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Tokyo?
Tokyo?
Tokyo
FC84 Tokyo: Found in Translation
New year’s decoration on a shop,
Ginza 2004
FC 84 Tokyo
no pre-requisites no prior experience in Tokyo expectedno Japanese language required
東京
東京Head Teaching Fellow:Head Teaching Fellow:
Fumitaka WakamatsuFumitaka Wakamatsu
withwith
Hyojin Kim & June Mee KimHyojin Kim & June Mee Kim
Required readings:
THREE of 5 ethnographies
ONE of 5 novels
Plus on-line articles
東京
books and readings will be on reserve at:
Lamont
Harvard-Yenching Library
Tozzer Library
東京
Quick review of requirements 東京
Quick review of requirements
Section participation -- 15%
One short paper -- 20%
Research project at end of term —30%
Mid-term exam -- 15%
Final exam – 20%
東京
New sumo grand champion Asashoryu, performs a ritual at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, January 2003.
The 22-year-old Asashoryu is the first Mongolian promoted to grand champion, or yokozuna in Japan's ancient sport.
Course materials
Music (jazz and j-pop)MapsWoodblock prints19th/20th century photographsFilms (Godzilla) and documentariesAnimation and manga
Exploring Tokyo on Your Desktop
Use the web to get some basic familiarity with the city
--Ginza, Shinjuku, Sumida River, Tsukiji
Edo-Tokyo Time Machine
Tokyo headlines
Course website has links to major Japanese newspapers English language editions
Pick up some stories and follow them!
What makes a city a “place”?
? ? ?
Japan from satellite
Japan at night
The Kanto region of Japan
Tokyo/Kanto– the primate city/region
In urban studies, the concept of “primate”city refers to a city that entirely dominates the society of which it is a part
Political dominanceEconomic dominanceDemographic sizeCultural influenceInstitutional density
Japan at night
Cities are probably the most complex creations of human culture
bring vast numbers of people together
create social structures and institutions that link vast numbers of people to one another in some vaguely orderly way
create elaborate physical infrastructure, both large-scale and small-scale
Cities are probably the most complex creations of human culture
extensively modify the physical environment
in doing each of these things, cities create clear cultural consciousness of specific place and identity (and historical past)
AND, in bringing all this together, cities do so in an enduring fashion, lasting centuries sometimes millenia
From Hiroshige’s Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856)
Echigoya dry goods shop in Suruga-chō
(Echigoya continues to this day as Mitsukoshi Department Store)
A city by any other name . . .
Edo – name of city until the 1860s(sometimes Yedo in older writings)
Tokyo – name of city since the 1860s(sometimes Tokio in older writings)
What makes a city a “place”?
? ? ?
Urban poetics, urban charisma
You want a friend in Washington? Get a dog. – Harry S Truman
Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders … Carl Sandberg
When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford — Samuel Johnson
New York, New York, it’s a hell of a town, the Bronx is up and the Battery’s down, the people ride in a hole in the ground – from “On the Town”
God made Boston on a wet Sunday -- Raymond Chandler
Hiroshige’s Thirty-six famous views of Mt Fuji (1858)
The draper's store Echigoya in Suruga-chô, Edo
What makes a city a “place”?All the things that add up to what I call
“urban subjectivities” – historically situated interpretations/perspectives of oneself in relation to a particular city
What it means to consider yourself:a New Yorker, a Parisian, a Bostonian, an Edokko, or a Tokyoite
House in Higashi Ginza, Tokyo
January 2004
A bar in the Ginza, 2004
Tepia Plaza, by Maki Fumihiko
Why study Tokyo?
Why study Tokyo?
It is a fascinating place in its own rightIt is a major world city and has been for centuriesAmericans know a great deal about London, Paris, Rome, etc. >> need “Tokyo literacy”Tokyo poses alternative visions of urban modernityTokyo is good lens for understanding Japan, as well as globalization
Edo Castle
Tange Kenzō:Architecture for the ’64 Olympics
architectural sketch by E. Crichton Singleton
Tokyo and place-making
Thematic coveragePopular culture (music, fashion, anime)Religion, ritual and urban lifeLifestyles, generationsArtistic representations of urbanismFamily and communitySpatial environment (architecture/layout)InfrastructurePolitical economy
Tokyo and place-making
Will cover historical developmentContemporary “Cool Japan”Late 20th century economic superpower 20th century development & defeat19th century encounter with the West Feudal period
What makes a city a “place”?History (real and imagined)Poetry, drama, and proseSense of power (yours or someone else’s)Wealth/poverty (ditto) Sacred spacesMonumental architectureSocial and cultural iconsScale -- juxtapositions of vastness with intimacyVariety -- multi-layered, diversity of lifestyles
(classes, ethnicity, religion)Image -- urban charisma
What makes a city a “place”?Infrastructure (airports, subways, sewers, running water . . .)Local pride or loyaltyDistinctions -- food, accent, architectureSophistication (yours or someone else’s)Cultural activity -- museums, shopping, musicBeehive effect – social activity
What makes a city a “place”? -- 1 History (real and imagined)
Poetry, drama, and prose
Sense of power (yours or someone else’s)
Wealth/poverty (ditto)
Demography – population size, characteristics of age, gender, ethnicity, immigration
Landscape, topography, and climate
Language – accents, dialects, slang
Sacred spaces – temples, shrines, festivals, pilgrimages, local gods & religious beliefs/practices
Economies – scale and diversity/specialization, local micro-economies
What makes a city a “place”? -- 2Monumental architecture/vernacular architecture
Social and cultural icons – famous people (real or imagined), famous local foods, teams, mascots, accents, personality types
Military fortifications, armed populations, geo-strategic location, famous battles
Infrastructure (ports, rivers, transportation, airports, subways, sewers, running water . . .)
Local pride or loyalty
Distinctions -- food, accent, architecture
Sophistication (yours or someone else’s)
Licit vs. illicit life – black markets, demimondes, back alleys, crime and justice
What makes a city a “place”? -- 3Politics – internal politics of urban governance; place of the city in the larger politics of region or nation
Communications & media – mass media, specialized media, public vs. private kinds of communication
Cultural activity -- museums, shopping, music
Beehive effect – social activity
Scale -- juxtapositions of vastness with intimacy
Variety -- multi-layered, diversity of lifestyles (classes, ethnicity, religion)
Image -- urban charisma
Four themes
1) the imagined city, the “unreal city” (T.S. Elliott) and patterns of urban subjectivity
2) the culture and social structure of urbanism
3) Edo/Tokyo vis-à-vis Japan
4) Tokyo as node of intersection between Japan and the rest of the world
Course organization
Historical cityEdo, Meiji, and prewar periods
Postwar and post-postwar city
Tokyo and Japan’s gross national cool
