What can we do now to create a city that creates new value?
At NTT Urban Development, we are sincerely addressing this question.
We have launched a new initiative.
It is an attempt to anticipate social changes and carve out a path to the future through design.
Three keywords derived from our "design vision"
About "Community," "History and Culture," and "Life and Work"
A dialogue between leading figures from various fields.
We will publish the details here.
The second installment of the "History and Culture" dialogue features Robert Campbell, director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature and a scholar of Japanese literature, and Shinichi Takemura, a cultural anthropologist who advocates for a new form of global civilization. From learning from history to guiding the future, to hints for passing on diverse cultures, the two discuss new ways of building towns where diverse people can inherit memories and coexist.
Robert Campbell
(Robert Campbell)
Shinichi Takemura
(Takemura Shinichi)
The second installment of the "History and Culture" dialogue features Robert Campbell, director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature and a scholar of Japanese literature, and Shinichi Takemura, a cultural anthropologist who advocates for a new form of global civilization. From learning from history to guiding the future, to hints for passing on diverse cultures, the two discuss new ways of building towns where diverse people can inherit memories and coexist.
Robert Campbell
Japanese literature scholar and Director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature. Born in New York, USA. Completed his doctoral studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Harvard University Graduate School. Specializes in early modern and modern Japanese literature, and is interested in art, media, and thought closely related to Chinese classics. He served as a professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2007, retiring in 2017 and becoming Director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature in April of the same year. He is active in a variety of media, appearing on television as an MC and commentator, writing newspaper and magazine serials, book reviews, and planning and appearing on radio programs. Official website: http://robertcampbell.jp/
Shinichi Takemura
Representative of Earth Literacy Program and Professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1959. Completed his doctoral studies in cultural anthropology at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. Traveled to approximately 70 countries around the world in his twenties, proposing a new "human studies" for the global age, while also tackling global environmental issues from a unique perspective, such as the world's first digital globe, "Tangible Earth," and "One Million Candlelight Night." He is also an expert committee member for the Reconstruction Design Council for the Great East Japan Earthquake, a communications advisor for UNISDR (United Nations Office for International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), and has published numerous books. Earth Literacy Program official website: http://www.elp.or.jp/
Different perspectives on history and culture
Different perspectives on history and culture
──Please tell us about your respective activities and your efforts related to history and culture.
──Please tell us about your respective activities and your efforts related to history and culture.
Takemura
Simply put, my work centers around the theme of "Earth," based on the concept that 21st-century global media is necessary to raise 21st-century global citizens. For example, in my work "Tangible Earth" (*1), I visualize the living Earth by displaying on a spherical screen in real time the current typhoon and a "morning relay" of where on Earth it is morning. At the same time, I also aspire to transform the Earth itself into a "living Earth museum." Works like "Ubiquitous Museum" (*2), for example, allow people to access information about the Earth in an augmented reality (AR) way by displaying the history of the Earth and the people of their current location on their mobile phones. Since around 2002, I have been conducting social experiments through the creation of works that express the Earth's appearance and history.
(※1) Shinichi Takemura, "Tangible Earth" http://www.elp.or.jp/portfolio/tangible/earth/
(※2) Shinichi Takemura, "Ubiquitous Museum" http://www.elp.or.jp/portfolio/ubiquitous/museum/
(※1) Shinichi Takemura, "Tangible Earth"
http://www.elp.or.jp/portfolio/tangible-earth/
(※2) Shinichi Takemura, "Ubiquitous Museum"
http://www.elp.or.jp/portfolio/UbiquitousMuseum/
Campbell
After serving as a professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School, I became director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature (*3/NIJL) in April 2017. At NIJL, we analyze each and every pre-Meiji period (pre-modern texts) found throughout Japan, photographing them and compiling bibliographic data for public viewing. This type of initiative is unique worldwide, making it extremely significant. In recent years, we have also created and made public the "New Comprehensive Database of Premodern Japanese Texts," a freely searchable image database of 300,000 titles. (*4) Every day, I work toward my mission of finding ways to share and utilize these precious cultural resources with people today.
(※3) National Institute of Japanese Literature official website http://www.nijl.ac.jp/
(※4) New Database of Classical Japanese Texts https://kotenseki.nijl.ac.jp/
(※3) National Institute of Japanese Literature official website
http://www.nijl.ac.jp/
(※4) New Comprehensive Database of Japanese Classics
https://kotenseki.nijl.ac.jp/
The power of culture to enhance the "resolution of the world"
The power of culture to enhance the "resolution of the world"
Today, you have each brought something symbolic of "history and culture." Could you please explain what it is, Takemura-san?
Today, you have each brought something symbolic of "history and culture." Could you please explain what it is, Takemura-san?
Takemura
Yes. I brought a vase with me today, and I think it has something in common with what Campbell just said. It belongs to the Shipibo people, an indigenous people who live in the Amazon rainforest. The pattern depicts images that shamans see while in a trance state after ingesting hallucinogenic plants, and similar patterns are also used on cloth and body painting. The Shipibo shaman is also an accomplished herbalist, and walking through the forest with him, I experienced a heightened resolution of the scenery, which had previously been nothing more than a lush rainforest, and I was able to see which plants were useful and which were dangerous. Conversely, it made me realize that we modern people living in cities see the world with an extremely low resolution.
