| Exchange Reports |
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Tokyo, Shirikawa & Nara
March 1998
Summary
This report is an account of the first Countryside Exchange in Japan, sponsored by the Glynwood Center of Cold Spring, New York and the Japan National Trust for Cultural and Natural Heritage Conservation, Japan, held March 1-8, 1998. The first section contains abstracts of talks by Japanese and visiting American experts, who comprised the Exchange Team, on the issues relating to the conservation of the countryside and support of sustainable communities in both the United States and Japan. The report then outlines the observations, findings, and recommendations of the American Exchange team after its visit to the World Heritage List district of Shirakawa, which was selected as the first Exchange community. It then offers observations on the team's subsequent visit to Nara, and several medieval moated villages located in Nara's countryside. The report concludes with observations on the success of the Exchange and plans to conduct a follow-up Exchange in the United States in 1999.
Introduction
As the Exchange program enters its second decade, and after a series of independent reviews of the positive impact of the Exchange not only for team members but especially for local leaders working on economic, social and environmental challenges in their communities, Glynwood's trustees and advisors have decided to explore expansion to other countries. This report chronicles the initial effort at expansion, the first Countryside Exchange with Japan.
Why Japan? Since the arrival of the Black Ships in the1850s, Japan has had a very important relationship with the United States and, despite its recent economic downturn, it remains one of the world's most important economies. Moreover, as evidenced by the recent Kyoto Conference on Global Warming, Japan continues to be an influential and necessary partner in meeting global environmental challenges. Japan and the United States have a great deal to learn from each other regarding the wise use of land and the creation of communities that are not only sustainable but also extremely livable.
As this century comes to a close, the United States - the acknowledged world leader in settlement decentralization, auto dependence and sprawl - is gradually working to find ways to strengthen its cities and existing settlements and direct public investments away from socially isolating and land and energy intensive development. Ironically, Japan - which has developed a highly refined civic culture in compact yet interesting, vital and safe cities, as well as one of the world's most reliable, fast and comprehensive public transport systems - is embarking on American-style decentralization. A massive superhighway building program threatens to create sprawl in Japan's countryside and natural areas and a gradual shift of institutions, government offices, and residential areas to suburban and exurban locations is taking place. Clearly both countries have a great deal to learn from each other, and despite initial language and cultural barriers, could benefit from sharing a Countryside Exchange.
The catalyst for this initiative was Chester Liebs, longtime Advisor to Glynwood Center, and former Fulbright Senior Fellow in Japan, who is well-known by many of the people and organizations working in preservation/conservation there. With encouragement from Glynwood Center Chair Henry Jordan and President Judith LaBelle, Professor Liebs agreed to organize a pilot Exchange during the 1997-98 academic year while he served as Visiting Professor at the University of Tsukuba.
Glynwood invited the Japan National Trust for Cultural and Natural Heritage Conservation to co-sponsor the Exchange, in light of its broad interest in all aspects of Japan's environment, and its impressive record in building public awareness on a range of issues from countryside conservation to saving important urban landmarks. The Trust, with the enthusiastic support of its board of directors and Director General Michitaro Yamaoka, agreed to host the pilot Exchange. The Trust's Director of Programs, Junichi Yoneyama, was assigned to work with Professor Liebs on the project and, after extensive meetings in Tokyo and consultation with the staff at Glynwood and the Trust, a one week format was designed with three distinct components: a Countryside Roundtable in Tokyo where the U.S. Exchange team members and their Japanese counterparts would discuss conversation issues facing both countries; a three-day, on-site Exchange in the World Heritage List district of Shirakawa; and field research on countryside development issues in the area surrounding Nara, Japan's ancient capital and one of its premier cultural cities.
This report summarizes the activities of this pilot Exchange and presents the Exchange team's observations and findings.
The Exchange Team
J. Glenn Eugster, Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Ecosystems and Communities, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Eugster is also Co-chair of the Regional Office and Headquarters Workgroup to Create a Community-based Environmental Protection Fund and Project Leader for the Metropolitan Ecosystem Action Strategy. Mr. Eugster participated as a Team Member on the 1991 Countryside Exchange in the Catskills Region, New York State, and as a member of the Steering Committee for the 1994 and 1996 Countryside Exchanges in the Chesapeake Bay Region. He currently serves as a member of the Glynwood Center Exchange Committee.
