that are positioned outside the volumes. They create an identical pair of vertically-stepped, terraced streets, one on each side of the core. Via these two public routes, the two sidestreets are connected at every level throughout the block, turning them into vertical streets. The exterior of the building produces a highly iconic and sculptural form; a building that attracts and invites people, not only to the street level, but also to companies and destinations at higher levels. As the silhouette of the building is already unique, the faade can stay relatively modest, allowing the occupants of the spaces to express themselves. A series of shop windowsized openings appear at each level. They serve as doors, windows or shop windows/signs. The closed faade and the ceilings are covered with a special ceramic tile; the terraces are made out of artifical wood.

TOK ARCH MAP

TODs >> Toyo Ito, 2004 Several prominent luxutecture buildings were already erected in Europe and Japan when Tods opened its Omotesando store. But this store made quite a splash with its innovative design. At its heart, this is a glass curtain wall block with concrete and steel supporting members. But those members are arranged in a way that makes the building defy its own shape. Instead of the rigid right angles and mathematical curves of manmade architecture, Tods Omotesando is braces with gentle sweeping curves and forks that emulate organic forms. The effect is particularly stunning in the colder months when the bare branches of nearby elm trees are reflected in the building. It mimics their graceful natural growth patterns. And, as luck would have it, there are several trees right outside the door that happen to lean the opposite direction as the buildings majority superstructure, providing a mirror image of mother nature on man-made architecture. One might expect to hear that since the shape of the building was derived from nature that it is naturally more resistant to earthquakes. That is not true. The unusually shaped windows fit very tightly into the branching concrete forms surrounding them, and could crack easily if the building sways too much. To prevent this, the structure rests on a shock-absorbing foundation, which is common in Japan. The branching structures arent merely a two-dimensional lattice on the exterior. They run through the inside, as well, serving as points of interest, section dividers, and even stairways of sometimes unusual gait. This creates numerous possibilities, but also some problems. Ceiling heights can be unpredictable as one moves toward the edges of the building. And in some places the floor is glass. It is assumed that the glass used is not strong enough to support pedestrian traffic, which is a shame, as it could have allowed the shoppers-cumbirds hopping through this buildings tree branches to occasionally have the sensation of flight. Alas, these patches of glassy floor are barricaded by genericlooking metal fences. The unity between exterior and interior form was possible because the same architect created both. Ordinarily, there is an architect for the building and another one for the interior. In this case, a single person was tasked with creating the building, and the result was worth the gamble.

TOK ARCH
LOUIS VUITTON OMOTESANDO >> Jun Aoki, 2003 A store building 25.5 meters in width, 20.8 meters in depth and 31.9 meters in height, made up of rectangular parallelepiped units stacked in an irregular pile. The structure, located in interstitial spaces 30 centimeters deep and 37 centimeters high between the rectangular parallelepiped units, is a non-uniform cage with few vertically aligned columns. The columns and beams are all made from wide-flange steel members 20 centimeters by 20 centimeters in cross-section. The exterior finish consists of two types of metal mesh, polished stainless panels or two layers of glass ornamented with patterns. LV Hall on the seventh floor has a triple-height ceiling and is wrapped in a three-layered screen of metal mesh, glass and white lace embroidered with white ribbons. Interior The store is an assemblage of various special spaces; the basic units are not floors but spaces. The shape of all spaces are right-angled boxes in various scales, proportions and natural light conditions. The total shape of the building is the result of piling up the box-like shapes. The first five stories of the 10 story building are dedicated to the public shop space. The interior, designed by Louis Vuitton Malletier Architecture Department, uses stainless steel fabric, resembling the fabric lining inside a trunk, to match the exterior design. Some parts, including the multipurpose hall, are designed by Jun Aoki.

TOK ARCH MAP

OMOTESANDO HILLS >> Tadao Ando, 2005 Omotesando Hills ( Omotesand hiruzu?) is a mixed use and shopping complex in central Tokyo built in 2005, in a series of urban developments by Mori Building. It occupies a two hundred and fifty meter stretch of Omotesand, a shopping and (previously) residential road in Aoyama, sometimes termed Tokyos Champs-lyses. It was designed by Tadao Ando, and contains over 130 shops and 38 apartments. The construction of Omotesando Hills, built at a cost of $330 million, has been marked by controversy.The building replaced the Bauhaus-inspired Djunkai Aoyama Apartments, which had been built in 1927 after the 1923 Kant earthquake.The destruction of the apartments again raised questions about Japans interest in preserving historic buildings. A small section of the old apartments is reconstructed in the South-East part of the new complex. Minoru Mori noted that there had been resistance from local landowners to the use of Ando as architect, saying that they were concerned that his buildings were too fashionable for the area. Regarding the construction, Ando said, Its not Tadao Ando as an architect who has decided to rebuild and make shops, it was the owners themselves who wanted it to be new housing and to get some value with shops below. My task was how to do it in the best way.

TOK ARCH
ONE OMOTESANDO >> Kengo Kuma, 2003 The architect Kengo Kuma describes this project as some kind of frame of nature. He used natural materials to realise an exquisite contrast between the building and the line of zelkova trees for One Omotesando. The building (Tokyo, 200103) consists of a series of wooden strips, perpendicular to the faade: with its continuous skin, when seen obliquely, the faade, head on, becomes completely transparent, punctuated by voids and solids. For Kengo Kuma the material is thus always a construction principle, giving rise to the architectures aesthetics and symbolism. His main motif is to erase architecture. He calls for the virtual disappearance of architecture in its environment, natural and urban alike. Hence he designs buildings coming across like open structures and changing with external variations. For his buildings, Kuma uses vernacular materials, earth, wood, bamboo, and stone. Above all he conceives buildings as innovative constructiveassemblies.

TOK ARCH MAP

LA COLLEZIONE >> Tadao Ando, 2005 This commercial complex was built in 1989 on a main boulevard in fashionable Minami Aoyama. To fit in with the scale of surrounding streets, three of the buildings seven floors are situated below ground. The principal concern of the project was to introduce light and air to all levels, including the basement. The complex is made up of two rectangular volumes, positioned to conform to the irregular outline of the site. Introduced into this configuration are a cylindrical volume of 21m in diameter that interlocks with one of the rectangular volumes, a protective wall that inscribes an arc around the building, and a cube that spans the gap between the two rectangular volumes. The rectangular blocks are concrete frames structures constructed according to a 6.15m grid, while the cylinder has an aluminium and glass curtain wall. The upper two basement levels house an exercise club and an 8.5m x 20m swimming pool. The upper floors contain shops and the owners three apartment residence, which is positioned independently. A staircase spirals around the outer wall of the cylindrical volume, and stepped terraces have been created in the interstice between the two rectangular volumes. These important elements of circulation influence the composition of the building; ascending the staircases to approach the shops, visitors experience continuous transformations of the space around them much as if they were passing through a three-dimensional maze. The stepped terraces occupy a void which raises the full height of the building, introducing light and air deep into the basement levels and richly transforming their spaces.

TOK ARCH
COMME de GARCONS >> Future systems, 1998 The concept and interiors of this small, simple, and clean perfume shop in Paris were designed by Kawakubo, who created the Japanese fashion label of the same name. EFuture Systems created a glass veil that moves from translucency to transparency, through the use of a pink-graded film between two layers of laminated glass, which lays over the stone facade. This creates a warm pink glow that warms the austerity of the interior. The interior space is filled with a gently curving, white, enameled, steel shelf that holds the five perfumes for sale. Mirrored display stands, stark and rectangular, present a few related items. STARBUCKS OMOTESANDO >> Kengo Kuma he Dazaifu store is located at the main approach to the Meiji Shrine. Using a palette of modest materials, Kumas team designed a single-story enclosure made from razor-thin, coated-steel sheets. Inside the 210-squaremeter (2,260-square-foot) caf, a screed floor and chipboard walls and ceilings are impeccably detailed, but these fade to the background behind the structures showcase: 2,000 woven cedar sticks. Each stick is 6 centimeters (2.3 inches) square in section, and ranges in length from 1.3 to 4 meters (4.3 to 13 feet). The pieces are woven together on the diagonal; notches carved into the sides of the sticks allow them to fit snugly together, and they are held in place with thin stainless steel pipes.

