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The Prototype of CITY 2.0
Can the system of shopping-malls be used as conditions to compose a city? Ryuji Fujimura says yes, with his proposal for a new hyper compact city. CATEGORY: Shopping-mall-ization -
Beyond Severed Time
Author and Vice-Governor of Tokyo Inose, artist Murakami, and Azuma discuss how the Japanese people can once again earn back independent thinking. CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
What Kind of Future Do We Choose?
Science communication lost social credibility in the aftermath of the 3.11 disaster. How do we repair the relationship between citizens and science? CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
Why the Shopping Mall?
It is said that in his later years, until close to the day he died, Walt Disney (1901-1966) passionately went on trips to observe shopping malls. W... CATEGORY: Shopping-mall-ization -
The Globalization of Manga
We are already no longer in a position to simply say in delight, “I’m happy that Japanese manga is being appreciated by the West!” Neither the atti... CATEGORY: New Frontiers in Cultural Studies -
The Generativity of Nico Nico Douga
"In recent years, especially as we entered the 2000s, the problem of creativity has been actively debated. Representative examples are activities a... CATEGORY: New Frontiers in Cultural Studies -
Post-Disaster Reconstruction, Gov 2.0 and the Platformizing World
There are the words “restoration” (fukkyu) and “reconstruction” (fukkou). Whilst in connection with disasters they are often discussed as a single ... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
Hiroki Azuma: a philosopher/author creates a draft for constitutional revision
The interview below was published on the morning edition of Asahi Shimbun on May 1, 2012. Azuma here speaks of the draft for a constitutional revis... CATEGORY: Interviews -
The Day The “Endless Everyday” Ended
On the day of March 11, 2011, my life was turned upside down. I am still working at the jobs I had before that day, such as at my university positi... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
The Words People Sought in the Disaster
Good afternoon, Sendai. I’m rather nervous to be here speaking at one of the affected areas for the first time after the earthquake. These two mont... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
The Era of Disasters and the Words of Critical Thought
Hello, everyone in Osaka. Today, we would like to discuss the theme of “disaster and discourse.” We originally planned this event as a lighthearted... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
Reality Changes, Theory Travels
In spring 2007, I had occasion to stay in Singapore on vacation for about a week. The place I stayed with my wife and our young daughter was a reso... CATEGORY: New Frontiers in Cultural Studies -
Can Social Media Regenerate Tohoku?
“What do you want the most right now?” “Information, more than anything else.” After March 11, when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, I visi... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
Reconstruction Plan Beta: The Cloud City
“Little Fukushima” is a city planned for allowing the 80,000 residents of areas designated for evacuation to live together again. CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
The Disaster Broke Us Apart
The disaster broke us apart. Would anyone disagree with this? Would he assert that the disaster has brought us together as one, that Japan has rega... CATEGORY: After the Disaster -
The Interior Design of
Comme des Garçons
Omotesando in 1999, just a few months before the new millennium. These days, this street is a concentrated zone of leading global brands, lined wit... CATEGORY: New Frontiers in Cultural Studies -
Complex Bird Tweets
and their Evolutionary Design
In March 2010, I was visiting a small town called Volcano in Amador County, California. Located about a three-hours drive away from the Sacramento... CATEGORY: Pattern Sciences -
Staying in Japan, Leaving Japan
On April 26, internet provider Livedoor’s ex-President Takafumi Horie, one of the leading figures of the ‘00s in Japan, was given a prison sen... CATEGORY: Interviews -
Severed time
In the afternoon of April 20, thirty hours before it was declared off-limits, I visited with a few others the central area of Namie town, located ... CATEGORY: After the Disaster
On the launch of genron
"genron" is an English-based web portal for critical discourse in Japan, managed by Tokyo-based publishing company Genron Co., Ltd. Intimately coordinated with Shisouchizu beta, the journal published in Japanese by Genron since 2010, it will present ambitious and cutting-edge articles translated into English that capture the “here and now” in Japan and its society.Read more...