Judith M. LaBelle, President, Glynwood Center. Ms. LaBelle is an attorney whose prior experience includes serving as Corporate Counsel for the National Audubon Society, Counsel for the New York State Commission on the Adirondacks in the Twenty-first Century, and member of the law firm of Berle, Kass and Case in New York City. Ms. LaBelle's career has included extensive experience with land conservation, historic preservation and development issues on behalf of nonprofit organizations, government agencies and private individuals and entities. Ms. LaBelle participated as a Team Member on the 1993 Countryside Exchange in Exmoor, England.
Professor Chester H. Liebs, Visiting Professor in Area Studies at Japan's Tsukuba University and Professor Emeritus and founder of the Historic Preservation Graduate Program at the University of Vermont. As Advisor Emeritus to the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation, he has been involved in cultural and natural heritage education, locally, nationally and internationally, and has served on the boards of organizations ranging from the Society for Industrial Archeology to US/ICOMOS. He is a long-time Advisor to Glynwood Center and now serves as Glynwood Center's Regional Coordinator- Japan. -
Countryside Roundtable
The Exchange began on March 2, 1998 with the Countryside Roundtable in Tokyo, which brought the Exchange Team together with professional colleagues from various Japanese institutions. During the day-long session, the participants shared their experience and observations on countryside issues and began the process of gaining new insights through the multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural discussion. The Countryside Roundtable was held in the historic Industry Club of Japan (1920; now slated for demolition) located across from Tokyo Station. It began with a welcome from Japan National Trust Director General Michitaro Yamaoka and Glynwood Center's Regional Coordinator for Japan, Professor Chester Liebs. Mr. Yamaoka then showed a series of slides to introduce the broad-based work of the Japan National Trust, which ranges from saving the early twentieth century Yasuda House in Tokyo, to organizing volunteers to help thatch the roofs of houses in Shirakawa. Prof. Masaru Maeno, from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music gave a presentation on Community Participation in Conservation/ Preservation in Japan; and Dr. Katsuhisa Ueno, Specialist for Cultural Properties Architectural Division, Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs, spoke about the The Government Role in Preserving Historic Districts in Japan.
Following luch and a short field trip tot he Marunouchi District and Emperor's Waiting Room at the Tokyo Station, presentations continued. Prof. Shinji Isoya, Department of Landscape Architecture, Tokyo University of Agriculture, gave a presentation on Conserving the Agricultural Landscape of Japan. Judith M. LaBelle, President of Glynwood Center, gave a presentation on the The Countryside Exchange as well as presented remarks of Henry A. Jordan, M.D. Chairman of Glynwood Center, who was unable to attend. This was followed by J. Glenn Eugster from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who gave an informative presentation on community-based environmental protection. The reception which followed the Roundtable was well attended and included prominent government officials (including the United States Embassy's Cultural Attache), NGO heads, academics, design professionals and leaders of citizens groups.
Shirakawa - Managing Change
On the morning of March 3rd, the American team, accompanied by interpreter Yasuko Tamura and Junichi Yoneyama of the Japan National Trust, met at Tokyo Station where they caught the Joetsu Shinkansen. As the morning progressed, they transferred to an express train and finally a little diesel rail car that delivered them to the small town of Johanna. There they set out in two cabs, threading along a narrow mountain road to the remote administrative district of Shirakawa.
In December of 1995 "The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama - Traditional houses in the Gassho Style" was inscribed on the World Heritage List maintained by the UNESCO World Heritage Center. The listing covers an area where the Gassho-style houses predominate. The publication prepared to commemorate the World Heritage listing states that "In terms of architectural history the Gassho-style house is one of the most important farmhouses types in Japan, due to its rarity and uniqueness as well as to the fact that the surviving in situ examples remain not as isolated buildings but as clusters that comprise whole villages."
The administrative district of Shirakawa is located in the northwest part of Gifu Prefecture, southeast of Tokyo. It covers over 350 square kilometers, 95 percent of which is mountainous and forested. It contains 16 small villages that lie along the narrow valley floor created by the Sho River which flows toward the Japan Sea. The Exchange visit focused on the village of Ogimachi, one of the historic villages within Shirakawa. Until the 1950s access to the area was very limited and it was considered to be one of "the last unexplored areas of Japan." This relative isolation contributed to the continuation of the distinctive local culture, which includes the Otchiyuudo Densetsu, the "legend of defeated warriors who fled to remote areas," which remains part of its folklore. Although rice fields are woven into the landscape throughout the village, villagers have traditionally relied on mixed crops and other productive activity as well. Therefore at various times the villagers have produced paper, material for gunpowder production and silk thread.