TOK ARCH
PRADA BOUTIQUE AOYAMA >> Herzog & de Meuron, 2003 Sited in a sea of low-rise, homogenised heterogeneity, Herzog and de Meuron placed the shop proper at a corner of the site and it becomes a landmark attraction due to its visibility. Freeing part of the land, they created an intimate plaza which serves as a meeting point and a precious relief in the totally built-up area in the surrounding. Pradas Tokyo epicenter, in the fashionable Aoyama district, is the companys second radical approach to fashion-store architecture, following Rem Koolhaas flagship store in New York. The intent is to reshape both the concept and function of shopping, pleasure and communication, to encourage the meshing of consumption and culture. The Tokyo store is a strikingly unconventional 6-story glass crystal that is soft despite its sharp angles as a result of its five-sided shape, the smooth curves throughout its interior, and its signature diamond-shaped glass panes, which vary between flat, concave and convex bubbles. Jacques Herzog describes these glass panes as an interactive optical device. Because some of the glass is curved, it seems to move as you walk around it. That creates awareness of both the merchandise and the city theres an intense dialogue between actors. Also, the grid brings a human scale to the architecture, like display windows. Its almost old-fashioned. The main entrance pierces the honeycomb structural wall at ground level, extending the piazza outside into the store. The spaces and various elements like the vertical cores and horizontal steel tubes are skilfully placed so that the shoppers do not distinguished between the floors bur rather perceive it as one continuous space. Such design intentions resulted in great technical complexity in terms of fire safety, structure and glazing solutions. The cream-based hexagonal steel tubes contain either changing rooms or additional display space. Within, the structural cores and tubes morph seamlessly into elevators, stairs, fitting rooms and display shelves, giving a sense of continuous shopping space,very much integrated into the architecture.

TOK ARCH

TOK ARCH MAP

SPIRAL BUILDING >> Fumihiko Maki, 1985 Spiral is a complex of cultural facilities established by Wacoal Corporation in Aoyama, Tokyo in October 1985, aiming to make cultural aspects into business. The Spiral building accommodates a variety of spaces to be used for different activities like a gallery for contemporary art, a caf, a multipurpose hall, restaurants and shops. Wacoal Art Center, an affiliate of Wacoal Corporation, is responsible for operating all the activities. The theme of Spiral is a fusion of life and art. With the goal to realize an art-blended lifestyle, a diversity of ways to use space and time comfortably and pleasantly is proposed. Makis Design is rendered in highly polished aluminium, glass and other high-tech materials, with references to classical Western, traditional Japanese and Postmodernist architecture. The building set new standards, in regard to both architectural sensibility and the quality of public spaces. The spiral that gives the building its name is visible not only in the way that the faade seems to spiral upward, but also in the ceremonial ramp within the high, top-lit atrium space, which connects the ground-floor lobby, caf and gallery with the first and mezzanine-floor shops. The intricately layered faade opens like a stage curtain on to a sequence of architectural sceneries, which Maki, not unlike a film director, designed in reference to the fragmented and chaotic disposition of Tokyo.

NOTES

YOK ARCH
YOKOHAMA>> FOA, 2002 Our proposal for the project start by declaring the site as an open public space and proposes to have the roof of the building as an open plaza, continuous with the surface of Yamashita Park as well as Akaranega Park. The project is then generated from a circulation diagram that aspires to eliminate the linear structure characteristic of piers, and the directionality of the circulation. / FOA The project starts with what the architects have named as the no-return pier, with the ambition to structure the precinct of the pier as a fluid, uninterrupted and multi-directional space, rather than a gateway to flows of fixed orientation. A series of programmatically specific interlocking circulation loops allow the architects to subvert the traditional linear and branching structure characteristic of the building. Rather than developing the building as an object or figure on the pier, the project is produced as an extension of the urban ground, constructed as a systematic transformation of the lines of the circulation diagram into a folded and bifurcated surface. These folds produce covered surfaces where the different parts of the program can be hosted. The relation between the skin and the areas established by the structural folds of the surface is one of the most important arguments of the project in that the folded ground distributes the loads through the surfaces themselves, moving them diagonally to the ground. This structure is also especially adequate in coping with the lateral forces generated by seismic movements that affect the Japanese topography. The articulation of the circulation system with the constructive system through this folded organisation produced two distinct spatial qualities; the continuity of the exterior and the interior spaces and the continuity between the different levels of the building. The architects have used a very reduced palette of materials and details in order to explore further the continuity produced by the topography. Single finishes extend on the upper or lower side of the topography regardless of exterior or interior condition. All secondary system that are applied to the steel topography, mainly wood-deck flooring system, glazing system and fencing/handrail system use a single detail along the length of the building and only vary to explore the geometrical variation across spaces. The ambition was to construct continuous but differentiated spaces along the length of the pier.

YOK ARCH

YOK ARCH
SHINKO PIER EXHIBITION SPACE >> M. Yoichi (Building) N. Ryue (Exhibition Space) 2006 An exhibition hall with some 4,300 sqm of exhibit space will be construct- ed in the Shinko Pier area, one of the oldest sections of the Port of Yokohama. The new structure (scheduled to be completed in August 2008) will be the main venue for the Yokohama Triennale 2008. The design of the exhibition hall includes abundant skylights to bring in natural light, creating a pleasant, relaxed ambience. Nearly 30 artists, including Pedro Reyes, Fischli & Weiss, and Cerith Wyn Evans, will exhibit their works. (yokohamatriennale.jp) RED BRICK WAREHOUSE & PARK >> Mr. Yorinaka Tsumaki, 1899-1913 The Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse is a historical building that is currently used as a complex that includes a shopping mall, banquet hall, and event venues. The complex, officially known as the Newport Pier Tax Keeping Warehouse, was originally used as customs buildings. The complex is divided into the buildings No.1 and No.2. Both buildings are three stories high, and are 22,6m wide and 17,8m tall. The area of Building No. 1 is 5,575m, with a length of 76m, while Building No. 2 has a total area of 10,755m, and a length of 149m. Building No.1 is currently regarded as a cultural facility, and is utilized as an event venue for art exhibitions, film festivals, musical competitions and plays. Building No. 2 houses a shopping mall, a restaurant arcade and a balcony, from which visitors can view the harbour opened on the 3rd floor in 2007.

YOK ARCH
Other sightseeing spots including Yokohama Chinatown, Minato Mirai 21, and Yamashita Park are located nearby. In the late 19th century, the Yokohama city government worked on constructing new harbour facilities, and the first reclamation work was begun in 1899. The work, completed in 1905, was followed by expansion work which ended a year later. Planned by a Japanese architect and a government official, Yorinaka Tsumaki, the current Building No. 2 was constructed in 1911, and the current Building No.1 was erected in 1913. Both were to be used as customs houses. When the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake struck Yokohama, the red brick buildings were damaged, but suffered less than other buildings due to their reinforced structure with iron implanted between the bricks. Repair work continued until 1930, and after World War II, the buildings were requisitioned by the American occupation troops between 1945 and 1956. After the buildings were returned to Japan, their use decreased with the advent of containerization, and the buildings ended their role as customs houses in 1989. In 1992, Yokohama city acquired jurisdiction over the buildings, and restoration work was carried out from 1994 to 1999. This work, in which the roof and structure of the buildings were strengthened, was conducted by Takenaka Corporation, a Japanese architectural company. After the inside of the buildings was renovated, they were opened as the Yokohama red brick buildings on April 12, 2002.

TOK ARCH
DAY 03 ROPPONGI

TOK ARCH
REIYUKAI SHAKADEN TEMPLE >> Tanaka Corporation, 1975 Rising out of central Tokyo, not far from Tokyo Tower or the Emperors Palace, this bizarre, black, pyramidal structure is a temple of the Inner Trip Reiyukai. The ITR movement is a modern Japanese religion which emerged as an offshoot of Buddhism in the 1930s. The Inner Trip Reiyukai headquarters, known as the Shakaden Temple, which contains many smaller enclosures under its giant shadow, was built in 1975. Though the temple may seem austere in comparison to traditional Buddhist temples, the monks are always amiable to visitors. The building is open to the public and offers free Japanese lessons for foreigners, a temple with an eight-meter Buddha carved from thousand-year-old camphor wood, and most oddly, a reservoir containing 400 tons of drinking water, to be used during emergencies of an unspecified nature. KUWAIT EMBASSY >> Kenzo Tange, 1970 In 1970 Kenzo Tange , being already an influent architect, urbanist and researcher, leading the group of URTEC, completed the Kuwait Embassy and Chancery Building. Kenzo Tange continued to develop the ideas brought together in the Yamanashi Press and Bradcasting Center. The KUwait Embassy and Chancery Building in Tokyo (1970) and the University of Oran proposal in Algeria (1972) each demonstrate further development of a metabolic architecture that suggests incompleteness, flexibility, and the potential for change and growth.

