The second guide, Kenchiku Map Tōkyō—The Architectural Map of Tokyo, Part 2 (2003). In it, I compiled a comprehensive list of buildings, allowing me to see that, even after the burst of the bubble economy, Tokyo remained a monstrous city where new constructions proliferated. Of course, there have also been changes. For example, the number of average-sized public institutions has decreased while renovation works have mushroomed. Some districts, among other Roppongi Hills and Shiodome Shiosite, have gone through major redevelopments while individual houses proliferated, such as the Mini House by Atelier Bow-Wow or Kazuyo Sejima’s Small Houses. In other words, Japanese architecture evolved in two opposite directions, due to the rejection of urban sprawl on the one hand and a return to the city center on the other hand.
The urban development of the city of Tokyo nevertheless seems quite modest in comparison with what is happening in China. The buildings that emerge from the ground in Beijing or Shanghai have impressive proportions in terms not only of height but also of width. In China, there is no private land tenure, which makes it possible to entirely restructure a neighborhood just as if it were an uninhabited site. In Japan, however, land fetches a very high price and is fragmented into small plots due to the traditional tenure system of inheritance, which has led to a proliferation of completely vertical buildings (the so-called “pencil buildings”). In addition, in Tokyo, large-scale urban development has remained relatively restrained and measured, completely unlike what is happening in China with bold architects such as Rem Koolhaas and Riken Yamamoto. From a global perspective, the small dwellings of Tokyo display greater originality than other architectural forms. In Europe and the United States, houses are larger and people who do not own one live in apartments. But among the Japanese, there is a strong desire to own land and a home, however small. Lately, the renewed interest in city centers has been compounded by the purchase of small urban housing at the expense of large suburban houses. In the rest of Asia, most people live in apartments, just as in Europe and the United States, even if part of the well-off live in sumptuous residences. But in Tokyo, small dwellings constitute a distinctive architectural form. Two opposing architectural trends have emerged in Japan after the burst of the economic bubble. Two types of buildings have become extremely fashionable and they are neither gigantic urban developments nor individual houses but the flagship stores of major brands, designed by famous architects, and wedding chapels. In both cases, these are commercial spaces that target a female clientele.
Major brands and wedding ceremonies play an important role throughout the world but, in Japan, they are experiencing a particularly remarkable expansion. According to a survey conducted in 2003, 44% of Japanese women aged 15 to 59 own a Louis Vuitton-branded bag. One third of the global sales of the Maison Louis Vuitton can be traced back to the Japanese clientele. The phenomenal success of this luxury brand in Japan is due to a willingness of women not to assert their own identity but to play it down and ensure that they all look alike. Curiously, Japanese schoolgirls carry both high-end branded purses and trinkets purchased in low-priced stores, a form of inconsistency that is readily admitted in the archipelago. In addition, more than 60% of couples want their marriage to be celebrated in a church even though barely 1% of the Japanese population is in fact Christian.
At the same time, Christmas Eve has become a celebration of romance. In order to respond to demand, “cathedrals” dedicated to weddings and where no congregation gathers to pray have emerged in all the provinces of the archipelago—this type of activity has become an industry. Japan is the only country in the world where the Catholic Church authorizes the celebration in churches of marriages between non-believers.
