Hand Made Tokyo: Document of the Tokyo Mapping Workshop(bootleg pdf for free distribution)

Chris Berthelsen, Jared Braiterman

Email: Chris Berthelsen – chris@a-small-lab.com

(1) Text from the document(2) Photos of the physical edition packaging(3) Hand Made Tokyo Document (2up Spreads)

(1) Text Included in the Document

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“When you squeeze this city, juice is sure to come pouring out. Ajuicy urban space that is permeated with an ample amount of goodflavor in a soft urban shell is something that works surprisinglywell.”(Tsukamoto, quoted in Kitayama 2010c:69).

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Article: Gardening for Strangers in TokyoAuthor: Jared Braiterman http://tokyogreenspace.com“....Tokyo is organized differently than United States and European cities, andthat many of these differences are nearly invisible to Japanese people. Iformulated several guiding questions. Why do Tokyo residents care so deeplyabout their surroundings? What role can nature play in dense urbanenvironments? What can other cities learn from Tokyo's urban gardeningculture?....”Read the Article:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-braiterman/gardening-for-strangers-i_b_419699.html

Workshop ReportAuthor: Joan L. Bailey http://popcornhomestead.blogspot.com/More than 25 people gathered last Saturday evening with scissors, markers,crayons, duct tape, and string to map out Tokyo’s everyday green spaces –large and small – during the first Tokyo DIY Gardening workshop. Held at3331 Arts Chiyoda, a brand new arts space in a former junior high school, theworkshop attracted attendees from all across the city. After a shortpresentation by the organizers, Jared Braiterman and Chris Berthelsen, onthe purpose of the workshop and a little gardening exercise to warm up,participants began filling in sidewalk gardens, roof gardens, communitygardens, and farms.

Covering three or four tables, the map started with only a drawing of theYamanote Line. Then someone drew the Chuo Line, and soon places likeInokashira Park, the Meiji Shrine, and Tachikawa appeared. Reaching for theblue plastic “string” one participant laid down the course of a canal greenway(complete with bike path) that runs from Inokashira Pond all the way toShinjuku. Moments later the map began filling with parks, gardens, farms,trees, temples, shrines, and turning this Tokyo from white to green.Two hours later with a completed map before them, (including evenDisneyland) the group admired their work. This Tokyo defied the concretejungle stereotype, and appeared before us full of green life. Standing on chairsor leaning far over the table to snap photos with cameras and cell phones,

participants relished what they’d created together.

“Looking at this map it looks like a place I’d want to live,” said one attendee.

Workshop UpdateAuthor: Jared Braiterman http://tokyogreenspace.comIn today’s sweltering heat, my Tokyo DIY Gardening co-instigator ChrisBerthelsen and 3331 Arts Chiyoda‘s Emma Ota documented the giant greencity map created in the art center workshop two weeks ago.

It’s always inspiring to work with Chris, who is full of creative ideas and theenergy to realize them. He’s already shared one small portion of thepresentation: a model of the personal impact of urban green space. We will besharing various slices of the green map once we’ve sorted out the images.

The map itself is two meters by four meters, and made of standard A4 paperstaped together. The thirty participants included a school child, musicians,ceramicists, textile buyer, real estate developer, architect, arts administrator,senior citizens, and some random people who were walking by.

They used a mix of images we provided, plus blue string, markers, pens andthings they brought, to create collages of urban green spaces that they knew or

wanted. They also wrote down project ideas on small forms embedded in themap.URL:http://tokyogreenspace.com/2010/09/03/documenting-tokyo-diy-gardening-workshops-green-city-map/

Map ReportAuthor: Joan L. Bailey http://popcornhomestead.blogspot.com/A collaborative creation, the Tokyo DIY Gardening Map combines hope, reality,and little bit of imagination to bring the city’s green spaces – from roof gardensto community gardens to farms to plants in pots – alive in surprising ways.Even if you missed the workshop where the map was born – a lively affairbubbling over with glue, scissors, tape, markers, and exuberant participants –a view of both real as well as hoped for places is now available.

You can plunge from a birds-eye view of Tokyo to street level for a strollthrough a tunnel of blooming cherries along the Tamagawa Jousoui (existing),or to explore a fantastic flower garden that softens the hard concrete edges ofShibuya (not real). They can also admire the perseverance required to farmnear Narita Airport (real), or visit one of two vantage points – Disneyland inthe Southeast and Tachikawa in the Northwest – for long views back to thecenter. Detailed images accompanied by short summaries with useful linksencourage visitors to not only wander the map, but perhaps notice new details

in their own corner of the cityscape.