TOK ARCH MAP

SUNATORY MUSEUM OF ART >> Kengo Kuma, 2007 The exterior of the building is covered with vertical louvers made of white ceramic panels, giving the building a transparent feeling. Because ceramic panels are rather weak they are usually thickened, or cast into concrete for enhanced strength, making them appear heavy and dull...a far cry from the delicate imagery of a tea bowl. The development of a new method of reinforcing thin ceramic panels with aluminum extrusion made it possible to use extra-fine edges in the details. The interior finishes are wood and traditional washi (Japanese paper) which create a natural warmth while admitting a soft light. The exhibition spaces on the third and fourth floor use movable partitions, Japanese fusuma (sliding doors) and shoji (paper screen sliding panels), to seal off adjacent exhibition rooms, making the spaces flexible. Two sliding muso goshi lattices in the 9.3 meter tall third floor gallery makes it possible to totally shade the space or open it to the green areas in the surrounding park. The small 7.5 square meter 4.5 mat Genchoan tea-room, established when the Suntory Museum was founded, has been brought to the new location from Akasaka Mitsuke. A 13.2 square meter 8 mat room and a chair-style room, as well as a Japanese-style terrace, are available for special events. The Suntory Art Museum, together with the The National Art Center and the the Mori Art Museum, form the Art Triangle Roppongi, establishing Roppongi as one of Tokyos major cultural centers.

TOK ARCH
ROPPONGI HIILS >> Irie Miyake, 2003 Roppongi Hills ( Roppongi Hiruzu?) is a New Urban Centre and one of Japans largest integrated property developments, located in the Roppongi district of Minato, Tokyo. Constructed by building tycoon Minoru Mori, the mega-complex incorporates office space, apartments, shops, restaurants, cafs, movie theaters, a museum, a hotel, a major TV studio, an outdoor amphitheater, and a few parks. The centerpiece is the 54-story Mori Tower. Moris stated vision was to build an integrated development where high-rise inner-urban communities allow people to live, work, play, and shop in proximity to eliminate commuting time. He argued that this would increase leisure time, quality of life, and benefit Japans national competitiveness. Seventeen years after the designs initial conception, the complex of 720.000 m2 opened to the public on April 23, 2003. Mori Tower is a 54-story high-rise building designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox that houses an art museum, restaurants, cafes, clinics, stores, the offices of Barclays Capital, Ferrari Japan, Goldman Sachs, J-WAVE, Konami, salesforce.com, Time Inc., Chevron, Allen & Overy, BASF, Lenovo, Baidu, GREE, BP, SAS Institute and Google. The Pokmon Company has its headquarters in the Mori Tower. The first six levels of Mori Tower contain retail stores and restaurants. The top six floors house the Mori Art Museum and the Tokyo City View with panoramic views of the city.

TOK ARCH MAP

LOUIS VUITTON ROPPONGI >> Jun Aoki, 2002 is a store designed, on both the inside and the outside, as a collection of simple circulator units 10 centimeters in diameter. On the exterior wall, over 28,000 transparent glass tubes, 10 centimeters in diameter and 30 centimeters in length and sealed between two plates of glass, are suspended by two reflective stainless panels in which holes of the same diameter have been cut. These elements, which resembles a compound eye, cause diffuse reflections. They pick up nearby lights and colors and change subtly in appearance. The interior is divided into a <> and a <>; a skin made from a combination of stainless rings, 10 centimeters in diameter, defines the boundary between them. The spatial from of the store has been deliberately made complex. The reception of a simple element generates both a sense of unity and diversity. THE NATIONAL ART MUSEUM >> Kisho Kurokawa, 2006 A joint project of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the National Museums Independent Administrative Institution, it stands on a site formerly occupied by a research facility of the University of Tokyo. The museum has an exhibition of 600 pieces, concentrating on 20th century painting and modern art, for its opening on January 21, 2007. The director is Hideki Hayashida. The architect for the museum was Kisho Kurokawa. The facility has 47,960 m of floor space on a 30,000 m site with four stories above ground and one below.

TOK ARCH
BAISOIN TEMPLE >> Kengo Kuma, 2003 Built 360 years ago, Baisoin Buddhist Temple is one of the oldest temples in Tokyo. In the old days temples and churches acted as community centers and as foci for all kinds of cultural activities in the city. The goal of this project was to give back temples their lost status as focal points and as institutions open to citizens. A slanted black wall covered with deepribbed metal louvers is a contemporary edition of the tile roof that used to symbolize the temple. The metal louvers appear to change their color and shape in many different ways in response to the direction and intensity of the light. This roof is the sensitive antenna of natural phenomena, which serves to remind the people its changes. The bottom of the slanted wall of louvers is the entrance to the building. The louvers are rising up from the street level on which this building stands, allowing the citys activities to overflow into the building. In the same way as temples and churches used to serve as urban public spaces, he planned to integrate the city and the temple into one space. Inside of the temple, three halls are placed vertically. The hall on the first floor can be used for concerts accommodating 350 people. It should serve as the community center for the neighborhood. For the interior, he used an abundance of backlit glass cloth that refers back to the half-transparent shoji screens. Area : 29,648m2

TOK ARCH MAP

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT >> Tadao Ando, 2007 Tokyo Midtown is the home of Design Sight 21_21, a design gallery/workshop created by fashion designer Issey Miyake and architect Tadao Ando. The idea was to create not only a museum that shows exhibits, says Ando, but also a place for researching the potentiality of design as an element that enriches our daily life, a place that fosters the publics interest in design by arousing in them different sights and perspectives on how we can view the world and the objects surrounding us. Design The building, designed by Ando, is on the edge of the park area, and features 1,700 square meters (18,300 sq ft) of floor space, including two galleries and an attached cafe run by chef and restaurateur Takamasa Uetake. The splitlevel concrete structure includes a handsanded steel roof (whose design was inspired by Issey Miyakes A-POC (A Piece of Cloth) concept) and 14-meter long glass panel

NOTES
In The Neighborhood As more developments continue to bulldoze their way into Roppongi, the startling mix of old and new becomes increasingly complex. Strolling around the neighborhoods{1} just west of Roppongi Hills will give you a sense of what the area felt like ten years ago. Lose a few hours in the free art library{2} at The National Art Center. A stop at Tahiti{3} will reward you with excellent curry lunch sets that include dessert and coffee. Publishing house Switch runs the well stocked Rainy Day Bookstore & Cafe{4} down a quaint back street in Nishi Azabu. The nearby temple is also a great place to meditate for those shell-shocked by Roppongis urban intensity.

TOK ARCH
DAY 04 SHIBUJA/ SHINJUKU

TOK ARCH
TERAZZA >> Kiyoshi Sey Takeyama/Amorphe,1991 A multi-purpose building on a triangular site containing a fitness club, shop (a luxury car showroom when these pictures were taken), offices and residences, this stark concrete structure has considerable geometric variety. Three square pillars in front and the outwardsloping wall of the sports club meet to enclose a sort of courtyard space, while the curved wall of a rooftop arena projects partly from the faade and relieves the severe angles. Watari Museum of Contemporary Art >> Mario Botta, 1990 Designed by Swiss architect Mario Botta and opened in September 1990, the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (Watari-um) cuts a striking profile on the edge of Harajuku and Gaienmae. The abbreviated derives from the combination of ,the family name of the founders, and . Exhibition space Although spread out over several floors, Watari-ums exhibition spaces all pivot around the cavernous second floor gallery. The lightwell on the fourth floor affords you a birds eye view of works displayed below, and the glass-walled mezzanine of the third floor makes for visual correspondence between artworks displayed in physically separate spaces. Among many thematic exhibitions held at the museum, artists shown here include Japanese and international artists at all stages in their careers.

