Thinking about Cities, from Vancouver.

Old Men Pondering in the Park.

Peering through the window of a Boeing 777, I notice a heavy cloud bank lodged into an endless panorama of snowy mountains grasping for the sky. It is December, and by now, all residents of the lower mainland of British Columbia can expect to be blanketed by the mist and rain produced from this perpetual bank of clouds for months to come. Somewhere down there is Vancouver squeezed between the Strait of Georgia and the Coast Mountains. This city of roughly 2 million has some of the most dense living conditions in North America, and yet, upon arrival the city seems relatively quaint and absurdly unoccupied compared to Tokyo. As I board a Vancouver city bus - a common mode of transportation for all ages and classes - I hear Chinese, Spanish, and a language from the Indian subcontinent - I think. Away from the steadfast homogeneity of Tokyo, the level of diversity of this ambitious Canadian city seems more striking than ever.

Vancouver, Somewhere Down There.

Now that I have arrived in Vancouver, I am posting my final journal entry regarding Tokyo. Though this site is hardly exhaustive, my goal was to provide some images and commentary of my three months in Tokyo [and beyond], and this all comes from an American urbanist/aspiring architect based in Canada. As people across the globe leave rural areas for the city, we all have a vested interest in making our cities better. While Tokyo is hardly a utopia, I hope that some of these images begin to suggest alternate ways of thinking about our cities.

Autumn Rides Away.

T

Dining Solitude in the City.

Finding solitude in Tokyo is no easy task, but there is no shortage of ways to cope. At this Chinese-style ramen restaurant, you first select your order and pay at a vending machine. After being seated at a booth for one at the bar, you mark your meal preferences on a paper menu (i.e., spicy or mild, light or fatty broth) and pass that to an attendant behind the bar. No eye contact is made, since the interface between customer and attendant is only a gap large enough to pass food through. Once your food is delivered, the bamboo curtain is drawn, and you are allowed to enjoy your food in a silent and distraction-free space.

In what was likely a social faux pas, I was able to make eye contact with David, a fellow gaijin, across the bar.

Chinese-style Ramen.
This is nothing like the meager packaged ramen that penny-pinching North American college students know so well. Here, the pork broth is homemade and served with a few hearty pieces of ham. Though enjoyable, I still find Japanese ramen to be much more delicious and healthy.

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Shibuya Crosswalks.

The world's busiest crosswalk pulsates through the heart of Shibuya, but I wanted to look at other crosswalks in the area. At some level, each of these crossings holds some amount of promise, uncertainty, and an undeniable element of exhilaration.

Through the Clearing.
A thin curtain of vegetation reveals bright lights in the distance where more shopping opportunities abound.

Super X-Point.
The Shuto Expressway Loop soars overhead, while several pedestrian crosswalks and train lines pass mid-level. Below street level is a major subway station.

Gaze to the Skies.
The onslaught of people, traffic, and billboards compete for your attention, and yet sometimes, an open patch of blue sky can emerge through the clutter to arrest your gaze.

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Peaceful Discontinuities in the City.

Rows of buildings, brilliant lights, and hordes of people seem to extend endlessly across the Kanto Plain that surrounds Tokyo. Even though Tokyo lags behind other major world cities in terms of green space, one never knows what to expect around the next corner. When walking between Shinjuku and Harajuku, I discovered this small, quiet, and mostly empty shrine. It takes up a small part of a city block, but it feels a world away from Tokyo.

Cleanse Here.
One should cleanse their hands and mouth with water from the trough before visiting a shrine.

Shrines are associated with the Shinto faith, a primitive and ancient system of faith passed down from a nation of rice farmers to a modern age. Buddhism, Japan's other major religion, spread from India. Many Japanese take part in both Shintoism and Buddhism, and sometimes, a little Christianity for good measure.

Surrounded.

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Great Golden Ginkgos.

This year's autumn foliage was not as great as other years, but the Golden Ginkgos were as gorgeous as one could imagine. Other than the fact that the trees give off a slightly unpleasant odor, they're really quite nice, especially from a distance.

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Beyond Mori Tower.

These views are from Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills, an ambitious city-within-a-city project that has an abundance of shops, cafes, apartments, a hotel, Virgin Cinemas, office space, and a large art exhibition center / viewing deck on the 52nd floor. This evening was hazy, so the tall tower district of Shinjuku is not visible.

Tokyo Tower and the Shuto Expressway Loop.

Mori Tower at right.

Digital Signage.
Roppongi Hills was designed by the people that brought you the Bellagio Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas. Circulation through the complex is maddening - it's difficult to orient yourself or find your way out, but don't worry. It was intended to be like that. Best solution? Don't visit... well, for too long.

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Evening at the New York Bar.

Many of the city's high rises have exquisite restaurants and bars on the upper levels - most of which I will never get to visit. One of Tokyo's most famous high rise bars is Park Hyatt's New York Bar on the 52nd level, which provided much of the backdrop for the movie Lost in Translation.


In the foreground is the lesser tower of the Park Hyatt, which houses the rooftop pool.

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Tsukiji Fish Market II.

Frozen Tuna Auction.
The tuna auctions start around the wee hours of 5am and end by 7am. Despite the early hours, the action is fast and tense.

Tuna Inspection.
Auction participants represent wholesalers, large retailers, restaurants, and food processing companies. The tails of the fish are cut off in advance so buyers can expect the color, fattiness, and overall quality of the meat.

