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On aesthetic differences - An ugly nation cursed with a love of beauty
May 5th, 2008
Sorry all, it’s been a while - as always apologies for non-posting…
I wanted to elaborate today on one of the things that struck me first as a disappointment about Japan and now, having digested and understood it, becomes merely just another quirk in a country that defines itself by its enormous number of quirks.
I mentioned in my first post on my elective that the first thing that strikes you as you enter Japan by the Narita Express (or whatever other mode of airport-city transport you choose - no plugging any company there of course ^_^) and watch the dilapidated looking suburbs of Chiba merge into the equally dilapidated suburbs of Tokyo, you can’t help but wonder how a nation which prides itself on its worship of order and simple beauty built such a sprawling concrete monstrosity such as this.
The optimistic will think that perhaps this is just Tokyo - since it’s well known that Tokyo is the largest, most densely populated and one of the most polluted cities in the world, surely other towns in Japan will be nicer looking. Japan must have its share of quaint little villages with their cobbled backstreets and secret markets selling knickknacks that you get everywhere else.
Having travelled around Japan top and bottom now, I can safely tell those of you deluding yourselves with this statement that no, these are but a distant dream. 99% of villages in Japan are just tiny miniature versions of cities - with small two or three story run-down concrete buildings and the same old worn looking storefronts you’d fine anywhere else.
When God was creating Japan, he definitely had some sense of irony. Or just beat it with a huge ugly stick.
The reason why I think Japanese cities are particularly ugly are manyfold, but boil down to a few unusual reasons.
- The “above ground cable” fiasco - I’ve discussed this before; whoever thought that it was dangerous to put cables below ground in japan was probably an idiot.
- The “Borrowing of the American Intersection” - What better way to make cities boring than have the same pattern of road system running through the entire city. How can you have quaint little side streets and alleyways with interesting little shops and restaurants and hidden parks when there aren’t any side streets and alleyways O_o
- The Japanese Love Affair with Concrete - I know it’s probably more America’s fault (see below), but the Japanese love of building megastructures out of concrete in a square like fashion persists to this day, with only the odd new architecture poking out here and there. I mean, what better contrast can there be to a beautiful row of sakura trees in full blossom than a huge dirty square tourist hotel either side?
- The Tourist Culture ruining shop diversity - It’s not unfair to say that Japanese people do go round cameras at the ready - Even though this is a huge stereotype, it’s very true that Japan has a huge tourist culture, and this very much extends to their own country. Combine this with the necessity of Japanese people to buy gifts or omiyage at every place they visit and hey presto, about half the shops in any tourist town turn into omiyage-ya selling the same things at the same price.
- The Blindness to the Innate Ugliness of corrugated iron - I think this one speaks for itself.
- Japan and its disposable culture - I think this one requires explanation in more detail…
When I ask Japanese people about why they think that their cities are so ugly and concretey I usually get one explanation - Because of Japan’s innate volcanicity and propensity to natural disasters, nothing really lasts for long enough to warrant building nicely unless its of particular interest (for example a temple or shrine).
This I think is an example of the throwaway culture of Japan.
Although there is a great drive amongst Japanese people for self-dependance and sustainability, live in a city for any length of time and it becomes obvious how dispensible Japanese life can be. Plastic bags come with absolutely everything. If you go to a bakery, they’ll often wrap each of your purchases in separate plastic bags then put them all into one big one. Brave a rainstorm in Tokyo and you’ll see people diving into convenience stores to pick up the crappy 400yen disposable umbrella, many of which by the end of the storm will be lying inverted and broken in various “other waste” bins. Each week sees not only the production of the week’s papers, but also stacks and stacks of weekly tankoubon of manga (for example, Shounen Jump) which clutter up Japanese homes for months until paper collection day.
Its only natural that Japanese would see their buildings as throwaway as well - if you expect them to fall down in the next earthquake, why build pretty things? I think that this is perhaps a little part of the answer, but not really consistent - why then in the old days, when they still knew about the frequency of earthquakes, did they build such beautiful shrines, temples and gardens? Surely if they were to fall down or be destroyed in the next earthquake they would just be rebuilt as beautifully (since most old shrines have already been rebuilt countless times)
Japan’s concretey heritage holds at least part blame with the Americans. Since Tokyo and many other large cities in Japan were sheet bombed to oblivion in the latter part of the Pacific war, many of the buildings now were built in the post war era, when, sad to say, pre-cast concrete was in vogue (you’ve only got to look at my current town (Coventry) and where I last was (Churchill College Cambridge) - both built post war, both ugly as hell). As to why everything else looks a little ramshackle, perhaps throwaway culture is a little to blame - Japanese people do seem to have a propensity to repair the insides of their houses and buildings while letting the outsides decay.
So in short, that’s a guide for those of you who have come to Japan and were left wondering what the hell had happened to leave such a dichotomy between the built up areas and the other areas of outstanding natural beauty around Japan.
Oh, didn’t I mention that?
Everywhere outside cities that isn’t a farm is likely to be insanely pretty. And packed with tourists.
Figures.