TOK ARCH
YOYOGI NATIONAL GYMNASIUM / Kenzo Tange, 1984 Built for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, the Yoyogi National Gymnasium has become an architectural icon for its distinctive design. Designed by one of Japans most famous modernist architects, Kenzo Tange, the gymnasium is a hybridization of western modernist aesthetics and traditional Japanese architecture. Tanges innovative structural design creates dramatic sweeping curves that appear to effortlessly drape from two large, central supporting cables. Its dynamically suspended roof and rough materials form one of the most iconic building profiles in the world. Sitting within one of the largest parks in the metropolitan region of Tokyo, Tange uses the context as a way in which to integrate his building into the landscape. The subtle curves of the structural cables, the sweeping roof plane, and the curving concrete base seem to emerge from the site appearing as one integrated entity. The gymnasium is the larger of two arenas for the 1964 Summer Olympic Games both of which are designed by Tange and employ similar structural principles and aesthetics. The smaller pavilion which holds approximately 5,300 people is used for various small Olympic events, whereas the national gymnasium was designed to be occupied by 10,500 people primarily for the Olympic swimming and diving competitions. However, it was able to be transformed into a space to accommodate for larger events such as basketball and ice hockey. Influenced by Le Corbusiers Philips Pavilion and Eero Saarinens hockey stadium at Yale University, Tange became intrigued with structure and its tensile and geometric potential. Similar to Saarinens design for Yales hockey stadium, Tange employs a central structural spine from where the structure and roof originates. Two large steel cables [13 in diameter] are supported between two structural towers in addition to being anchored into concrete supports on the ground. The suspended cables form a tensile tent-like roofing structure; a series of pre-stressed cables are suspended off of the two main cables that drape toward the concrete structure that creates the base of the gymnasium as well as providing the necessary structure for the seating within the stadium. The result is a symmetrical suspension structure that elegantly draping from the central structural spine. Its flowing surfaces make the minimal surface structure appear as a fabric suspended by two simple supports thats being pulled into tension by the landscape. The fusion of Japanese architectural aesthetic and western modernist design, the gymnasiums structural system resembles a snails shell, but in a more contextual sense, the gymnasiums low profile and sweeping roof forms some semblance to that of an abstracted Japanese pagoda. Influenced by Le Corbusiers Philips Pavilion and Eero Saarinens hockey stadium at Yale University, Tange became intrigued with structure and its

TOK ARCH
tensile and geometric potential. Similar to Saarinens design for Yales hockey stadium, Tange employs a central structural spine from where the structure and roof originates. Two large steel cables [13 in diameter] are supported between two structural towers in addition to being anchored into concrete supports on the ground. The suspended cables form a tensile tent-like roofing structure; a series of pre-stressed cables are suspended off of the two main cables that drape toward the concrete structure that creates the base of the gymnasium as well as providing the necessary structure for the seating within the stadium. The result is a symmetrical suspension structure that elegantly draping from the central structural spine. Its flowing surfaces make the minimal surface structure appear as a fabric suspended by two simple supports thats being pulled into tension by the landscape. The fusion of Japanese architectural aesthetic and western modernist design, the gymnasiums structural system resembles a snails shell, but in a more contextual sense, the gymnasiums low profile and sweeping roof forms some semblance to that of an abstracted Japanese pagoda.

TOK ARCH
MEIJI SHRINE >> Meiji Shrine (, Meiji Jing) is a shrine dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his consort, Empress Shoken. Located just beside the JR Yamanote Lines busy Harajuku Station, Meiji Shrine and the adjacent Yoyogi Park make up a large forested area within the densely built-up city. The spacious shrine grounds offer walking paths that are great for a relaxing stroll. The shrine was completed and dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and the Empress Shoken in 1920, eight years after the passing of the emperor and six years after the passing of the empress. The shrine was destroyed during the Second World War but was rebuilt shortly thereafter. Emperor Meiji was the first emperor of modern Japan. He was born in 1852 and ascended to the throne in 1867 at the peak of the Meiji Restoration when Japans feudal era came to an end and the emperor was restored to power. During the Meiji Period, Japan modernized and westernized herself to join the worlds major powers by the time Emperor Meiji passed away in 1912. The main complex of shrine buildings is located a ten minute walk from both the southern entrance near Harajuku Station and the northern entrance near Yoyogi Station. Entry into the shrine grounds is marked by a massive torii gate, after which the sights and sounds of the busy city are replaced by a tranquil forest. The approximately 100,000 trees that make up Meiji Jingus forest were planted during the shrines construction and were donated from regions across the entire country. At the middle of the forest, Meiji Jingus buildings also have an air of tranquility distinct from the surrounding city. Visitors to the shrine can take part in typical Shinto activities, such as making offerings at the main hall, buying charms and amulets or writing out ones wish on an ema. Meiji Jingu is one of the Japans most popular shrines. In the first days of the New Year, the shrine regularly welcomes more than three million visitors for the years first prayers (hatsumode), more than any other shrine or temple in the country. During the rest of the year, traditional Shinto weddings can often be seen taking place there. At the northern end of the shrine grounds visitors will come across the Meiji Jingu Treasure House, which was constructed one year after the shrine was opened. The Treasure House displays many interesting personal belongings of the Emperor and Empress, including the carriage which the emperor rode to the formal declaration of the Meiji Constitution in 1889. There is also a Museum Annex Building just to the east of the main shrine buildings that displays temporary exhibitions. A large area of the southern section of the shrine grounds is taken up by the Inner Garden, which requires an entrance fee to enter. The garden becomes particularly popular during the middle of

TOK ARCH
June when the irises are in bloom. A small well located within the garden, Kiyomasas Well, is named after a military commander who dug it around 400 years ago. The well was visited by the Emperor and Empress while they were alive and has become a popular spiritual power spot

In The Neighborhood Shinjuku Gyoen {1} and Meiji Jingu Shrine {2} are two obvious points of interest in this area. Just be careful: Shinjuku Gyoen, while beautifully maintained, closes bizarrely early. The narrow road {3} on the outskirts of the park, with its crumbling old homes and small shops, makes for a particularly pleasant walk. Follow it north into the heart of Shinjuku. Off the beaten path, Chako Amemiya {4} serves up American style steak. For a drink or some snacks in a laid-back atmosphere, try Bottle Caf, {5} or if youre really into all the subtle variations of sake and sashimi, youll find them at Chotto Gobu. {6}

MAP ARCH TOK

SHIBUYA STATION EXTENSION >> Tadao Ando, 2008 Andos design is based on what he calls a chichusen, or underground spaceship. Because this station has an atrium from top to bottom, you can easily see where you are (...) it gives you a sense of security, Ando says. The design allows fresh air and light to circulate via the atrium and a ventilation shaft, and the glass-fibre reinforced concrete skin of the spaceship incorporates a water-cooling system. The combined result is a station that cuts power use and takes us back to the days when train stations were equivalent to cathedrals in the public-space pecking order. In the heart of Shibuya Station, a covered atrium slices down through all three floors, creating an open, airy feel. The cut-out space has the shape of an elliptical funnel. The atrium visually connects the three floors: the top level (which is actually the ground floor), the middle level (the ticket gate floor) and the lowest floor (with the tracks). Columns soar from the middle floor to the uppermost ceiling, enhancing this sense of unification. In addition, the atrium gives visitors an overview of the station, letting them know where they are at all times. Andos architecture incorporates natural elements, such as light, water andwind. Accordingly, Shibuya Station will feature indoor trees, as well as natural breezes,blowing through the open central space. Trains generate considerable heat, and most stations use air conditioning to combat that problembut not Shibuya Station.

TOK ARCH
02. MAPS - WEST - SHIBUYA

Shibuya () is one of the twenty-three city wards of Tokyo, but often refers to just the popular shopping and entertainment area found around Shibuya Station. In this regard, Shibuya is one of Tokyos most colorful and busy districts, packed with shopping, dining and nightclubs serving swarms of visitors that come to the district everyday. Shibuya is a center for youth fashion and culture, and its streets are the birthplace to many of Japans fashion and entertainment trends. Over a dozen major department store branches can be found around the area catering to all types of shoppers.

TOK ARCH
DAY 05 ASAKUSA

TOK ARCH

Asakusa () is the center of Tokyos shitamachi (literally low city), one of Tokyos districts, where an atmosphere of the Tokyo of past decades survives. Asakusas main attraction is Sensoji, a very popular Buddhist temple, built in the 7th century. The temple is approached via the Nakamise, a shopping street that has been providing temple visitors with a variety of traditional, local snacks and tourist souvenirs for centuries. Asakusa can easily be explored on foot. Alternatively, you can consider a guided tour on a rickshaw (jinrikisha, literally man powered vehicle). A 30 minute tour for two persons costs around 8000 yen. Shorter and longer courses are also available.