Taking Notes.
I arrived near the end of the fresh tuna auction, so these fish were waiting to be transported to their new owners.

Numbers.
Japan consumes one-third of the world's tuna production, amounting to 630,000 tons, or 11 pounds of tuna per person per year. Some of the tuna weigh as much as 880 pounds (or 400 kilograms), and much of the fish is being farmed, especially in the Mediterranean.

Numbered Days.
As globalism continues to diminish the importance of these wholesale markets, the Japanese government has decided to relocate Tsukiji from its prime waterfront property to a less valuable property across the river by 2012. In the future, agents may prefer to purchase fish over the internet instead of going to the market.

Fast and Furious.
Magnified by the delirium of the early morning hours, it's easy to feel like a moving target as workers and motorized carts move briskly through crowds of people. Fish is brought to the market from all over the world by boat, truck, and plane, and these people are responsible for moving 2,000 metric tons of seafood per day.

Tuna Cart.

Massive Tsukiji Market from Above, photo courtesy of wikipedia.
This land will soon be reaping the benefits of high-end development. Perhaps the ghosts of tuna past will be lurking through the site's future boardrooms and hotel rooms?

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Breakfast at Tsukiji.

Made with Loving Care.
I love sushi, but at 7:30am? After leaving the fish market, I opted for Soba noodles and tempura instead, and it was delicious!


More to come...

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Styrofoam Hills of Tsukiji Fish Market.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, otherwise known as Tsukiji Fish Market, is the world's largest fish market, moving 2000 tons of seafood per day. That comes to 700,000 metric tons per year, which has a value of 600 billion yen, or roughly $6 billion U.S. The empty styrofoam packaging seen here is a testament to the amount of seafood moved here per day.

Waste-deep in styrofoam.

More to come....

T

Under the Bridge II.

One of my favorite things about Tokyo is the way in which spaces are used: under bridges, highways, expressways - any place an opportunity exists. In most cities, major transit routes effectively create walls or dead zones in the urban fabric. Here, the richness and vitality of Tokyo's urban character is allowed to extend in a relatively continuous fashion as automobiles and trains pass overhead.

Eatery Clinging to Overpass.
Small-scale spaces bring a strong sense of intimacy and humanity to a metropolitan area of nearly 35 million people. Economically, these spaces are more egalitarian. They have relatively lower rents which allow more people to own and run businesses, often in high-profile places.

Ginza 9.
Conversely, even upscale boutiques and restaurants occupy the spaces below expressways and railways - especially in Ginza.

Yamanote Train Line Above, Ameyoko Market Below.
Below these tracks lie some of my favorite haunts, from inexpensive and delicious kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt sushi restaurants, to yakitoris that serve scrumptious BBQ on skewers, edamame, and tasty cold Sapporo or sake. And let's not forget my favorite noodle place, which serves up piping hot soba, or buckwheat noodles with crispy tempura on top.

Before I get carried away on a culinary track - the importance here is that in Tokyo, highly memorable spaces are created in spaces that are ordinarily ignored by many other cities in the world.

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Ginza Nights.

Sidewalk by Day, Runway by Night.
Tokyo is not among the world's most beautiful cities - that is, during the day. At night, it shines.

Louis Vuitton, Exterior by Jun Aoki.

Revisited: Evening at the International Forum, Designed by Rafael Vinoly.

Mikimoto Store, Toyo Ito

Sony Building, Yoshinobu Ashihara.

Lanvin Boutique, Hiroshi Nakamura.

Glass Brick Facade of Maison Hermes Building, by Renzo Piano.

Advertisment for the Highway Department?
I don't know what this sign is advertising, but I like it.

Revisited: Nakagin Capsule Tower Building, Kisho Kurokawa.

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Sounds in the Park

Beneath the Maple Tree, Sounds of the DJ.
It's always nice to stumble upon a free Sunday afternoon dance party in the park.

15 Minutes of...
For several hundred meters along the edge of Yoyogi Park, bands perform side by side for residents and tourists alike. Some bands attract small gatherings of people, while others might as well be practicing in their garage since no one is really listening. Either way, it's one of the most egalitarian performances spaces I've ever seen. As cities increasingly regulate space, it's surprising to encounter places like this.

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Anomalies in Space.

So you think this scene is from L.A. or Houston? Try the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. This is the same city where a sacred temple can be built above a flea market, or where a department store/pachinko parlour/food court is sandwiched between a metro station below and an expressway above. Instead, this quiet bus yard has a rather conventional relationship with the ground - it merely rests on it.

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Stand Still, Move Forward.

Businessmen pass behind a statue at Tokyo Opera City.
Toyo Ito currently has an exceptional exhibition at Tokyo Opera City Gallery replete with large-scale models - some at full size. Perhaps his most important work to date is the Sendai Mediatheque, but the Taichung Metropolitan Opera House in China will likely surpass that achievement.

Photography was not allowed in the gallery, so the following images are courtesy of the Hipercroquis website.

Though initially skeptical, I am impressed with Toyo Ito's integrated design strategy that makes concept, structure, systems, and function inseparable. In addition, his competition drawings (which are not available online) reveal the incredible amount of detail put into considering natural air flow and light, energy consumption, and the use of sustainable materials. Furthermore, with the integration of adjacent parks into the building, it seems that the Opera House will contribute to the vitality of the city.
Full-scale Formwork for Tod's on Omotesando. Amazing.

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