Nostalgia in Tokyo 3 - Living Spaces

 
Nostalgia is emerging in Asian cities as a response to dizzying rates of modernisation. This story, comprising 5 parts featuring short videos, seeks to uncover what nostalgia does and how nostalgia is mobilised in Tokyo.
 
Part 3 of the story explores Living Spaces.

Following the ‘lost two decades’ triggered by the bursting of the country’s economic bubble and worldwide financial crisis, social changes accelerated by globalisation resulted in apprehension and pessimism towards the present in Japan. 

Subsequently, nostalgia-driven efforts to reimagine the Japanese identity by drawing on the past became gradually apparent.

Evident since the well-received movie Always: Sunset on Third Street, the Shōwa period became strongly associated with the terms ‘nostalgia’ and ‘retro’, and gained a consistent presence in Japanese mass media. 

The post-war period of rapid economic growth has become recognised as the ‘good old days’ accompanied by collective reminiscence and idealisation by the people.     

Many of the present-day shōtengai, or shopping streets lined with local shop vendors and restaurants, were built during the post-war period in the Shōwa era. Besides their commercial functions, shōtengai are known to play a significant role in the local community such as welfare, security, and an avenue for local traditions and character to shine.

While some shōtengai are in decline with shutters gradually lowered as the days go by, others are increasingly marketed as the destination to take a trip down the nostalgia lane and experience the Shōwa times once again.

The next video features Yanaka Ginza, a shōtengai organically formed in 1944 which is well received by both the local community and visitors, and Daiba 1-chome Shōtengai, a shōtengai recreated in a shopping mall.

With the introduction of danchi housing to cope with the urban sprawl and post-war housing crisis, urban landscapes of Japan also underwent drastic changes. In the 1960s and 1970s, wooden detached or row houses were phased out by massive self-sufficient housing complexes of high-rise buildings serviced with schools, shops, and community centres.

Initially, danchi housing was the materialisation of middle-class aspirations for a harmonious and modernised way of life. Decades later, subsidised danchi housing is seen as outdated, dilapidated, and undesirable.

In contrast, the counter-phenomenon of ‘danchi mania’ actively seeks and adores these urban spaces from a different time — giving rise to the social phenomena of ‘danchi nostalgia’.

The following video features two danchi housing complexes in Tokyo — Toyama Heights Apartments and Kirigaoka Apartments — each navigating issues of decline, demographic changes, insider-outsider dynamics, and redevelopment efforts decades after their construction.