From this experience, we have developed a stance on media development that increases the resolution with which we view the real world, rather than creating virtual media that is detached from the real world, and on cultivating our own literacy in order to decipher the hidden contexts embedded in real spaces.
Meanwhile, if we trace the history of media, the Library of Alexandria, which collected documents from all over the world and throughout history, was established in Egypt in 300 BC. This was a theatrical medium in the sense that it was a single location. However, with the 15th century Gutenberg's printing revolution, information became mass-produced, and packaged media became mainstream. Furthermore, in modern times, the emergence of IT networks and media such as smartphones has made it possible to unravel information anywhere on the planet. If that is the case, then I believe that by releasing the accumulated linguistic resources such as literature back into the global space and making them available for browsing (search and display) in each location, anyone should be able to read and write the memories and hidden texts of each place.
Campbell
Your talk reminded me of the forest at Meiji Shrine, located near this venue (Takram Tokyo Meeting Hub). That forest was planted about 100 years ago using a groundbreaking public-sector concept called "potential vegetation." This involves planting trees based on the vegetation that will naturally grow after 50 years of neglect. Despite being an artificial forest, it still cultivates a rich natural environment. This approach contrasts sharply with New York's Central Park, which, while rooted in British nature, sought to create an ideal landscape of "what should be." I'm currently working on recreating disaster prevention forests in Tohoku that were destroyed in the Great East Japan Earthquake. When I walked around Meiji Shrine with an expert on this project, I was astonished by the sheer variety of plants growing there.
The benefits of history in questioning modern common sense
The benefits of history in questioning modern common sense
Campbell
Let me show you something I brought with me. This is a small book from the Edo period, but when you open it accordion-style, it shows the same person on a boat or on a leisurely trip in various scenes. A young local painter recorded how a wealthy man from Onomichi in the late Edo period gathered intellectuals from all over the country to hold social gatherings, calligraphy sessions, and what we would call calligraphy and painting workshops today. It can be seen as both a record and a work of art. Judging from its size, I would guess that it was something that was enjoyed in between sips of tea at a sencha tea ceremony.
Looking at these small books, the breath of the people of that time and the rich scenery they enjoyed come vividly back to life. At the same time, the experience leads to the question, "What is Japanese literature?" These books have a breadth and depth that cannot be defined by modern Western classifications such as "literature" and "painting," which we are familiar with today. In this way, I believe that Japanese culture has the power to question the various lines and classifications that dominate our modern lives and consciousness, and to create something new.
RELATED PROJECTS
Shin Puh Kan Redevelopment Plan
(Scheduled to open in 2019 / Design: NTT FACILITIES Inc. + Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Completed in 1926 as the Kyoto Central Telephone Exchange in Karasuma Oike, Kyoto, the building has been popularly known as Shin Puh Kan commercial facility since 2001. In 2019, the building will be reborn as a new hotel and commercial complex.
We will create a unique charm by utilizing this historic building, which is designated and registered as a cultural property by Kyoto City, and will connect the city's culture that has continued to be nurtured here to the future.
Shin Puh Kan Redevelopment Plan
(Scheduled to open in 2019 / Design: NTT FACILITIES Inc. + Kengo Kuma and Associates)
Completed in 1926 as the Kyoto Central Telephone Exchange in Karasuma Oike, Kyoto, the building has been popularly known as Shin Puh Kan commercial facility since 2001. In 2019, the building will be reborn as a new hotel and commercial complex.
We will create a unique charm by utilizing this historic building, which is designated and registered as a cultural property by Kyoto City, and will connect the city's culture that has continued to be nurtured here to the future.
Robert Campbell
(Robert Campbell)
Japanese literature scholar and Director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature. Born in New York, USA. Completed his doctoral studies in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at Harvard University Graduate School. Specializes in early modern and modern Japanese literature, and is interested in art, media, and thought closely related to Chinese classics. He served as a professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2007, retiring in 2017 and becoming Director of the National Institute of Japanese Literature in April of the same year. He is active in a variety of media, appearing on television as an MC and commentator, writing newspaper and magazine serials, book reviews, and planning and appearing on radio programs. Official website: http://robertcampbell.jp/
Shinichi Takemura
(Takemura Shinichi)
Representative of Earth Literacy Program and Professor at Kyoto University of Art and Design. Born in Osaka Prefecture in 1959. Completed his doctoral studies in cultural anthropology at the University of Tokyo Graduate School. Traveled to approximately 70 countries around the world in his twenties, proposing a new "human studies" for the global age, while also tackling global environmental issues from a unique perspective, such as the world's first digital globe, "Tangible Earth," and "One Million Candlelight Night." He is also an expert committee member for the Reconstruction Design Council for the Great East Japan Earthquake, a communications advisor for UNISDR (United Nations Office for International Strategy for Disaster Reduction), and has published numerous books. Earth Literacy Program official website: http://www.elp.or.jp/