Although the first two stopped being economic by the end of the 19th Century, silk production thrived until the 1970s, when it was overcome by foreign competition. Both the production of gunpowder materials (which required a large area under the floor) and the cultivation of silkworms (which required large interior space) contributed to the distinctive Gassho-style of architecture. "Gassho" in Japanese literally means 'praying hands', suggesting the form of hands raised in prayer to the Buddha. In this context, "Gassho" refers to a style of farmhouse with thatched gable roofs which are found only in this area.
"The Gassho-style house is an unusually tall, impressively large-scaled form which projects a strong image of 'confrontation' or 'confident resistance' against the harshness of nature." - From The Historic Villages of Shirikaea-go and Gokayama: Traditional Houses in the Gassho Style, 1996, The Committee for Commemoration of the Inscrition of "the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama - Traditional Houses in the Gassho Style"
The Gassho structures look, to the Western eye, like A-frame houses rising from a single story ground floor. The structures are wooden, with heavy interior beams, and the thatch roofs are approximately one meter thick. The pitch of the roof is steep (approximately 60 degrees), both to reduce the weight of snow and to provide work space in the upper area of the structure (where the silk worms were cultivated). During the winter a woven reed mat is placed around the first floor to provide additional protection against the snow. The strong north wind resulted in the southerly orientation of the traditional houses; the consistency of this orientation contributes to the harmony of the villagescape.
The distinctive thatched roofs must be replaced every thirty to forty years. Since the houses are lived in, the job must be completed quickly. To accomplish this generally requires that 200 people work together on a single roof for two days.
"In each village, there is a mutual help organization called the kumi, composed of neighborhood households, operating under a special cooperative system which has been followed continuously since the Edo period [17th Century] and which is still active now. The kumi in each area organizes seasonal or daily tasks, done together in cooperation or shared in rotation, including such tasks as grass cutting along the mountain roadways, cleaning the canals, making the rounds to call out fire-protection warnings and performing roles in religious functions. In addition, the traditional mutual help system, the custom of yui or koryaku, is followed in the case of ceremonies such as marriages or funerals or in work projects such as house construction or the re-thatching of roofs. It can be said that this type of social system based on mutual cooperation was essential for survival in a deep mountain area with very limited production capacity under severe natural conditions, but it should also be pointed out that the evolution of this social system was no doubt influenced by the strong spiritual connections generated among the people by the Jodo Shin Sect [Buddhist] faith." - From the Historic Villages of Shirikaea-go and Gokayama: Traditional Houses in the Gassho Style, 1996, The Committee for Commemoration of the Inscrition of "the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama - Traditional Houses in the Gassho Style, p.47
The period of rapid change for the village began in the 1960s when the area's potential for hydropower production began to be exploited. The construction of dams brought with it the construction of better road and power systems. The resulting civil engineering work - both for construction and maintenance - created an additional economic base for the village. However, the dams also threatened the destruction of some traditional houses in nearby areas.
In response to these changes, the village residents created the "Association for the Protection of the Natural Environment of Shirakawago Ogimachi Area". Nine Gassho-style houses that were to be demolished or had been deserted were brought to an area across the river from Ogimachi hamlet and restored. This provided the basis for the Gassho-zukuri Folklore Park which now contains 25 Gassho-style houses on a 5.8 hectare site.
The members of the Association also created a compact through which they agreed that they would not destroy their houses and would not sell or lease their property except to other people from the village. While this is not legally binding, all members expect others to respect it and, to date, they have. The creation of the compact related, in part, to the importance of maintaining the system of yui, which provides the underpinning for the functioning of the village and the maintenance of its cultural heritage.
While preservation efforts began with the villagers themselves, in the mid 1970s the local and national government began to expand the net of protection for Ogimachi and other historic villages in the area. Shirakawa was one of the first village administrative districts to take advantage of a 1975 amendment to the 1950 Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties, which authorized the extension of protection to the designation of "Groups of Historic Buildings." In 1976 Shirakawa adopted preservation regulations for the area and a preservation plan specifically for Ogimachi village, in accordance with the provisions of the law. Implementation of these regulations are vested in the local Board of Education which by statute must appoint a special council to make recommendations for allowing changes to buildings and surrounding environmental features.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs provides valuable guidance and also financial subsidies for restoration/conservation under this arrangement. However, the World Heritage designation in 1995 brought far more attention to the village than the local people ever anticipated. The hamlet as seen from the viewing point above its southern end became the primary image the media used in touting the newly designated area (one of only a handful of World Heritage sites designated to date in Japan) and it became the view that the public wanted to see - and photograph - for themselves.