The organizers, Chris Berthelsen of a-small-lab and Jared Braiterman ofTokyo Green Space, are avid urban observers in their own rite. Berthelsen“investigates alterations of space/objects at the public/private boundary insuburban Tokyo”, while Braiterman explores the ways Tokyo-ites “supportbio-diversity, the environment, and human community” all at once. Tokyo DIYGardening seemed a natural result.

“Our Tokyo DIY Gardening project is about people having fun with nature inthe city. Too many people think you need to be an expert to grow plants. Wewant to show that growing plants for food and decoration is easy, and thatthere are many ways to create space for gardens in even the densest and mostcrowded city. There’s also something social and even magical about improvingour always imperfect public spaces,” wrote Berthelsen in an email interview.

Cooperatively creating a map reflected the inherent hands-on quality ofgardening, while sharing and deepening their understanding of green space.The map also effectively mimicked, albeit on a small scale, the way thesespaces – public and private, large and small – mosaic together to createTokyo’s unique urban environment.

“Through the workshop people seemed to remember the places they love about

Tokyo and why, and connected their memories and experiences with those ofothers. In the process, they gained new perspective and shared commonground,” wrote Berthelsen.

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“Tokyo has the potential to create change in the city through thequiet accumulation of urban elements rooted in everyday life.”(Kitayama, K. 2010. Preface. In Tokyo Metabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo,p11)

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“Experiencing Tokyo at foot, hand, nose and eye-level the senses,challenged by the rich intricacy of the design, roam back and forthover the entire fabric, captivated by a flower, an animal, a head,lingering where they please, retracing their paths, taking thewhole only by the assimilation of its parts, not commanding thedesign at a single glance.”(after Mumford, L. 1961. The City in History. New York, Harcourt BraceJovanovich. p 306 discussing medieval cities)

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“….the constant logic of the unselfconscious process of continuousadaptation & piecemeal building by bricoleur gardeners who makedo with their heterogeneous repertoire of resources to exploreconnections and new uses through action according to thesuggestive qualities of urban space….”(quote, Chris Berthelsen from text in progress)

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A Narrow Green AlleyAuthor: Jared Braiterman http://tokyogreenspace.comWhat makes Tokyo residential districts very charming and perhaps surprisingfor foreigners are the narrow pedestrian walkways and small streets wherepedestrians and bicyclists outnumber cars.

There’s something pre-modern and non-rational about the web of small Tokyolanes, with unpredictable turns and numerous dead ends. The densely packedtwo and three story buildings almost touch, with a mix of small apartmentsand single family houses. Neither walkways nor small streets are named,there is no grid, and small gardens and small shops are the only way toremember your path the next time.

The foliage is a mix of cultivated plants and “volunteers.” With rainfallplentiful year-round, it is easy to imagine the city reverting to jungle. If onlythere was less concrete.URL:http://tokyogreenspace.com/2009/04/20/a-narrow-green-alley/

Extract from an untitled essay on TokyoAuthor: Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com

“….The urban framework of Tokyo was nurtured by a dependence on nature, asensitive interaction which recognized the possibility of urban beauty sansheavy-handed human intervention. Trace the historical views of the city andyou will rarely encounter (unlike European cities ) the suggestion that urbanbeauty should exclude nature and consist solely of artificial objects. The urbaninterior of Tokyo traditionally interacts on intimate terms with the expansivenatural landscape outside (see e.g. Hiroshige’s Meisho Edo Hyakkei (Onehundred showplaces in Edo) and now conversely the lush human scale urbaninteriors interact with the vast city beyond - a mediated, informal mixing.Latterly and concurrently the urban landscape of the city was/is created undera vision of metabolism and renewal which resulted in a seemingly homogenouscarpet of ‘grains’ – free-willed, free-standing architectural structures withoutany readily apparent relation to their surroundings which on closer inspection

appear chaotic, but are in fact the economic-rational product of Tokyo’sinherent (twenty-six-year) metabolic cycle of housing renewal. In Japan,where culture and mechanisms for large scale urban planning are relativelylacking, the point of transformation for the landscape is, then, the individualbuilding, and further, its use - the individual defines the large scale….”

A collage of Jinnai (1995); Smith (1978); Kitayama (2010b); Tsukamoto (2010);Feireiss (2000).

