Between Macro and Micro: Historical Perspective on the Urban in Japan

Introduction—From Macro Ideas to Micro Histories and Micro Ethnographies

In any country, history proceeds as an interaction between domestic and foreign forces. The books presented in this review embed the case of Japan in the global urban history and planning network in focusing on the time after 1870/1880s to the 1940s and themes as trans-regional and cross-cultural knowledge transfer, national, regional, and urban practices of architectural planning and representation of power and the everyday life struggles, challenges, and desires of the urban poor living during this time. The books range in scale and focal point, starting with the description of the country as a whole (Japanese geography, topography, and urban form), a single city (Kyoto after 1868), and dense urban slums or poverty pockets of Meiji Tokyo (from 1880s to 1910). All authors use the historical analysis of specific Japanese cases, material, and resources as starting point to expand beyond a pure description of the Japan’s development since 1868, when the country opened after over 220 years of self-chosen isolation to the West. Utilizing different methods and approaches, different authors introduce and discuss the rich global and local diversity of planning practices, types of architecture and urban spaces, political (power) relationships and forms of representation, socio-spatial pattern of the urban poor and different usage of urban spaces, ranging from ordinary activities as cooking, washing, and bathing to ritual and extraordinary as local festivals which keen be understood as a—direct or indirect—result of the modernization and industrialization of Japan. Especially, the fast growing number of urban poor can be seen as victims of the fast transformation process the country underwent in a very short time span. As such, the texts offer deep insights in the political, economic, and social organization and transformation of the country, underpinning that terms such as global knowledge, national power, and local practices influence and even dominate the urban until today.

The book Reflections on Urban, Regional and National Space: Three Essays (2018) is focusing on the work of Nishiyama Uzo who is a key figure in the field of Japanese urban planning and has been educated as an architect between 1930 and 1933. Little known outside Japan, he focused in his writing on foreign planning theories and local practices and influenced with his interpretation a whole generation of Japanese urban planners. Nishiyama’s publications appeared in the long-time span between the 1930s and 1990, and the three texts (originally published in the 1940s) translated and presented in this book show how he developed different theoretical models based on a social approach to urban planning focusing on aspects such as land use and land control which he studied in analyzing different foreign examples of national and regional scale. As such, Nishiyama inspired with his thinking and urban visions not only the Japanese urban planning but offers also insights into the Japanese and global planning history, as he has analyzed in his texts different cross-cultural and transnational contexts when he presents and discusses a variety of examples from Europe, the United States, and Japan.

Carola Hein offers in her introduction valuable insights in his work, using her long experience, knowledge, and understanding of global planning history, presenting Nishiyama not only as an architect but also as radical thinker and historian who allowed Japanese urban planning to flourish after World War II, especially because he followed a practical approach to everyday urban practice which stood in contrast to his general understanding of urban planning theory. Hein stated on page 10 “while personally he took a clear anti-capitalist stance, he also accepted the contemporary situation of uncontrolled urban development that contradicted his ideals and was ready to foreground a pragmatic attitude.” As such, Nishiyama should not only be regarded as architect following a social approach but also as author, translator, and educator, as he focused in his work and especially the essays presented in the book on three main ideas: (1) to recognize and incorporate the close relationship between society and housing into Japanese planning practice, (2) to introduce a method to secure the long-term and controlled planning and development of cities in Japan, and (3) to develop a vision for Japanese cities which follow basic, pragmatic principles and individual initiatives, especially visible in the plans for an Olympic village functioning as “ . . . meeting and festival capital offering cultural and sports facilities for all the different people . . . ” (p. 18) or the ideas for “Mountain cities” (p. 19). Nishiyama aimed to solve with this and other ideas problems such as dense traffic, air pollution, and overpopulation, all direct results of the concentration of many city functions and people in few urban core areas and being partly unsolved until today. The book forms as such a major contribution as it opens up Nishiyama’s work to a global audience, who should learn more about Japanese urban planning and creative thinkers as Nishiyama who developed practical ideas and even solutions for high-density, mobility, congestion, and housing issues of mega cities of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Whereas the book featuring Nishiyama’s work is focusing on the global and transnational scale, it is Alice Y. Tseng who focuses in her book Modern Kyoto: Building for Ceremony and Commemoration, 1868-1940 (2018) on the city scale, portraying the urban development of Kyoto, the old capital, following Emperor Meiji’s move to Tokyo in 1868. In her book she studied architectural and urban projects, answering questions as how the imperial city has survived and developed after 1868, using, similar to Hein/Nishiyama, a wide variety of visual materials. Tseng’s book mainly focuses on the time between the relocation of the capital (1868) and the peak of the Asia-Pacific War (1941-1945), arguing that Kyoto remained reserved about the new Meiji emperor’s national agenda. The agenda was set up to use the city’s historical image and the long relationship it had with the imperial family to plan new public architecture, infrastructure, and public spaces which could host royal events and result in modern, monumental architecture.