The tourists who came to the area before the designation tended to be hardy souls who were interested in the hamlet's culture and respectful of it. Travelling there required a serious effort and they stayed for a few days to enjoy the quiet beauty of the hamlet and its dramatic surroundings. After the designation, tour companies began to bring busloads of people to the village. By 1995 more than 670,000 tourists were visiting Ogimachi; by 1997 that number had risen to approximately one million. As residents note ruefully, some of the "new" tourists take photographs, use the toilets and leave. Worse still, the new tourists often treat the entire village as a theme park created for their pleasure; they walk into private homes, pick the fruit from the trees, drop litter along the paths.
This situation is about to be compounded by the construction of a new highway interchange directly above Ogimachi, which is to be completed by 2003. Highway improvements including this new interchange will further reduce the travel time to major cities. The number of tourists is projected to balloon to 2 million after the completion of the interchange.
The residents are concerned about the erosion of their cultural heritage, and have taken steps to ensure that there are crafts people who retain the knowledge of how to build and maintain the Gassho-style houses. They are also deeply concerned about the "loss of heart" - the other personal and social changes that may occur now that their home has become a major tourist attraction. For example, as the cash economy becomes more predominant, the replacement of the thatch roofs, which had been yui, the mutual help system, has become more of an "event", often involving outsiders.
Issues
The following issues and concerns, identified through our meetings and conversations with local leaders, have resulted from the World Heritage designation, national policies and general cultural and social forces.
I. Increased Tourism
The media attention that followed the World Heritage designation resulted in an unimagined increase in the number of tourists. Moreover, the season during which tourists come has extended to include the fall (to see the leaves change) and the winter (to see the snow and the "light-up" - created by spotlights that now highlight the Gassho structures). While this has provided the base for additional economic activity, it has also had many negative impacts.
Vehicles: The increased level of tourism relies on an increasing number of tour buses and individual cars. As the road system improves, and particularly after the interchange opens, the number of cars is expected to increase even more rapidly. The Village main street is a traditional narrow street which can barely accommodate an occasional bus, let alone a crush of buses, cars and pedestrians. Already rice paddies within the Village have been paved for parking.
Economic Impact: Increased tourism has generated additional jobs within the Village, mostly within the service industry. Additional accommodations, restaurants and tea-rooms are being created within existing residential structures. Many children from Village families are returning home to take tourist-oriented jobs and many women and elderly persons are finding part-time employment in restaurants and gift shops. The boom in the tourist economy has also had an impact on land values. Values in the Village proper, which is subject to protective regulation, have not increased nearly as much as the values in the adjacent areas, where new residential and commercial development is beginning to occur. Some Village residents quite naturally resent the fact that they bear the burden of the tourist visits (crowding, noise, intrusions on their privacy), while others are reaping a benefit through increased land values. Although the heightened tourism may be too much of a good thing, it is still, in some ways a good thing, since broader economic forces had begun to undermine prior resource-based economic activity. Decreased activity in agriculture and forestry and the elimination of the silk thread industry require that new businesses be examined. Village leaders believe that there may be more that can be done to capitalize on tourism, to produce more income for local residents in ways that do not have negative impacts. Locally produced items that could be sold in the shops were one possibility mentioned.
Changing Nature of Tourism: When the Village was more remote and less well-known, the tourists who came had to make a real effort to get there, they came with a deep appreciation for the Village's people, culture and environment, they respected the residents and their property, and they stayed for one or more nights in Village accommodations. Many of the new tourists are from a different mold. They have come on a bus tour which made it easy. They may or may not have any understanding of the Village's culture beyond having heard that it has received an international designation. Many stop only long enough to take a photograph and use the toilet. Some act as though the whole Village is a park, wandering into people's yards and even their homes, dropping litter and picking fruit from the trees. Unfortunately, their presence makes visiting the Village less attractive for the traditional tourists whose presence has been pleasant and welcomed. Village residents rightly note that if ways are not found to control this situation, the desire to continue living in the Village, which is at the base of the social fabric that sustains the architecture as well, may diminish rapidly.