Collage of Text by Jared BraitermanCollage by: Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com

Tokyo is a dense place full of the iconic and prosaic, living nature and concretestructures, traces of the past and constant change (1). Viewed from its tallesttowers, Tokyo is an endless expanse of concrete that stretches for hundreds ofkilometers. With the exception of a few wonderful large parks—many of themgifts from the imperial family—the city has never benefited from strongcentral planning or a top-down promotion of green space. The result is a grayurban environment largely cut off from nature.

Yet despite this overabundance of concrete and steel, Tokyo is home to anextraordinary mix of plant visionaries, educators, local governments and

ordinary citizens engaged in an effort to make a greener metropolis (2).

Tokyo residents demonstrate remarkable ingenuity in maximizing smallprivate spaces and limited open spaces. Most foreigners are unaware ofTokyo's human scale, remarkably safe streets and the profusion of tinygardens often tended to by elderly residents. Tokyo residents actively care fortheir surroundings with sidewalk and roji (alley) plants blurring the divisionbetween private and public, and with vertical gardens thriving in even thenarrowest spaces.

Each season brings color, scent and edibles including persimmons, bittermelon, grapes and citrus. (3)

URL:(1)http://tokyogreenspace.com/2011/05/10/urban-layers-with-wild-space-in-the-middle-of-tokyo/(2) http://metropolis.co.jp/features/feature/tokyo-green-space/(3) http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20091127a1.html

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“More than a city, I think I saw it as a landscape”(Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA) on his first impressions of Tokyo as a child living

in the outer Tokyo suburbs of Kawasaki and Hachioji)

“A collection of living organisms… an extremely organic landscape,and that’s something I rate very highly”(on his present impression of Tokyo as a democratic landscape in Kitayama,2010d)

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“..the whole city, like a mosaic or a kaleidoscope, sparkled withmyriad different images created by the particularity of individuallocales, their terrain, and their histories.”(Jinnai, 1995:159)

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Extract from and untitled essay on TokyoAuthor: Chris Berthelsen http://a-small-lab.com

A collective memory of a patchwork of hidden patterns of ownership (Shelton,1999:44), developed rapidly and haphazardly (Smith, 1978:69, also Kerkhof,2000) under high economic and demographic pressures, absent legalmechanisms, and resistance of local community to central planning (Echanoveand Srivastava, 2008) now exists as ‘egg and shell’ (urban village)neighbourhoods (high-rise on the perimeter, low rise on the interior) with‘virtually no open space’ (Echanove, 2007; Jonas, 2007:21; Tsukamoto, 2010)where gardeners, bird watchers, beekeepers, and neighborhood volunteersimprove urban life through their everyday knowledge and passion(Braiterman, 2010).

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“Pick one spot in the city and begin to think of it as yours. It doesn’tmatter where, and it doesn’t matter what.”(Auster, 2003)

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“Urban dead space can be easily and economically transformed intoliving habitat, connecting our urban lives to the natural world. Tochange our cities, we must demand better of our leaders and oursurroundings.”(Braiterman, 2010)

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Edo (江戸) + edible (食用) = EDOBLEAuthor: Jess Mantell http://edoble.com

Tokyo is a delicious city, not only for the Michelin guided, but for any soulwalking through town. One doesn't just see scores of unique restaurantspacked into tiny side streets, but also smells a home cooked meal wafting froma kitchen window, is bathed in the incense of a street corner yakitori vendor,and can reach up and pick a fresh, soft loquat from a street-side tree. It's astimulating place and you won’t go hungry here.

“…so too the scattered nuclei of Tokyo’s informal gardens providefoundation for everyday humane life - the multilayered units ofurban space growing more refined and human as they grow closerto the daily lives of the people of the city (Jinnai, 1995:122). Tokyouchi can thus be understood as a ‘place-by-place’ (Thakera,1989:661 ) plot-by-plot discontinuous and autonomous series ofoases (Shelton, 1999:63)….”(quote and diagram, Chris Berthelsen from text in progress)

1 In Shelton (1999:63).

(Constructed by Chris Berthelsen)>>

Personal Impacts of Urban Gardening (part of the workshop presentation)Authors: Jared Braiterman and Chris Berthelsen

“…..As people move, traverse, build and break (structures and relationships),are born, and pass away the personal impacts (motivations) of gardeningextend over axes of time (immediate/long-term) and function(practical/emotional): Social Norms “Everyone has a garden around here; It’swhat we do”; Tradition – “My grandparents and parents cared for this garden”;Memory – “I got this plant on a trip to Kamakura, and this one was given tome by my daughter”; Community – A starting point for discussions andfriendship; Being out on the street tending the plants fosters daily interactionand communication; Affordability – “It’s a cheap and fun hobby”; Practicality –Privacy, Shade, Food; Beauty – Visual qualities; Mutual Independence – Likea pet, or child; Pleasure – Scent, Taste, Fun etc…..”