Tseng is making use of architectural plans, historical postcards, commercial maps, and guidebooks, to introduce four core areas in Kyoto and their development, ranging from the Okazaki Park in the East, the Kitayama area in the north, Kyoto station in the south, and the palace district in the center of the city. Through four chapters and an epilogue, she offers deep insights into the correlation between the material representation of the nation, the promotion of different ideological ideas and imperial power networks reflected in the way Kyoto was planned, recognized, and understood after the move of the emperor and that are still present in the city. Different architecture and urban spaces as for example the Kyoto Station, Kyoto Art Museum, Kyoto Botanical and Imperial Garden are good indicators and symbols to show that the city remained and developed further as dynamic and multifunctional center of culture, power, and ideology. Tseng explained for example on page 126/127 that “the first glimpse of Kyoto streets decorated for the emperor upon his arrival from Tokyo was a light yellow celebratory arch with extended portico wings outside the newly enlarged train station building,” going on to emphasize that “Both, the station and arch, despite of their monumental form, were of wood construction painted to mimic stone.” This shows very clearly that different monumental buildings were constructed to showcase the influence and power of the imperial family, using however local practices and wisdom to mimic a monumental building material as stone to convey this impression.

The book forms a valuable contribution to fields such as Japanese urban history, planning, and architecture featuring a wide variety of cultural, imperial, and ideological treasures built in the city during the Meiji, Taishō, and early Shōwa period. Focusing solely on the case of Kyoto, it highlights the still important position of the city in the Japanese history, urban landscape, and contemporary development as the city is facing new, complex challenges, lacking everyday facilities such as supermarkets, schools, and hospitals which are increasingly displaced by (cheap) hotels and other entertainments facilities, resulting in the commercial gentrification and commodification of local neighborhoods, over-tourism, and rude behavior of visitors who disrespect the daily routine of ordinary Kyoto residents. The book is as such more than needed and timely, as it shows that Kyoto is the home of different special and culturally unique features, being a city of religion, education, culture, and art which should be respected and not result in the hollowing out of Kyoto’s culturally rich communities.

Finally, James L. Huffman is focusing in his book Down and Out in Late Meiji (2018) on the smallest scale of three books, the community and neighborhood, when introducing in his work the daily lives of Japan’s poor people (hinmin), especially the everyday life of urban slum-dwellers between the late 1800s and 1910s. His resources are newspaper articles, official surveys, and other facts derived from journal or intellectual commentaries which allows the reader to understand more than the economic conditions, customs, and common behavior of the poor, but more important “to tell the story of how the poor—particularly those in the cities—experienced life in the late Meiji years” (p. 1). The book is as such a mainly descriptive piece, not aiming to explain the theories which are causing poverty. He rather sets out to explain in eight chapters the connection between poverty, change, resilience, agency, and cheerful moments. After the first chapter explains the geographic and urban setting of slums, chapters 2 to 4 focus on the everyday life of the poor inside and outside their daily living environment, their home, little alleyways, and factories. After these detailed accounts, chapter 5 is discussing different levels of inequality and vulnerability which the poor face, whereas chapter 6 outlines how the poor respond in their own way, being equipped with willpower, intelligence, and local wisdom, aiming to live a better life. Chapters 7 and 8 set out to explain poverty experienced in rural areas and by Japanese emigrants to Hawaii to contextualize and contrast the special characteristics of urban poverty, the book is mainly focusing on.

Due to the density and diversity of data presented, the book offers many diverse and deep insights into the daily life problems, struggles, and challenges of the residents living in precarious situations. For most people who think about (contemporary) Tokyo as glittering city of the rich, these insights are crucial and even essential to understand the historical and with this contemporary situation and conditions of poor neighborhoods in Tokyo.