TOK ARCH MAP

ASAKUSA TURIST INFORMATION >> Kengo Kuma and Associates, 2012 In the corner premise of just 326 across Kaminari-mon Gate, the building was required to accommodate plural programs such as tourist information center, conference room, multi-purpose hall and an exhibition space. The center extends Asakusas lively neighborhood vertically and piles up roofs that wrap different activities underneath, creating a new section which had not existed in conventional layered architecture. Equipments are stored in the diagonally shaped spaces born between the roof and the floor, and by this treatment we could secure large air volume despite its just average height for high-and medium-rise buildings. Furthermore, the roofs not only divide the structure into 8 one-storied houses but also determine the role of each floor. First and second floor has an atrium and in-door stairs, creating a sequence from which you can feel the slope of the two roofs. On 6th floor, taking advantage of the slanted roof, we were able to set up a terraced floor with which the entire room can function as a theater. As angles of the roofs inclined toward Kaminari-mon and the heights from the ground vary from floor to floor, each floor relates differently to the outside, giving a unique character to each space.

TOK ARCH
EDO-TOKYO MUSEUM >> Kiyonori Kikutake, 1993 The Edo-Tokyo Museum ( Edo Tky Hakubutsukan?) is a museum of the history of Tokyo during the Edo period.[1] It was established in 1993. The main features of the permanent exhibitions are the life-size replica of the Nihonbashi, which was the bridge leading into Edo; the Nakamuraza theatre; and scale models of towns and buildings from the Edo, Meiji and Shwa periods. The museum is located in Rygoku adjacent to the Rygoku Kokugikan. It was designed by Kiyonori Kikutake.[2] The distinctive elevated shape of the museum building is modelled after an old storehouse in the kurazukuri style. The Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum is a branch of the Edo-Tokyo Museum. ASAHI BEER HALL >> Phillipe Starck, 1989 The Asahi Beer Hall is one of the buildings of the Asahi Breweries headquarters located on the east bank of the Sumida River in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. It was designed by French designer Philippe Starck and was completed in 1989

TOK ARCH MAP

SENSOJI TEMPLE >> Sensoji (, Sensji, also known as Asakusa Kannon Temple) is a Buddhist temple located in Asakusa. It is one of Tokyos most colorful and popular temples. The legend says that in the year 628, two brothers fished a statue of Kannon, the goddess of mercy, out of the Sumida River, and even though they put the statue back into the river, it always returned to them. Consequently, Sensoji was built nearby for the goddess of Kannon. The temple was completed in 645, making it Tokyos oldest temple.. When approaching the temple, visitors first enter through the Kaminarimon (Thunder Gate), the outer gate of Sensoji Temple and the symbol of Asakusa and the entire city of Tokyo. A shopping street of over 200 meters, called Nakamise, leads from the outer gate to the temples second gate, the Hozomon. Alongside typical Japanese souvenirs such as yukata and folding fans, various traditional local snacks from the Asakusa area are sold along the Nakamise. In The Neighborhood Go grab an onigiri and some miso shiru at Yadoroku,{1} one of the oldest onigiri shops in Tokyo. Or if youre a ramen fan, Bazoku {2} hand-rolls fresh noodles with every order. After a long day of gallery trotting, nothing beats a cold beer in a smokey izakaya: Kakurenbo {3} delivers on all fronts. Operating since 1907, Hatsuogawa {4} serves up some of the tastiest unagi in town. If Maisen in Omotesando didnt satisfy your tonkatsu cravings, one of the fifty varieties of tonkatsu at Katsukichi {5} should hit the spot.

TOK ARCH
Musashino Art University Library >> Sou Fujimoto Architects, 2011 (closed) The Musashino Art University Library is in fact a library made of bookshelves. Sou Fujimotos vision of combining searchability and strollability into one system is translated into a spiral shape, in the center of the building, covered with wooden shelves. The spiral represents a clock of numbers, each number stands for a certain book category, so finding a specific book is really easy, while at the same time its shape and the labyrinthine paths between book-lined walls welcome the visitor who just wants to walk around. Small reading corners are preferred instead of large tables, so that everyone has their privacy and doesnt get bored if they have to spend a lot of hours there. Although it might seem that the bookshelves are supporting the structure, that is not the case. Outside, the idea of the bookshelved walls continues, now covered in polycarbonic material, but still the passersby can see the shelves, as the architect also wanted the building to be ready for an extension in the future.

TOK ARCH MAP

DAY 07 CHIYODA, TAITO

TOK ARCH
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WESTERN ART >> Le Corbusier, 1979 The National Museum of Western Art, one of three museums designed by Le Corbusier according to his prototype for a museum of unlimited growth, was originally established to house and to display the Matsukata Collection. Kojiro Matsukata, once-president of the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Company, collected a large number of paintings, sculpture and prints during his travels to the west. The financial crisis of 1927 led to the sale of his art collection; after World War II many of the works became the property of the French government, which returned them to Japan in 1959. Located within the woods of Ueno Park, the museum is approached through a landscaped plaza. Its blank textured facade of green pebbles set in concrete panels is suspended on pilotis. The horizontal rhythm of the facade is interrupted only by a large window with a projecting concrete balcony and stair. The organization of the building is based on a spiral within a square. An upper level of galleries wraps around a central double-height court, penetrating it with balconies at several locations. A ramp within the skylit central court winds its way to the upper gallery level. In addition a pinwheel pattern of circulation along linear paths leads to the exit stairs. The museum, begun by Le Corbusier was later completed by his students. In 1979 a new wing was added to the Main Building creating another central courtyard between it and the existing Main Building, this courtyard open to the exterior.

TOK ARCH
In The Neighborhood Head to the roof of the Asakura Choso Museum{1} to get a quick overview of the neighborhood. Meander down the curiously twisted Hebi Michi{2} and grab a bowl of homemade soba at Nezu Takajo. {3} If its cherry blossom season, spend more time than you normally would walking around Yanaka Cemetery,{4} and even if its not cherry blossom season, do the samethe light is unbelievably beautiful in the late afternoon. A stop by the Bossa Caf,{5} just around the corner from SCAI, is great for a spot of organic coffee and cheesecake. Or pop by long-term resident artist Alan Wests glass-walled studio{6} housing modern interpretations of traditional screen paintings.

TOK ARCH
Tama Art University Libraryy >> Toyo Ito, 2007 Arches are one of the oldest staples of architecture, going back in time to at least the Babylonians 2500 years ago. Seeing the arches lining the face of Toyo Itos New Library may remind someone of such classical and classically-influenced architecture--the Palazzo Rucellai, for instance, or any of H.H. Richardsons designs. However, one quickly recognizes that Ito has used this ancient staple in a very modern way. The small supports allow him to line the walls with glass, giving the floor and ceiling slabs the appearance of floating over the open spaces of the library. Itos inspiration, however, was not the arched architecture of the past. It was instead the geologic cave, which he felt was a superb natural example of how to delineate spaces without using repetitive grids of columns and walls.To keep the natural theme, Ito varied the sizes of the arches; in fact, no arch is exactly the same. The supports for the arches act like stalactites, reaching down and everso-lightly embracing the floor line below. Unfortunately (at least for Ito), his idea was not fully realized. He envisioned a first floor gallery, with private floors underneath. Due to site constraints, though, the library had to be built up instead of down. The arches, ranging from 9 feet to 49 feet in width, are formed along intersecting arcs, with the columns being at intersection points.They are spaced evenly enough to provide adequate structural integrity. The sharp orthogonal linessuch as in the basement and for two exterior walls-were, much to Itos chagrin, necessary due to budgetary constraints. The columns supporting these arches are very thin. The arches are comprised of steel plates anywhere between 0.4 and 0.6 inches thick, covered in concrete. While the standard is 12 inches, Ito and structural engineer Mutsuro Sasaki were able to design the walls at just 8 inches in depth, while still providing enough support for the large loads above. While flanged steel plates could be used near the tops of arches, their bases required something unique to support the arches and fit their cross shape. Thus, Ito and Sasaki created cross-shaped steel slabs that ranged from 1 to 2 inches thick, which support the lower three feet of each arch. To counteract Japans seismic activity-which could easily rupture these weak column supports-rubber isolators were installed. A slip isolation was also used to further prevent against possible earthquake damage. Ito wanted to exploit the natural environment outside, focusing the building on the beauty of the outdoors instead of trying to create beauty indoors. Thus, the outer walls are lined with windows to allow large views towards the exterior. The inner hearth of the library is left open so one can see these windows. Further, glass furniture reflects the trees and sky outside. The first floor slopes down from north to south to mimic the site conditions and assist in loosening the buildings footprint on the ground.Therefore, it truly does seem as if the building is floating above the site. Curving, arched windows The windows are all obscure sizes and shapes due to the archways, and all obviously vary in exact dimension. Further,the windows on the south and

