Scenes of New Habitations

It looks like my hometown, but it feels very different—— In this sixth exhibition of the New Habitations book, we will present “scenes that seem to be everywhere,” photos that are not included in the book, and poetic snapshots of the disaster-stricken areas. Through these photographs, the exhibition will consider the characteristics of places.

At this event, we will present the results of our first abroad research in Indonesia on "living the post-disaster", along with an online presentation by the Indonesian art collective Indeks, which cooperated with our research, and a lecture by architectural historian Osamu Goto, who specializes in the preservation of tangible cultural properties (buildings) and traditional townscapes in Japan.

We are happy to announce to hold the exhibition of this book “New Habitations: from North to East 11 years after 3.11” (2023, YYY PRESS). The exhibition will include large prints of photographs from the book, poems scattered throughout the book, and a slide show including previously unpublished cuts of the book. Please come and see “New Habitations” that emerge in a form different from that of the book.

The Future Habitat Project began its activities in 2021. This time, we visited Jakarta and Banda Aceh in Indonesia as our first overseas research. A total of six members participated in the project, including Natsumi Seo (NOOK, a general incorporated association), an artist who produces paintings and writings while considering the language of the local people and recording the landscape, and Satoko Shibahara, an editor who works in the fields of art and architecture as an editor, writer, planner and publicist.

With photographs taken 11 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the words of the land spoken over the past 11 years. “Scenes of New Habitations” are woven from the present and the past of the disaster-stricken areas. New Habitations from North to East: 11 years after 3.11 (photos by Takuro Toyama, poems by Natsumi Seo) will be published by YYY PRESS. This book will be available at bookstores and through e-commerce websites starting in late September.

Mr. Nagayama from Rikuzentakada City Office showed us around. Here we heard about the administrative reconstruction projects in Takada-cho and Imaizumi-cho, such as land use improvement and river environment management systems. He walked us through the entire town to show us the issues and projects that have been initiated so far.

Afterwards, we visited Hamanasu fresh market and interviewed Mr. Yoshida. Mr. Yoshida's daughter welcomed us together and gave us three hours of her valuable time. Mr. Yoshida has been a central player in the fishermen's union that represented the residents' side when the reclamation of Hirota Bay became an issue.

This time, we rented a work shed to present the research on Marumori conducted by the Kobayashi-Lab. Not only Mr. Shishido but also other residents gathered to hear various stories based on the chronology of Marumori that we created through our research.

The landscape of the post-disaster town is mainly created by the houses. It seems to me that the conditions required for such houses are not “how to live.” Most people are focused on this. However, what is important is “where to live” and “with whom to live.”

Parallel to the coastline is the Teizan moat, created by the Date clan in the Edo period. There, ducks and seagulls were gathering to shelter from the wind. A peaceful scene. I wonder who is using this place comfortably now. Animals spending their time relaxing, plants growing slowly, and the construction work progressing at a leisurely pace.

6-8 Oct 2021, to Marumorimachi, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Haruka Komori + Natsumi Seo will talk to local people in connection with the production of their work. As this was their first visit and also a preliminary visit, we accompanied the girls, who have been conducting research and filming in Marumorimachi since spring this year, for interviews and workshops.

When I visited the Tokyo Air City Terminal at the end of last year, I was convinced of my own fierce resistance to the “bad nostalgia” that “only sugarcoats and beautifies the past” (Shuhei Hosokawa). I suppose this is mixed with my contempt for those who visit tourist attractions advertised with catchphrases such as “nostalgic in spite of being new,” “nostalgic,” and “good old Japan,” and happily consume “products” marketed as “nostalgic scenery.”

In the fall of 1983, when I was three years old, I began living with my mother in an apartment in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, where my father had settled down earlier.

In other words, if things continue as they have in the past, it is time for the sceneries that we, who are over forty years old, saw in our childhood to start disappearing. Will the scenery that has simply not been paid attention to, rather than towns that are the subject of massive redevelopment or photogenic cityscapes that we want to preserve, continue to disappear? With this in mind, a group of people close to my age decided to walk through the sceneries that I recall when I hear the word "Tokyo" and that have remained in my memory for a long time.

Walking along the river at Fudoson Park in Marumori-cho on October 7, 2021.