II. Social Trends
The lure of the tourism economy has lead to an increased population within the Village. According to one estimate, the pre-tourist Village economy could sustain 1,000 residents; there are now 1,800. A noticeable part of the increase is young people from Village families who are making "U-turns" and returning to the Village to work. Many are returning with their cars and want to be able to park next to their homes, increasing the pressure to convert rice fields into parking spaces.
Community leaders are trying to develop an increased understanding of and appreciation for the Village's heritage among young people by engaging them in cutting the thatch and building and repairing the traditional buildings. Nevertheless, the increasing importance of the cash economy and the changing composition of the Village population is impacting its social fabric. More and more people believe that when they need help (replacing their roofs or otherwise) they will buy it - therefore they themselves do not participate in the traditional mutual help activities.
III. Resources
Thatch: Dam construction and other land use changes have reduced the amount of thatch that is available to the Village for use in maintaining the Gassho structures. In response, the Village has begun purchasing land on which thatch is grown; commissioned a specially designed machine to cut it (thereby making the harvest much easier); and built a storage facility (since thatch cut in the fall is used the next spring.)
Traditional Skills: Upon recognizing that there are only five remaining "masters of roof repair", a training program was developed to try to interest and train others - and particularly young people - in this craft.
Fire Prevention: Increased use of the Village and its structures by people who do not understand how vulnerable they are to fire, has lead to an investment in a Village-wide fire fighting system. Ironically, the days on which the system is tested - which involves spraying water into the air at each of the many "hydrants" throughout the village - have become another tourist draw.
Adaptive Re-Use: Increasing numbers of traditional buildings are being adapted to incorporate new uses such as tea houses, leading to concerns as to how much adaptive re-use can be accommodated before the Village loses its residential character and its architectural integrity. It is recognized that there is a difficult and delicate balance between having the Village be a living place that can change with time and accommodate the needs of new generations of users, and insuring that it retains its distinct and special character. Also many of the reuses entail almost entirely rebuilding the interiors of these structures with new material, raising further issues of authenticity and integrity.
River Environment: The condition of the river and its adjacent lands varies greatly along its length. Parts of the river corridor are undeveloped and beautiful, while other sections have been degraded. Access to the river is difficult in many places because of steep terrain, land uses or private ownership.
Landscape: Some new uses within the Village, such as big advertising signs and power lines, have had a negative effect on the landscape and the Village's aesthetic quality.
People: In the United States one can sometimes happen on historic areas where local people have become jaded, and several generations removed from the actual spirit and history of a place (or even supplanted by newcomers), and where catering to tourists has become the fundamental task of being a "local". While the raison-d'etre for Ogimachi is gradually shifting to tourism, most of the villagers have lived there for generations and still embody the area's traditional way of life. Local rice cultivation is still extensive, villagers can be seen gathering local plants and fish, and the people are full of pride about the natural and cultural heritage which their ancestors have bequeathed to them.
IV. Impacts of the Highway Interchange
A new, limited access highway, with a Shirakawa Village exit, is scheduled for completion by 2003. The Highway will provide easy access between the Village and urban areas which are as close as 40 miles away. Shirakawa, which is now rather remote, will become an easy day trip from major centers of population, such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka. When the interchange opens, it is estimated that the number of tourists will double to two million annually. Local leaders wonder whether the Village can accommodate this many visitors, and what is at risk. They would like to be able to learn from the experience of other tourism sites. They recognize that this increased number of tourists will exacerbate existing problems with traffic congestion, pollution, parking demand, and need for toilet and trash facilities. Local residents also stressed the strain on the village's social fabric.
On the other hand, the increased tourism will create jobs, and the new highway and interchange will make it easier for the Village to exchange goods and services with nearby urban areas and Village leaders wonder how this might contribute to the Village's future.
V. Local Decision-Making
The impacts of the designation and the increased tourism that followed have created new challenges for local officials - challenges that will be heightened by the new interchange. Difficult decisions are required that range from the smallest (whether to allow the conversion of a particular rice paddy to a parking area) to the largest (how to manage the Village's transition into the global economy). The central question is how to protect the social and physical fabric of the community. Community leaders are unsure of the answer Their difficulty is compounded by the fact that many of the forces with the greatest impact, such as the construction of the new highway interchange and the manner in which the tourism industry has marketed the Village, are not under their control. Nor do their questions - such as how many tourists is too many? - allow easy answers.
