UTC|Japan Teaching Module

Parts 1 and 2 provide specific examples of Mather and Karan's characteristics of the Japanese cultural landscape. Part 4 further examines the cultural landscapes of Japan through a focus on its suburban landscapes. This approach provides an opportunity to extend our analysis of Japanese cultural landscapes beyond Mather and Karan's characteristics. However, viewers are encouraged to look for evidence of these characteristics in the following images.

As stated in the introduction to this component, the landscapes of Japan are more congested, compact, and variegated than landscapes in the United States. This situation is also true of Japanese suburbs since they are much more crowded, dense, and mixed in their land use patterns than American suburbs. General views of suburban landscapes can be seen in Figures 4-1, 4-2, 1-1, 1-22, and 1-23).¹

The commuter train station is the busiest part of the Japanese suburban landscape. These stations, like their urban counterparts, provide accessibility to the rest of the metropolitan area; therefore, the demand for space adjacent to them has increased densities. Each morning thousands of businessmen (or sararimen) arrive at the station on foot, bicycle, or car for the long commute into the city (Figure 4-3).² Nisshin Station (Figure 4-4) and Hirahari Station (Figure 4-5) provide good examples of higher densities around suburban train stations. Both stations are east of Nagoya (Hirahari six miles from Nagoya and Nisshin eight miles) on a commuter rail line heading toward Toyota City. In these images notice the parking lots (for bicycles and cars) next to and near the stations. The photo in Figure 4-6 was taken from the Nisshin station platform looking east and shows several apartment buildings whose residents are within walking distance of the station. Other apartments within walking distance of Nisshin station are shown in Figure 4-7. The area immediately surrounding Nisshin station is shown in Figures 4-8 through 4-10. Figures 4-11 and 4-12 show another suburban train station, this one in the southwest suburbs of Hiroshima. It is interesting to note that American suburbs have similar areas of high density (often referred to as "edge cities") but their locations are tied to highly accessible nodes along highway and/or interstate networks. In Japan, the locations of these "edge cities" are affiliated with the commuter rail network instead.

Of the many service establishments surrounding both suburban (and urban) train stations, one of the more popular ones are yakitori restaurants (yakitori is skewered chicken, see Figure 4-13). It is quite common in Japan for people to stop by a yakitori restaurant or stall on their way home from work for a quick bite (and beer). As a result, these restaurants are often found around suburban (and urban) train stations (Figures 4-14 and 4-15). The animal in the sign in Figure 4-14 is a tanuki, a popular figure in Japanese pop and traditional culture, and often used to advertise restaurants and bars. Tanukis are similar to a badger or raccoon and is depicted as having supernatural powers or being mischievous. Portrayed in cartoon form and statutes, these critters are a ubiquitous feature of Japanese suburban, urban, and rural landscapes (Figure 4-16) (for more about tanukis, see http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/tanuki.shtml).

Other landscape elements common in Japanese suburbs include multi-level golf driving ranges with large nets (see Figure 1-18) and rice fields (Figure 4-17). Sometimes these elements are found next to each other (Figure 4-18). Figure 4-19 is a restaurant in the suburbs of Nagoya and Figures 4-20, 4-21, and 2-6 show residential areas near this restaurant. It should be pointed out that while the above images represent most Japanese suburban landscapes and how they differ fromAmerican suburbs, in some places Japanese suburbs looks strikingly similar to the American counterpart (see Figures 2-36 and 2-37).

1 For an excellent description of a typical day in a Japanese suburb read the short essay entitled "Mitaka, A Suburban Community" in Karan (2005, 279-280).

2 In 1990, the average commute into downtown Tokyo was 1 hour and 20 minutes (Karan and Stapleton, 1997).