These are photos from a walk I did that included a huge public housing complex just south of Tokyo. A network of once futuristic buildings that have always fascinated me, so in one of my future newsletters I’ll compile a full series of the photographs, along with some historical background and the societal changes such structures brought about.
For now though, these are just a small set that document a meandering walk that while not entirely intentional, resulted in photos showing the quiet, faded and increasingly empty scenes one often sees in Japan. Sights that, as these amply prove, are in no way limited to more rural areas.
Denise says
These are soooo quiet….. 🙁
Lee says
Thank you. Yes, once so full of life, but nowadays not so much at all.
cdilla says
These photographs are so evocative, showing hints of what was when they were new. I am looking forward to the newsletter.
I recently reread, “The Life We Longed For: Danchi Housing and the Middle Class Dream in Postwar Japan” by Laura Lynn Neitzel, which marvelously informs and describes the era, and have a copy of “City Life in Japan: A Study of a Tokyo Ward” by R P Dore from the early sixties which I hope will add to that. So the more Danchi photographs the better 🙂
Lee says
Thanks a lot, that’s really good to hear.
I’ve still not read that. Really should. For better or worse, danchi definitely had a big impact on Japanese society. Certainly in the cities anyway. So yeah, the more danchi shots the better.
Linda says
this is such an amazing building, it’s great to see shots of more angles of it. How does it feel to walk around it? Does it feel as looming and kind of ominous as it looks in photos, or can you imagine it feeling homelike, at least when it was new and lively?
Lee says
It really is. Like no other danchi I’ve seen.
It does have that huge, looming feel to it. There is simply no escaping it. That said, it’s also easy to imagine how it was once when new and teeming with life. Must have been incredible in so many ways. But now, all that space and so few people only emphasises the quiet, with shutting doors and the like echoing around the otherwise quiet corridors.
Rob says
So many new and exciting public spaces have recently opened in other parts of Tokyo (Sakura Stage in Shibuya and Takanawa Gateway City are two that spring to mind) – I wonder what they will look like in twenty or thirty years time when they are being compared to whatever happens to be the latest project to be unveiled.
Lee says
That’s a very good point. A very good chance they’ll age quickly too. Quite possibly quicker than the danchi did.
Steve says
The solitary figures make these very poignant. Great work as always.
Lee says
Thank you very much. I was hoping that’d be the case, so really good to hear.