Moreover, local leaders are uncomfortable with the watch-dog role they are increasingly being asked to play as new issues emerge and they are being asked to make decisions that balance the requests made by individuals against the impact upon the community as a whole. Community leaders feel that they need a new direction to manage the area by the time that the highway interchange is completed.
Alternatives for Balancing
Conservation/Preservation And Economic Development
The Team felt a strong sense of irony in being asked to consider how a sustainable community could be created in Shirakawa-go, since until fairly recently it had been a stable and sustainable place. In large measure, the delicate balance was upset by outside forces. The Village leaders now face the difficult challenge of creating a new way of integrating their distinctive culture, economic activities and environmental resources that will be sustainable over the long-term. The Village's tradition of self-reliance and conservation can be used to help identify sustainable economies for the future. In addition to heritage tourism there may be a number of other alternative economies for the Village which link the environment, community and economy harmoniously. Based on the Countryside Exchange visit, it appears that the following resources and activities could be worth further investigation.
Developing a Consensus for the Future
While we recognize that the culture of Japanese villages, the structure of their social system, and the relationships between different levels of government differ from that in the United States, we suggest that Ogimachi might benefit from techniques for developing a shared community vision for the future that are practiced in the United States. Since these processes are not part of any formal governmental mandate, they may be convened by anyone who can gain widespread participation. While it is important that local officials be involved, the participation of all community interests is essential as well, to create a vision that incorporates their needs and that they will work to implement. In Shirakawa, for example, we would expect the participants to include (but not be limited to) landowners, farmers, shopkeepers, women, and preservationists. Many residents are likely to have ideas about ways that the Village can combine conservation and prosperity without destroying the special qualities of the area.
In the United States, such a process may extend over several weeks or months, as the participants identify issues and seek to develop consensus on steps that can be taken to create economic well-being while conserving the community's character and environmental quality. These processes often entail the creation of workgroups to research particular issues and report back to all participants.
An economic development strategy that is based on the distinctive mix of resources in Shirakawa could be developed as part of this process. Participants could identify the special skills and expertise which the community possesses that might be developed into new businesses or industries. Outside professionals could review the ideas of the Villagers and help them identify ways to carry out sustainable development opportunities.
Since many issues that arise during discussion of the community's future relate to physical development, it may be helpful to use some form of "simulation" - visual depiction of what a future result might look like. Simulations may be as simple as hand drawn sketches and as complex as computer generated streetscapes that the viewer can "walk through." As an example, we created a simple depiction of how the Village might look if more rice fields are converted to parking spaces. Fortunately, given the layers of local, national and international protection accorded to the village, destruction of the landscape of Ogimachi is unlikely to happen in such a drastic fashion.
Food Heritage
Visitors to the Village will want an authentic experience which can include lodging and meals. The community may want to weave local culinary skills, food dishes and dining experiences into a coordinated heritage tourism effort. Existing restaurants could be promoted and new ones encouraged. Special culinary skills or local/regional dishes could be featured. The French Regional Nature Parks have had great success with the creation of restaurants that serve food produced in the region and prepared in the traditional manner. Certain foods could also be packaged and marketed for sale in Village stores as well as outside of the area. Local agricultural products and fish from the Sho River or an aquaculture farm could be featured. The Virginia Biosphere Reserve in the United States, another area with world-wide recognition, has begun to market its own brand of farm products and fish for sale to visitors and in nearby urban areas. The beautifully prepared dried river fish which we were privileged to eat during our stay (dried so that they appeared to be swimming), are distinctive and may provide some opportunity in this regard.
Traditional Crafts
Tourists are often willing to spend more money if they have the opportunity to buy items that are unique and reflect the special qualities and culture of the place they visit. Although we were assured that there are no special local crafts in Shirakawa, we saw evidence of great skill in weaving, carpentry and working with thatch and rice straw. For example, we saw rice straw "rain coats" and baskets of great beauty and utility (at least to our eyes) that suggested that skills exist that might be adapted to tourist products, targeted to both the tastes of foreign and Japanese visitors, perhaps with the help of a group such as Aid to Artisans, which is based in the United States but works with communities all over the world.