People living in such neighborhoods or poverty pockets engaged in works such as collecting night soil, making match boxes and textiles, pulling ¹ rickshaws, or working in the entertainment or prostitution areas. Huffman stated on page 92 that “for neighbourhood girls, on the other hand, the proximity to Yoshiwara provoked a mix of fantasy and fear, particularly when their families saw the pleasure quarters of potential employment for their daughters.” He goes on to explore how the people spend their time when not working: how did they cooked, washed, dealt with illness, death, and other miseries, but also spend time at local festivals and seasonal events engaging in small pleasures the daily life in these urban areas had to offer.

Thus, Huffman provides a density of micro ethnographies of the urban poor in Meiji Tokyo, highlighting the daily life of the poor between light and darkness, living in desolate conditions, loosing traditional work and social status due to the increasing industrialization of Japan in between the 1880s and 1910, and being not like nowadays supported by a labor movement, public welfare system, or even non-governmental organization (NGO), which support people being affected by different types of poverty, exploitation, and income disparities.

The urban poor of Tokyo concentrated during the Meiji years in specific areas, which emerged due to new urban planning policies—aiming to remove urban slums—outside the central areas of Tokyo and near new factories spreading in the outer wards. The urban poor lived in these dense poverty pockets, well aware of their poverty but with less social ties and local customs than the rural poor, yet had in comparison more variety and chances to engage in a diversity of informal types of occupation.

In sum, Huffman presents an almost colorful portrait of life in the slums, without downplaying the struggles of the poor or glorifying the life in the slums. He rather inquires how the urban poor experienced their life day in and day out in the city, exercised agency despite their daily struggles, and even developed a kind of resilience to survive all kinds of structural and institutional obstacles.

Question of Common Ground and Contribution

Multiple insights can be gained from these publications, especially insights that may interest people who are dealing with the urban development of Japan since Meiji: Japan and cities in Japan underwent during these years a rapid urbanization process that was characterized by typical issues appearing in the process of modernization and industrialization. As Japan was at the beginning of the Meiji period (1868), a closed and even isolated nation, it had to redefine its imperial identity and find answers to question as how to plan cities for Japan’s urban future, especially a new capital and dealing at the same time with issues such as an increasing number of urban poor. Thus, what kind of society is emerging when formal, imperial, and ordinary history meet each other? The presented books show that spatial and social phenomena are very closely related to each other, being best understood when looking at the interplay between global theory and local practice, trans-regional knowledge transfer and national representation, macro politics and micro poetics, extraordinary and ordinary imagination and recognition, and daily successes and failures. Moreover, knowledge about cities has always circulated at the global scale, directly affecting the local, thus we can find different similarities between the different cases whereas aspects such as urban planning situated between theory and practice, ideology and everyday life, and imperialism and poverty are the most obvious examples. Moreover, nations, regions, and cities serve as the grid on which different ideas, interests, ideologies, conflicts, and struggles are fought out.

Cities in Japan and Asia are facing unprecedented challenges and it would be wise to look into the past to learn how to understand, plan, and solve problems which conglomerations such as Tokyo (set to shrink in the next decade) will face in the near future. Thus, urban growth and expansion will be replaced by new and complex issues such as competition, exchangeability, and disposability. As such, we can see the historic issues, introduced and described in the books as a good starting point to develop new approaches to tackle contemporary issues in cities in Japan, Asia, and beyond. Asian cities are becoming more and more influential places which need to study closely existing examples of—successful and unsuccessful—urban planning models and practices. The case of Japan shows how different manufacturing centers transformed into global hubs of knowledge and services. Kyoto, Tokyo, and other cities in Japan are all particular urban areas which try to fight for their place in global city rankings following different trends and development, yet should not lose touch with their cultural and unique heritage, as otherwise issues such as urban poverty, exploitation, marginalization, and isolation of vulnerable groups will increase and repeat themselves, threatening not just the global but also local development. Simply put, we are in need to understand how local neighborhoods, cities, nations, regions, and beyond are connected at scales which run from macro and micro, global and local, and top and bottom. Enhancing our knowledge studying different cases of states, cities, and neighborhoods, we can complement thin, quantitative data with thick, qualitative insights which will be needed to add precision to “urban” and provide new details and concrete solutions to answer complex and abstract questions.