TOK ARCH
west elevations are curved. And to fit Itos specification that they be flush with the outer walls, each window had to be divided by thin steel mullions and aluminum sashes. The panes were then cut by one company, shipped to another to be bent a mere sixteen-hundredths of an inch, and sent to the site. Gallery space is mainly on the first floor, with books and materials on the second. A cafeteria on the first floor allows a central meeting space for students and professors, and-being on the southwest corner near the bus stop-allows perfect shelter for those tired of waiting outside. The first floor also features a laboratory and office space, as well as the librarys magazine and multimedia section. Further, a temporary theater, connected to the multimedia section, provides an area for students to listen to music, watch movies, etc. The librarys second floor provides the main bookstacks and reading areas. Unlike the first floor, this floor is completely level to account for book trolleys that transport the books.Closed stacks, making up the eastern side of the second floor as well as the mezzanine above, bring the librarys total collection to over ten thousand books.The second floor also contains office and copying space. The small basement, meanwhile, provides library storage and an area for mechanical equipment and machinery, etc. Ito and furniture designer Fujie Kazuko Atelier aimed to keep all furniture low, so as to keep views outside from even the innermost areas of the building. Differing spaces are separated by these low shelves, and by lacy steel screens. Seating ranges from large, blonde birch tables, to unique matted felt and upholstered chairs, to the built-in study benches along the exterior windows. All work to give a variety of seating arrangements and situations, while complementing the buildings light, open feel. In the words of Ito... The new library is a place where everyone can discover their style of interacting with books and film media as if they were walking through a forest or in a cave; a new place of arcade-like spaces where soft mutual relations form by simply passing through; a focal centre where a new sense of creativity begins to spread throughout the art universitys campus.

TOK ARCH

TOK ARCH
DAY 07 AKIHABARA

TOK ARCH

Akihabara (), also called Akiba after a former local shrine, is a district in central Tokyo, that is famous for its many electronics shops. In more recent years, Akihabara has gained recognition as the center of Japans otaku (diehard fan) culture, and many shops and establishments devoted to anime and manga are now dispersed among the electronic stores in the district. -AsoBit City -Maid Cafes -Nijigen Cospa
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/indepth/cultural/kie/akihabara/kie_akihabara_03.html

TOK ARCH
Koizumi Sangyo Building>> Peter Eisenman, 1990 Koizumi Sangyo is a manufacturer of lamps and lighting equipment. For this project, the company headquarters in Tokyo, Eisenman worked along with Kojiro Kitayama, who is the half brother of Tadao Ando (yes, the world is a handkerchief). In fact, in the late 80s early 90s, there was a good relationship between Eiseman and Ando, and the latter introduced him to his brother. Kitayama designed a concrete box, a typical Japanese office block. Eisenman used this structure as context and attacked it with a series of small cubes rotated in various directions in space. Features of this clash of geometries are evident both inside and outside the building. Therefore, despite the dynamic appearance of the fractured surface, it is possible to perceive a geometric order when walk around the building. Or, said in the opposite way, despite being a clear and rational grid as a basis, this never becomes repetitive and is different on each floor due to those elements that pollute it. A large atrium of monumental proportions gets us into the building. Some bridges cross diagonally space, not only to give some this 5-story space a human scale, but also as a prelude to the looming spatial distorsion. This grain of sand is referred to a series of three-dimensional Ls which, in order to make more apparent to this overlap, use pastel pink and green colors, chosen along with the painter and theorist Robert Slutzky and typical architecture of Eisenmans projects at the end the 80s (although, truth be told, this color combination is not so popular today).

TOK ARCH
ST MARYS CHATEDRAL >> Kenzo Tange 1964 St. Marys Cathedral St. Marys Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tokyo. It is located in the Sekiguchi neighborhood of Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. The original structure of 1899 was a wooden building in the Gothic style. It was burned during World War II. The present church, designed by Tange Kenzo, dates from 1964. Kenzo Tange won the competition for the reconstruction of this church in 1961. It was built with assistance from Wilhelm Schlombs, architect to the Archdiocese of Cologne, the engineer Yoshikatsu Tsuboi, who worked with Tange on many of his projects and the Zurich architect Max Lechner..

NOTES

MAP

KYOTO

ATT
Gion District Gion () is Kyotos most famous geisha district, located around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka Shrine in the east and the Kamo River in the west. It is filled with shops, restaurants and ochaya (teahouses), where geiko (Kyoto dialect for geisha) and maiko (geiko apprentices) entertain. Gion attracts tourists with its high concentration of traditional wooden machiya merchant houses. Due to the fact that property taxes were formerly based upon street frontage, the houses were built with narrow facades only five to six meters wide, but extend up to twenty meters in from the street. The most popular area of Gion is Hanami-koji Street from Shijo Avenue to Kenninji Temple. A nice (and expensive) place to dine, the street and its side alleys are lined with preserved machiya houses many of which now function as restaurants, serving Kyoto style kaiseki ryori (Japanese haute cuisine) and other types of local and international meals. Interspersed among the restaurants are a number of ochaya (teahouses), the most exclusive and expensive of Kyotos dining establishments, where guests are entertained by maiko and geiko. Another scenic part of Gion is the Shirakawa Area which runs along the Shirakawa Canal parallel to Shijo Avenue. The canal is lined by willow trees, high class restaurants and ochaya, many of which have rooms overlooking the canal. As it is a little off the beaten path, the Shirakawa Area is typically somewhat quieter than Hanami-koji Street. Many tourists visit Gion hoping to catch a glimpse of a geiko or maiko on their way to or from an engagement at an ochaya in the evenings or while running errands during the day. However, if you spot a geiko or maiko, act respectfully. Complaints about tourists behaving like ruthless paparazzi are on the increase in recent years. The ultimate experience is being entertained by a maiko or geiko while dining at an ochaya. As expert hostesses, maiko and geiko ensure everyones enjoyment by engaging in light conversation, serving drinks, leading drinking games and performing traditional music and dance. The services of geiko are expensive and exclusive, traditionally requiring an introduction from an existing customer. In recent years, however, some travel agencies and hotels have started to offer lunch or dinner packages with a maiko to any tourist with a sufficient budget. There are even a few companies which target foreign tourists without Japanese language skills.

ATT MAP

ATT
HIGASHIYAMA DISTRICT The Higashiyama District along the lower slopes of Kyotos eastern mountains is one of the citys best preserved historic districts. It is a great place to experience traditional old Kyoto, especially between Kiyomizudera and Yasaka Shrine, where the narrow lanes, wooden buildings and traditional merchant shops invoke a feeling of the old capital city. Recent renovations to remove telephone poles and repave the streets have further improved the traditional feel of the district. While the walk through the Higashiyama District between Kiyomizudera and Yasaka Shrine is only about two kilometers long and could be done in half an hour, you could easily spend half a day or more in the area, visiting the various temples, shrines, shops and cafes along the way Higashiyama Hanatoro Hanatoro (, Hanatro), which means flower and light road, is a set of illumination events that take place in the Higashiyama District of Kyoto in March and the Arashiyama district of Kyoto in December. During Hanatoro the streets are illuminated by thousands of lanterns set throughout popular areas combined with flower and light displays. The next Higashiyama Hanatoro will be held from March 8 to 17, 2013! Many temples and shrines are illuminated and have special extended viewing hours. In addition, live and street performances are held at stages around the area. The pleasant and unique atmosphere of Hanatoro attracts many visitors who can stroll the streets and see a different side of Kyoto. During the March Hanatoro the streets of Kyotos historic Higashiyama District are lined by more than 2400 lanterns that stretch from Shorenin all the way to Kiyomizudera. Nearly all of the popular temples and shrines in the district are illuminated and have extended opening hours. The Hanabutai stage is set up in Kodaiji Temple Park where daily live music, dance and performances are held. Additionally, performance areas in front of the large central weeping cherry tree (shidarezakura) in Maruyama Park and Kiyomizudera are set aside for street performances.