Recreation and Environmental Restoration
The Village and the Valley are blessed with special natural resources - mountains, rivers and streams, birds and scenery - which are attractive to residents and visitors interested in outdoor recreation and nature. The community could consider new businesses which make these resources more readily available for recreation. Residents could explore small businesses serving people interested in fishing, boating or rafting on the river; bird watching; scenic and natural area tours; and bicycling. Area residents could provide rental equipment, serve as guides and interpreters, organize special events which coincide with bird migrations, the fall leaf season, or other environmental events, write guide books and produce local artwork. Many areas have enhanced the qualities of their local tourism and their local economies by "certifying" local guides who can introduce tourists to special natural and cultural features. In addition, some short-term business opportunities may be available to engineers and construction companies to help conserve and restore special natural resource qualities such as stream bank and wildlife habitat restoration, erosion control and re-forestation.
Sustainable Technologies
The architectural, engineering and land management skills of the Village and the Valley are obvious and should be used to explore other new sustainable technologies. Local residents and technical experts could explore innovative ways to use the area's resources to develop sustainable industries. Community-initiated examples of "industrial ecology" can provide ideas about new businesses which could be compatible with community qualities and conservation traditions. Businesses being designed using industrial ecology rely on approaches in which resources and energy flow into production processes, and excess materials are put back into production so that little or no waste is generated. United Kingdom and the United States examples that are proving to be successful include using agricultural wastes to generate energy, aquaculture farming, and recycling plastics and fabric for new products.
Managing Tourism and Its Impacts
We concur with the idea expressed by residents that Shirakawa and its leaders attempt to learn from the experience of other communities that have been the focus of intense tourism pressures. We would also pose the following suggestions.
Summary
The Team came away from its visit with a sense that although the Village has been recognized by the global community as a World Heritage Site, this special place is cherished by and belongs to its residents. The Village is recognized because the residents have worked to conserve their landscape and culture. The recent prosperity which has come to the Village is the result of the community's conservation efforts. Managing the impacts of that prosperity presents a significant challenge, but a continued commitment to conservation will bring sustained prosperity in the future.
Nara and Its Countryside
Countryside in the City
"The world city of creation, of exchange, of interwoven history, nature and cultural living. -Nara Comprehensive Plan
On March 5th, the team boarded a van, then a local and express train before arriving in Kyoto where it changed for a private express train bound for Nara, Japan's ancient capital. That evening, we were guests at a welcome dinner reception sponsored by the Kansai Branch of the Japan National Trust which was attended by representatives from several diverse organizations including the National Institute of Cultural Assets, Kyoto University and other area academic institutions, and the City of Nara.
The following day a meeting to discuss the Countryside Exchange Program was held with the Mayor of Nara, the Honorable Yasunori Ohkawa, and senior members of his staff. The Mayor arranged for the Team to tour several important sites in Nara, including the Japan National Trust's new visitors center, Todaiji Temple and its Daibutsu-den or Great Budda Hall (first built in 746 and reconstructed in 1709) one of the world's largest wooden buildings, and the City's old commercial district consisting of machiya, Japan's traditional wooden Main Street buildings.
That evening the Mayor also invited the Team to the Omizutori festival which has been held each spring without interruption for more than a millennium. During the festival, held at the Nigatsu-do (Second-Month Hall), a wooden building spectacularly sited on a hillside on the Todaiji Temple grounds, we watched priests light twig bundles fixed to the end of long poles, which were then run along the balcony railing, and spun to shower a stream of purifying sparks on the crowds of worshippers gathered below.
The Nara Countryside - Three Feudal Moated Villages
The Japan National Trust arranged a study tour of three Japanese countryside historic "moated villages"- Banjo, Takatsuki and Hieta - whose medieval moats still provide the traditional boundary between village and rice paddies, to examine the relationship of existing compact development patterns to new land use trends and growth and development pressures in the countryside outside of Nara. The Team was introduced to each of the three communities by Professor Masaya Masui who provided background on the community, the issues it is facing and insights into the way local decisions are made in Japan. Although similar in design, the three villages were quite different in condition, appearance and environmental quality.
We reached the villages by car, riding through a forest of signs along a main road leading out of Nara. Beside the Potemkin village of commercial strip development were open rice fields interspersed with clusters of boxy five story housing complexes and new suburban residential clusters. We turned down a narrow road crossing a rice field and came to an area of closely packed houses bounded by a moat constructed in the twelfth century - the village of Banjo.
