RE/MAP 2.0 in Tokyo: drawing on local stories to draw out hidden realities

Abstract

This article discusses the role of drawings in interdisciplinary visual research, especially the contribution of line drawings to investigative fieldwork. Citing precedents in Tokyo, the incorporation of sociological and ethnographic methods for architectural research is not new in Japan. RE/MAP 2.0, an exploratory workshop that brought participants from architecture and sociology together, uncovered the hidden realities of sub-metropolitan neighbourhoods in Central Tokyo affected by widespread urban restructuring in the lead up to Tokyo 2020. ‘Careful listening’ complemented the use of visual materials – in particular, researcher-based drawings – for fieldwork documentation. Line drawings produced by the workshop participants, though varied in style and form, contain a critical dimension. They graphically convey, through three case studies, the manipulated legibility of Roppongi, asynchronous spatial inhabitations and movements of street culture groups around Miyashita Park, and the intangible social networks fostered by intermediate wholesalers in Tsukiji for economic survival. Locating this collaboration in the discourse of visual studies practice reinforces the importance of not only interdisciplinary exchanges but also for doing research inclusively.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank my friend and workshop collaborator Motohiro Koizumi, and Rikkyo University, for hosting the workshop in Tokyo, and all the students who participated.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

[1] On 24 March 2020, the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee issued a joint statement to announce the postponement of the summer games to 2021 following the World Health Organisation’s declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic on 11 March.

[2] By definition, Central Tokyo constitutes the three central wards of Chuo, Chiyoda and Minato, and the five inner wards of Shibuya, Shinjuku, Toshima, Bunkyo and Taito.

[3] Information on RE/MAP is available at http://hanada.cc/remap/2002/summary_e.html.

[4] An important, though slightly digressive point, warrants assertion: The students’ willingness to tweak their approach midway into the workshop demonstrates appropriate reflexivity, confirming visual anthropologist Sarah Pink’s (2003, 189) reasoning for reflexivity to be ‘integrated fully into processes of fieldwork and visual or written representations.’ Reflexivity, as seen here, can inform crucial research decisions and embolden researchers to revise their methodologies when needed.

[5] The more concrete Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Action Plan for 2020 was intended to raise quality of life for Tokyo residents. Its ‘safe, diverse and smart’ city pivot prioritised environmental sustainability, disaster preparedness and economic competitiveness.

[6] Boasting large floor areas, anchor museums usually run concurrent exhibitions.

[7] The park underwent several iterations of landscaping and architectural transformations, from its integration into an urban circulation system in the 1966 Shibuya masterplan by Junzo Sakakura (former apprentice of Le Corbusier and key figure in Japan’s modern architecture movement) to Atelier Bow-Wow’s proposal for Nike in 2007.

[8] Bestor (2004, 185) charts a more extensive network of distribution channels which includes regional markets and foreign producers.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Simone Shu-Yeng Chung

Simone Shu-Yeng Chung is Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore. She holds a Ph.D. in Architecture and M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and practiced as a chartered architect in the UK after completing her architecture studies at the Architectural Association and the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Her interests resides in the synergistic potential offered by visual and moving images to architecture and urban research, and issues concerning contemporary culture, conservation and intangible heritage in Asia.