ATT

ATT
Nishiki Market Nishiki Market (, Nishiki Ichiba) is a narrow, five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants. Known as Kyotos Kitchen, this lively retail market specializes in all things food related, like fresh seafood, produce, knives and cookware, and is a great place to find seasonal foods and Kyoto specialties, such as Japanese sweets, pickles, dried seafood and sushi. Nishiki Market has a pleasant, but busy atmosphere that is inviting to those who want to explore the variety of culinary delights that Kyoto is famous for. The stores found throughout the market range in size from small narrow stalls to larger two story shops. Most specialize in a particular type of food, and almost everything sold at the market is locally produced and procured. Some of the shops freely give out samples or sell sample dishes and skewers meant to be eaten then and there. There are also a few small restaurants and food stands selling ready made food. A few are sit down establishments, although some consist of no more than a couple of stools and a bar. They usually specialize in one type of food, and are often attached to a store of the same specialty. The market has a history of several centuries, and many stores have been operated by the same families for generations. It all started as a fish wholesale district, with the first shop opening around 1310. A larger variety of shops moved in later, and the area changed from a wholesale market to retail. Today it remains an important market for Kyoto and is often packed with locals and tourists alike.

ATT
Kiyomizudera Kiyomizudera (, literally Pure Water Temple) is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780 on the site of the Otowa Waterfall in the wooded hills east of Kyoto, and derives its name from the falls pure waters. The temple was originally associated with the Hosso sect, one of the oldest schools within Japanese Buddhism, but formed its own Kita Hosso sect in 1965. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites. Kiyomizudera is best known for its wooden stage that juts out from its main hall, 13 meters above the hillside below. The stage affords visitors a nice view of the numerous cherry and maple trees below that erupt in a sea of color in spring and fall, as well as of the city of Kyoto in the distance. The main hall, which together with the stage was built without the use of nails, houses the temples primary object of worship, a small statue of the eleven faced, thousand armed Kannon. Behind Kiyomizuderas main hall stands Jishu Shrine, a shrine dedicated to the deity of love and matchmaking. In front of the shrine are two stones, placed 18 meters apart. Successfully finding your way from one to the other with your eyes closed is said to bring luck in finding love. The Otowa Waterfall is located at the base of Kiyomizuderas main hall. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, and visitors use cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each streams water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life. However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy. Other structures on the spacious temple grounds include the Okunoin Hall, which resembles the main hall on a smaller scale and has also a stage. Near the Okunoin are halls dedicated to Shaka Buddha (the historical Buddha) and Amida Buddha, as well as a small hall with nearly 200 stone statues of Jizo, the protector of children and travelers. The three-storied Koyasu Pagoda stands among the trees in the far southern end of the temple grounds, and a visit is said to bring about an easy and safe childbirth.

ATT
Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) Kinkakuji (, Golden Pavilion) is a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji was the inspiration for the similarly named Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), built by Yoshimitsus grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city a few decades later. Kinkakuji is an impressive structure built overlooking a large pond, and is the only building left of Yoshimitsus former retirement complex. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history including twice during the Onin War, a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto; and once again more recently in 1950 when it was set on fire by a fanatic monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955. Continuing through the garden takes you to the Sekkatei Teahouse, added to Kinkakuji during the Edo Period, before you exit the paid temple area. Outside the exit are souvenir shops, a small tea garden where you can have matcha tea and sweets (500 yen) and Fudo Hall, a small temple hall which houses a statue of Fudo Myoo, one of the Five Wisdom Kings and protector of Buddhism. The statue is said to be carved by Kobo Daishi, one of the most important figures in Japanese religious history.
Open: 10:00am - 4:00pm Access: from Hankyu Kyoto Line Katsura Station: 20-minute walk from Katsura-rikyu-mae bus stop: 8-minute walk

ATT
Fushimi Inari Shrine Fushimi Inari Shrine (, Fushimi Inari Taisha) is an important Shinto shrine in southern Kyoto. It is famous for its thousands of vermilion torii gates, which straddle a network of trails behind its main buildings. The trails lead into the wooded forest of the sacred Mount Inari, which stands at 233 meters and belongs to the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inaris messengers, resulting in many fox statues across the shrine grounds. Fushimi Inari Shrine has ancient origins, predating the capitals move to Kyoto in 794. At the shrines entrance stands the Romon Gate, which was donated in 1589 by the famous leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Behind stands the shrines main building (Honden) and various auxiliary buildings. At the very back of the shrines main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii (thousands of torii gates). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donators name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate. The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours. Along the way, there are multiple smaller shrines with stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by visitors with smaller budgets. There are also a few restaurants along the way, which offer locally themed dishes such as Inari Sushi and Kitsune Udon (Fox Udon), both featuring pieces of aburaage (fried tofu), said to be a favorite food of foxes.

Open: 10:00am - 4:00pm Access: from Hankyu Kyoto Line Katsura Station: 20-minute walk from Katsura-rikyu-mae bus stop: 8-minute walk

ATT
Arashiyama Arashiyama () is a pleasant, touristy district in the western outskirts of Kyoto. The area has been a popular destination since the Heian Period (794-1185), when nobles would enjoy its natural setting. Arashiyama is particularly popular during the cherry blossom and fall color seasons. The Togetsukyo Bridge is Arashiyamas well known, central landmark. Many small shops, restaurants and other attractions are found nearby, including Tenryuji Temple, Arashiyamas famous bamboo groves and pleasure boats that are available for rent on the river. North of central Arashiyama the atmosphere becomes less touristy and more rural, with several small temples scattered along the base of the wooded mountains. The area north of the Togetsukyo Bridge is also known as Sagano, while the name Arashiyama technically just refers to the mountains on the southern bank of the river but is commonly used to name the entire district. Bamboo Groves The walking paths that cut through the bamboo groves make for a nice walk or bicycle ride. The groves are particularly attractive when there is a light wind and the tall bamboo stalks sway gently back and forth. The bamboo has been used to manufacture various products, such as baskets, cups, boxes and mats at local workshops for centuries.
Open: 10:00am - 4:00pm Access: from Hankyu Kyoto Line Katsura Station: 20-minute walk from Katsura-rikyu-mae bus stop: 8-minute walk

Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street Much of this street along the way to the Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple has been preserved in the style of the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Many of the buildings are traditional machiya (town houses) that served as private residences but have since been converted into shops and restaurants.

ATT
Sumiya Motenashi Art Museum
Open: 10:00am - 4:00pm (closed) Access: 32 Nishishinyashikiageya-cho, Tambaguchi-walk 7 min

The Sumiya Motenashi Art Museum is the only extant ageya in Kyoto. An ageya was an elegant restaurant where banquets and dinner parties were held accompanied by the entertainment of Geiko and Taiyu [premiere geiko], who performed tea ceremonies, sang and danced. In 1952 the building was designated by the national government as an Important Cultural Property and is now used as a museum. Being able to see this ageya as was in the Edo (16031867) period is a real rarity in Japan. There were both Ageya restaurants and geisha dwellings (known as Okiya) in Shimabara. The Geisha and Tayu (premiere geisha) usually lived and were emploved at Okiya and they were summoned to Ageya for their performance at banquets and dinner parties. The Architecture of Sumiya Sumiya is a frame, two story building roofed with tile,copper plates and shingles. It has three main parts: the lattice work exterior and entry way, the huge, open kitchen,and the interior rooms. Its floor space is 1,119 m2 and its site measures 2,483 m2. It is the finest extant example of Edo Period (l603-1868) ageya architecture. An ageya was an elegant restaurant where banquets and dinner parties were held accompanied by the entertainment of geisha and taiyu (premiere geisha), who performed tea ceremonies, sang and danced. The geisha and taiyu lived and were employed at establishments

called okiya from where they were summoned to the ageya. Sumiya is a surviving masterpiece of the ageya architectural style. In 1952 it was designated by the government of Japan an Important Cultual Property. The ageya architectural style combines shoin-tsukuri and sukiya-tsukuri features. Shoin-tsukuri is the elegant, formal style of the warrior class,featuring spacious rooms, elaborate carving and beautifully painted walls and sliding doors. The sukiya-tsukuri is the delicate, informal style of the tea ceremony room, using materials in their natural state and subtle, informal refinement. Ageya architecture was a creation of the rising class of urban merchants and artisans: plain on the exterior but sumptuous within, elegant and spacious like palaces of the samurai, but refined and casual like tea room The Nakagawa family has owned and managed sumiya for 13 generations, since 1641. In 1641 the entire Shimabara entertainment district including Sumiya, was ordered by the Shogun to move from its former site at Roku-jomisuji-machi, Kyoto, to its present location. In 1787 Sumiya was expanded to about its present scale.