Banjo was designed to be and has remained, very cohesive and surrounded by rice fields. The streets revealed harmonious homes with individual courtyards and landscaping. Yet the forces of change are becoming evident - a large sports utility vehicle forced us up against the wall as it squeezed its way through the narrow, crooked street. We then noticed garages that had been expanded for others of its kind. On the edge of town a new house - of traditional-style materials, but out of scale for its setting - was under construction. Despite densities which far exceed those of comparable developments in the U.S., Banjo seemed to be a quiet community with a distinct sense of place.
The second town, Takatsuki, differed from Banjo in that some of its moats were filled in, some modern town houses had been built outside the moat for children of the village families and sprawling development patterns were closer. Professor Masui expressed concern for the loss of the historic interface between the town and the surrounding fields.
The third moated town, Hieta, appeared to be undergoing considerable change. New residences were being built, some homes were in need of repair and there was more individuality in architecture and landscaping. An elaborate walk along a portion of the moat was under construction. Despite access to the moat, the walkway appeared to be used very little - perhaps because there were several visible pipes carrying raw sewage out of the houses and into the moat. Professor Masui explained that the old village was grandfathered while new developments had to treat their sewage.
Observations
Nara is a unique city in that it has been designed and managed over time to bring the countryside into the City. The presence of deer roaming free within Nara Park, the vast setting of the Heijo Palace, and the sacred lands of Wakakusayama Hill and the Kasayama and Mikasayama Mountains (which provide the visual backdrop for some of the most important temples) create the impression that the countryside is within this bustling metropolitan area. Long term commitments to open space, on a scale of New York City's Central Park, blend new and old developments with nature and contemplative areas. Nara's experience reflects a long-term vision concerning people's relationship with nature and commitment to its perpetuation.
The City actively works to maintain its cultural and economic traditions in innovative ways. Examples of this innovation include the Mercantile District, which combines vibrant in-city traditional "shophouses" with residences; the Nara Machizukuri Center, which fosters traditional craft techniques; protection of scenery and townscape; and a movement to reform the legal system to encourage independent, voluntary non-profit organizations.
Changes in the direction of Japanese economic and land use policy have created land use trends similar to those found in many similar size American cities. Suburban growth has changed the land use traditions outside the City resulting in sprawl development, conflicting land uses, and degradation of water, air and visual quality. Increasing reliance on automobiles, and related highway projects, has impacted land use patterns within and outside of the city and is threatening the countryside.
The historic moated villages of the Nara countryside offer interesting examples of successful and unsuccessful approaches to high density development. The villages - traditional, original versions of the "neotraditional" approaches gaining force in the United States - appear to be threatened by changes to lifestyle and cultural traditions, (the desire for larger cars and houses), land use policy changes being advocated by the Japan National government (including conversion of rice fields to residential development), and the pressure of population growth.
Concluding Observations From the Japan Exchange
Given the diversity of the places we saw and the number of new colleagues we met, we left with a rich pastiche of impressions. Particularly since we hope and believe that others of our colleagues from North America will have the opportunity to participate in Exchanges in Japan in the future, we briefly note some of our other observations.
Striking Similarity of Problems and Concerns Although Shirakawa's unique architecture and social system earned it recognition as a World Heritage Monument, its problems and concerns were strikingly similar to those with which American communities wrestle. In particular:
The Possibility of Learning from Each Other
In spite of striking and profound cultural differences, we were impressed by the opportunity for each country to learn from the experience of the other. In particular:
Concluding Statement By Michitaro Yamoaka,
Director
"W e are very pleased with the results of this Exchange. As in America, the countryside of Japan, especially around major cities, is rapidly changing. New large shopping centers, with very big parking lots, for example, are being built creating sprawl like in America. Many of the traditional main streets of surrounding villages are struggling to survive in the face of these large stores.
Even in more remote areas highways are being built for economic development, threatening traditional rural areas. This is what is happening, for example to the remote village of Shirakawa, a World Heritage site that is seeing a large increase in tourists which will soon get much larger when a new highway opens. We therefore chose this village as the site for our pilot Exchange.
The American team gave many good examples of how to help soften the trouble caused by tourists while attracting the kind of tourists who best fit in with the town. They also noticed many things taken for granted by local town people that they had forgotten were important, and gave excellent ideas for the selling of local foods and products to help the economy while saving local tradition. The local officials were very impressed by their observations. We also had a roundtable discussion in Tokyo of leading Japanese experts who exchanged lectures and information with the American visitors
As a result of the pilot Exchange, we are more committed than ever to being a partner in this Exchange and look forward to going to America to the first reciprocal Exchange planned for next May."
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