(based on interviews and informal chats with Tokyo gardeners, and discussionin Jonas, 2007:26-7)

Frugality, Anticipation, MemoryAuthor: Jared Braiterman http://tokyogreenspace.comOn the way to the JR station, I passed a neighbor who was descending from hersecond story apartment and greeted her. Seemingly about 80 years old, she wascarrying the bowl from her rice cooker. She showed surprised that this “foreigner”could speak (some) Japanese, and then proceeded to empty the water that hadrinsed the rice onto her potted rose.

She was very proud of this blue-purple rose, which she told me her mother hadgiven her. She also pointed out the potted loquat tree which would soon fruit andalso an old grape vine tied up against the building. I admired her frugality inre-using water, her energy in traveling up and down the stairs, and herfriendliness to this foreign neighbor.

This story highlights how gardening is enmeshed with frugality, anticipation andmemory. Frugality includes the water-reuse and also on-going maintenance of theplants over many years. Anticipation for what is emergent and what will soon be.And memory sparked by plants about who gifted them and what life was like backwhen they were planted.

URL: http://tokyogreenspace.com/2009/04/22/frugality-anticipation-memory/

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Experience

sensation, perception, conception

EMOTION emotion

thought THOUGHT

(Diagram from Tuan, 1977:8)

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References

Auster, P. 2003. Collected Prose. London, Faber and Faber. p285-7.

Braiterman, J. 2010. Replacing Dead Urban Spaces with Living Habitat.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-braiterman/replacing-dead-urban-spac_b_547419.html

Echanove. M.S. 2007. The Tokyo model of urban development. Memoconcerning the Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) to the attention of theSlum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). Downloaded fromhttp://www.urbanology.org/dharavi/The_Tokyo_Model_of_Urban_Development_Echanove_1.7.07.pdf

Echanove. M.S. & Srivastava. R. 2008. Urban natures: of fields and forests.Downloaded fromhttp://www.airoots.org/2008/05/urban-natures-of-fields-and-forests/

Feireiss, K. 2000. Preface, in eds. M. Terada and M. Kira. Japan: TowardsTotalScape, Rotterdam, NAI Publishers, p5-6

Jinnai, H. 1995. Tokyo; A Spatial Anthropology. trans. Kimiko Nishimura.University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California.

Jonas, M. 2007. Private use of public open space in Tokyo. A study of thehybrid landscape of Tokyo's informal gardens. Journal of LandscapeArchitecture. Autumn, 2007.

Kerkhof, I. 2000. Farewell, in eds. M. Terada and M. Kira. Japan: TowardsTotalScape, Rotterdam, NAI Publishers, p29-31.

Kitayama, K. 2010a. Preface. In Tokyo Metabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo,p11.

Kitayama, K. 2010b. Changes in Urban Areas of Tokyo at the Beginning of the21st Century. In Tokyo Metabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo, p14-27.

Kitayama, K. 2010c. An interview with Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. In TokyoMetabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo, p67-73.

Kitayama, K. 2010d. An interview with Ryue Nishizawa. In TokyoMetabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo, p101-107.

Mumford, L. 1961. The City in History. New York, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Shelton, B. 1999. Learning from the Japanese City. Routledge, New York.

Smith, 1978. Tokyo as an idea: An exploration of Japanese urban thought until1945. Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol.4, No. 1 (Winter, 1978), 45-80.Downloadable fromhttp://www.columbia.edu/~hds2/pdf/1978_Tokyo_as_an_Idea.pdf

Tsukamoto, Y. 2010. Escaping the spiral of intolerance: fourth-generationhouses and void metabolism. In Tokyo Metabolizing. TOTO Publishing, Tokyo,

p29-43.

Tuan, Y. (1977). Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience.Minneapolis/London, University of Minnesota Press.

(2) Photos of Physical Edition Packaging

(3) Hand Made Tokyo Document (2up Spreads)