ARCH MAP
Katsura Imperial Villa Katsura Imperial Villa (, Katsura Riky) is one of the finest examples of purely Japanese architecture and garden design. The villa and garden in their present form were completed in 1645 as the residence for the Katsura Family, members of Japans Imperial Family. The Katsura Imperial Villa is a good example of the essence of Japanese traditional design. The Villa combines principles usually used in early Shinto shrines and merges it with the esthetics and philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Villa incorporates many traditional Japanese ideas. One example of Katsuras use of traditional ideas is its use of raised floors with tatami mats covering them. Tatami are mats approximately 3 feet by 6 feet in length that are not only used as the floors of the villa, but are also used to define the dimensions of each individual room and the house as a whole. At Katsura, the mats are used to create the sprawling and pinwheel-like plan that it has today. The terraces and porches created by the arrangement of the tatami mates provide opportunities to view the landscape and link interior spaces with the outside world.The floors of each building of the site are also raised as well, which originally was derived from vernacular designs for granaries, as well as early imperial palaces. They serve the purpose of both keeping the floor dry while also giving hierarchy to the space. Another classic characteristic that the Katsura Imperial Villa utilizes is the use of screen walls (the shoji and the fusuma). In traditional Japanese Architecture, the shoji and the fusuma are used to separate the spaces created by the tatami mat into the various rooms of the house. The shoji is the generic term for the white and translucent screen door or wall that is reinforced with wooden lattice and can either be stationary, hanging, or sliding. The fusuma is a subcategory of the shoji and it is the white or painted moving screen partition used on the interior of the house. By moving the fusuma, when in conjunction with a stationary shoji, the resident is able to create new rooms within the architecture. In the Katsura Imperial Villa, the fusuma allows the rooms to change and open up to the natural world with exterior decks becoming extensions of the interior and framing views of the landscape. An example of this type of transformation is the moon viewing platform connected to the Old Shoin. Besides these characteristics, there are many traditional Japanese ideas that are used in the Katsura Imperial Villa, like the decorative alcove (tokonoma), built-in desk (tsukeshoin) and square posts. At the Katsura Imperial Villa, the tea houses are perfect examples of how Zen Buddhism has affected the architecture and landscape. The tea ceremony, performed at the pavilions, is a very important part of Japanese society because it is a spiritual ritual symbolizing detached perfection in the Zen tradition, and it has greatly affected the architecture and landscape around it to enhance the experience one receives while in the ceremony. The tea houses were constructed expressly to incorporate the qualities of

ARCH
concord, reverence, pureness, and Isolation that are the very essence of the ritual. The five different tea houses are all separated from the main building and are isolated from everything except for the nature around them; to reach each building, one must take a path that doesnt reveal the view of the pavilion until the very last moment. The tea houses also use rustic elements such as bark covered wooden supports or irregular shaped wooden pieces as extensions of the natural world, for the tea ceremony aims at fusing the spiritual and the natural. Additionally, the tea houses account for many experiences while you are inside of it. The windows and apertures in the pavilion are at eye level when sitting so that one can feel more in tune and closer to nature and so that one can admire the cherry blossoms in the spring and the crimson leaves in the autumn while preparing tea and enjoying exquisite cuisine. Finally, the interior of the buildings were planned so that the designers imparted their reverence for the materials and spatial harmony, which are intended to promote reflection that will achieve inward simplicity and tranquility of the mind The buildings, and to a lesser extent the gardens, of Katsura became influential to a number of well known modernist architects in the 20th century via a book produced by Bruno Taut. Le Corbusier and especially Walter Gropius, who visited in 1953, found inspiration in the minimal and orthogonal design
Open: 10:00am - 4:00pm Access: from Hankyu Kyoto Line Katsura Station: 20-minute walk from Katsura-rikyu-mae bus stop: 8-minute walk

ARCH MAP
International Conference Center >> Sachio Otani 1973 156,000 m The Kyoto International Conference Center ( Kokuritsu Kyto Kokusai Kaikan?), abbreviated as ICC Kyoto and previously called the Kyoto International Conference Hall, is a large conference facility located at Takaragaike, Saky-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in this hall. The center was designed by architect Sachio Otani to an unusual hexagonal framework, resulting in few vertical walls or columns, and opened in 1966 with an addition in 1973. Today the total facility provides 156,000 m of meeting space, and consists of the main Conference Hall with large meeting room (capacity 2,000) and a number of smaller rooms, an Annex Hall (capacity 1,500) and Event Hall, with the Grand Prince Hotel Kyoto nearby. Both Main Hall and Annex Hall are equipped with simultaneous interpreting facilities for nine languages. It is located north of Kyoto proper, and may be reached via the Karasuma Line subway. The complex is the location for the finale of John Frankenheimers cult 1982 martial arts action film The Challenge, starring Scott Glenn and legendary Japanese star, Toshiro Mifune.
Access: Kokusaikaikan Station, Karasuma Subway Line

ARCH
Garden of fine Arts >> Tando Ando Site area: 2,825 m2 Building area: 28 m2 Total floor area: 212 m2 The element of water seem to have inspired the architect Tadao Ando (prominent international figure, and deserved winner of the Pritzker prize, equivalent to the Nobel of architecture) for the design of the Garden of Fine Art in Kyoto ( ) (1990), which lies close to river. The project was conceived as a contemporary, volumetric version of a stroll garden. The open-air Fine Arts Museum is situated below ground level to keep the view from the adjacent Botanical Gardens towards the Higashiyama mountains intact. The composition is based on two overlapping grids, one aligned to the north and the other rotated 22.5 degrees. Using these two directions, the architect composes a choreography of paths, ramps and porticoes that allow a diverse set of vistas in a rather small area and providing always a different perception from any angle from which the space is observed. The scheme is open; large concrete beams on massive pillars, overlapping bridges and ramps, walls of cascading water and pools with paintings floating on the water surface. Circulation is intersected by massive concrete walls, allowing views from different angles, and adding depth and variety to the exhibition spaces. The museum displays reproductions of famous masterpieces on ceramic plates with permanent, weatherproof properties.

Open: 9:00 am -17:00 pm Access: The fastest way to get here from Kyoto Station or Hankyu Karasuma is to take the subway to Kitayama Station. Addmission: 100 yen (50 yen in case of combination ticket with Kyoto Botanical Garden)

ARCH
Times I, II >> Tadao Ando Year 1983-84, 1991 Program Gallery, Restaurant Originally it was supposed to be a renovation, but Ando didnt think much of the building he was supposed to renovate. He admitted that he doesnt think about what the client wants. He thinks about how he can change the environment, change the block. Kyoto has shallow rivers, so he put in stairs down to the river. The client was worried about floods causing damage to the store merchandise, but Ando wanted the building to have as close a relationship with the water as possible. The final design has the building appear to be floating on a river, like a boat. The architect understood benefit as a synonymous of a spatially attractive and worth to visit building, providing it with plazas and open areas.
Access: Sanyo Station next to the canal

ARCH
KYOTO CENTRAL STATION >> Hiroshi Hara, 1997 The new Kyoto Station building was opened to the public in 1997 and stands in perfect contrast with many foreign tourists image of Kyoto as the capital of traditional Japan. The building is 60m high and 470m from east to west, with a total floor area of 238.000 sqm. It includes a department store, a hotel, a theater, exhibition space as well as numerous shops and restaurants. Its impressive measures, but mainly the stations slightly irregular cubic facade of plate glass over a steel frame, provoked critical opinions. They claimed that the station design takes part in breaking down the traditional cityscape. But the Kyoto station is wellconsidered in terms of the circulation of crowds, the connection to the surrounding urban context, and to the underground shop fronts. The underground shopping malls are well-paced, with spacious courtyards in between, accommodating changing programs. 50m above the concourse of the stations central building spreads a giant glass roof which projects the sky, forming a huge atrium space. Then heading west from this atrium, the giant stairs with 171 steps elongate to the most upper part; the Skyway. One of the impressive characteristics of this building is, that while the exterior of the building looks humongous, inside it is bright and amply. Form or style may not were the main concern of the architect, but in every aspect the details are well-thought and the articulation of steel trusses is very powerful. This busy bustling station building seems to have a life of its own.

NOTES