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FCCJ Book Break Tokyo Roji, 10th April 2019

At 10th April 2019 Heide Imai will give a Book Break at the FCCJ (Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan) to talk about her most recent book Tokyo Roji – The Diversity and Versatility of Alleys in a City in Transition”.

Date and Time:
Wednesday, April 10, 2019, from 6:15 pm to 8:30 pm (The talk will be in English)

The FCCJ library committee is offering a cocktail party – “Meet the Author” – starting at 6:15 pm, followed by dinner at 6:45 pm.

For more information, refer to:
http://www.fccj.or.jp/events-calendar/book-breaks/cat.listevents/2019/02/07/-.html

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Workshop City of Tomorrow’: Urban Innovations and the Tokyo 2020 Games

Dr. Imai will present together with Dr. Zdenka Havlova (University of Tokyo) results of the ongoing research project Urban Change and the Tokyo 2020 at the Workshop City of Tomorrow: Urban Innovations and the Tokyo 2020 Games, organized by the IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies of the University of Duisburg-Essen. The presentation which is entitled The Transformation of Tokyo’s Fish Market’s Idetity: Tsukiji, Toyosu and the Tokyo 2020 Zdenka Havlova (University of Tokyo), Heide Imai (Hosei University) will shed light one cenral question: How are the mega events like the Tokyo 2020 reflected in ordinary spaces, sights, smells, and sounds of Tokyo, or in other words how is the macro shaping the micro cosmos of the city?

For more information:
http://aktuell.asienforschung.de/cfp-workshop-city-of-tomorrow-urban-innovations-and-the-tokyo-2020-games/

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Sense of Place -Tokyo, Books on Asia featured Tokyo Roji

Books on Asia, run by Amy Chavez, has included Tokyo Roji in their recent issue which introduced books which are essential reading to understand the great capital city of Tokyo. From historical reads and memoirs by English language authors Edward Seidensticker, John Nathan and Ian
Buruma, the issue also included books of contemporary authors as Banana Yoshimoto, Hiromi Kawakami and Haruki Murakami.

For more information:
https://booksonasia.net/issues/four/

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OAG Walk: Koganecho, Yokohama – from Red Light and Homeless to Artist District

Dr. Heide Imai took on 2 February 2019 18 participants from the OAG Tokyo (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens/オーアーゲー・ドイツ東洋文化研究協会) around the Noge, Hinode and Koganechō neighbourhood in Yokohama, in order to explore the spatial and
social transformation of the district. The neighborhood has undergone major changes over the last 20 years, especially with regard to the use of local spaces. The former run-down neighborhood, which was mostly populated by homeless people, prostitutes and day laborers, has since become an attractive neighborhood for artists, hipsters and all sorts of alternatives. This tour was one of the walks which will be offered to specific groups interested in the transformation of the city, especially before mega events as the Rugby Worldcup in 2019 and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

For more information:
https://oag.jp/events/heide-imai-yokohamas-koganecho-vom-obdachlosen-und-rotlichtviertel-zur-kunststadt/

Photograph by Thomas Gittel (2019).

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OAG Talk and Walk 2018 – Tokyo Roji: Tsukajima’s Backlanes between Tradition and Modernity

Dr. Heide Imai gave in April 2018 a lecture at the OAG Tokyo (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasiens/オーアーゲー・ドイツ東洋文化研究協会) with the title “Tokyo Roji – Tsukajima’s Backlanes between Tradition and Modernity”. After an engaging discussion and Q+A session, the group travelled to Tokyo’s bay area to discover the backlanes of Tsukudajima with their own eyes.

After a delicious Monjayaki lunch, the group walked through a maze of green alleyways which are so typical for this historical neighbourhood, yet have fastly disappeared in the last years due to large construction and redevelopment processes.

For more information:
https://oag.jp/events/tokyo-roji-tsukudajimas-hintergassen-zwischen-tradition-und-moderne/

Photograph by Thomas Gittel (2019).