-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LANDSCAPE OF TOKYO'S GREEN NEW TOWN Campus Note No. 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________ < I AM GRATEFUL > --------------- \ ^__^ \ (oo)\_______ (__)\ )\/\ ||----w | || || Copyright (c) T. Nihei, M. Suzuki & Z. Ahmed: Permission to use, copy, and modify this document for any purpose is hereby granted. THE DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHORS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES. Publisher: Nihei's Laboratory, Department of Tourism Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Edition: 1st-Mar 2023, 2nd-Sep 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Introduction We live in the western end of Tama New Town. Here we see raccoon dogs, badgers, flying squirrels, owls, bats, and woodpeckers. They remind us of old forests. We call this area Tokyo's green new town. This article is an essay from our laboratory about a landscape in the western suburb of Tokyo (Photo 1). It is written by T. Nihei based on the field excursion report (Kikuchi et al., 2023). Laboratory members helped him to translate his ideas into English. _______________ | | | PHOTO 1 | | | --------------- Photo 1: Landscape of new town, taken from Tokyo Metropolitan University. Source HTTP://2242.MOOO.COM/NOTE/NTF1.JPG Living on the hill, clouds look closer and stars look closer. Exif data (original): DateTime 2023:10:19 17:05:09, ImageLength 2992, ImageWidth 2992, ExposureCompensation -0.7EV, ExposureTime 1/100 sec, FNumber F8, FocalLengthIn35mmFilm 100.0 mm, ISOSpeedRatings 3200. A camera is simply a machine that records light. In this article, place names are written as they are pronounced, e.g., Minamiosawa --> Minami-oosawa [南大沢]. This is because Japanese place names are difficult to pronounce in English (even in Japanese). An exception is "Tokyo," because it is listed in English dictionaries, though it is pronounced as "Tou-kyou." As for Japanese place names, it is difficult to distinguish vowels such as "o," "ou," "oo," and "oh." Even for the Japanese, it is difficult to pronounce Japanese place names in Kanji characters. This is because in olden days, place names were written for privileged classes such as aristocrats and landlords who could read and write. II. Minami-oosawa And Vicinity Minami-oosawa is located in the western suburb of Tokyo (Fig 1). The new town area in the district was constructed during the later stages of the Tama New Town development. Minami-oosawa was planned to overcome the problems in the early stage of the Tama New Town development (UR East Japan Region, 2022). One of the planning concepts is "urban development in harmony with nature." #1 _______________ | | | FIG 1 | | | --------------- Fig 1: Image of Minami-oosawa and vicinity. Source HTTP://2242.MOOO.COM/ NOTE/NTF2.JPG The topography is like a palm and fingers. It is similar to the one in the north Kantou region, where I was grown up (by T. Nihei). Farmers grow chestnuts on the hills there, while apartments stand on the hills in Tokyo. My father in law who runs a small company said, "there are many people in Tokyo, so if you do normally, you will be all right." #1 The meaning of "Minami-oosawa" is "south, large, stream" in Japanese. There are many bridges (and valleys) in Minai-oosawa, so the etymology may be "Minami, ooi, sawa (south, many, streams)." Bridge names retain old place names; Minami-yato (south valley), Koyato (old valley), Sakura-zuka (cherry mound), Kutanbo (9-tan [0.9 hectares] paddy fileds), Tameike (reservoir), and more. III. Walking Routes For Observation (E.g.) When we take a short walk in and around the Minami-oosawa district, we can see how the new town was constructed in harmony with nature (an international student from Vietnam said that his throat was soothed by the clean air). These are recommended walking routes for observation: 1. From Tokyo Metropolitan University https://maps.gsi.go.jp/#16/35.6162/139.3780/ --> Minami-oosawa 5-choume, cherry street --> Minami-oosawa Green Park (Minami-oosawa Ryokuchi) --> Tokyo Metropolitan Oyamadairi Park --> Tank Road --> Keiou Tamasakai Station --> (Keiou Sagamihara Line) --> Minami-oosawa Station 2. From Minami-oosawa Station https://maps.gsi.go.jp/#16/35.6140/139.3797/ --> Minami-oosawa 3-choume --> Shimizu-iri Green Park (Shimizu-iri Ryokuchi) --> Nagaike Park --> Nagaike-mitsuke Bridge --> Mitsukega-oka --> Seselagi Ryokudou (greenery and stream path) --> Keiou Horinouchi Station IV. Development Of Tama New Town Tama New Town was constructed on Tama Hills (Cf. Hiraoka, 2008; Nihei, 2018). In the past, farmlands and villages were distributed in the valleys. Farmers cultivated paddy rice in the valley. They cut firewood from the woods. Coppice trees spread on the hills. During the development of the new town, topsoil was moved and the valley was reclaimed. The topography has changed. #1 #2 The landscape of Minami-oosawa is characterized by the contrast between the hill and the valley: green spaces on the hills and housing lots in the valleys; large apartments on the hills and small apartments in the valleys; pedestrian promenades on the hills and motorways in the valleys. In Tama New Town, large apartments were constructed from the 1960s to the 1990. They are like a housing catalogue. The early apartments were designed with an emphasis on quantity and modernism (the use of concrete, steel, and glass). Minami-oosawa district and its vicinity were developed from the 1980s to the 1990s. The apartments that were built in the final stage of the Tama New Town development were designed with an emphasis on quality and post-modernism, e.g., Maisonette House, Plus-one House, Town-House, Cooperative House, and Skeleton House. And Japanese houses, once called rabbit hutches, have become larger. They consume much money and energy. #3 #1 For example, at Tokyo Metropolitan University, which was constructed on a hill (a ridge), 20 to 30 meters of topsoil was removed on the western side of the campus. The topsoil "Kantou Loam (volcanic ash)" was removed and gravel layer "Goten-yama-reki-sou" appears. The hill was higher than the tall antenna on the building. The area near Uzumaki Park (Spiral Park) is a valley, however, many people consider it a ridge because the original topography has changed. https://maps.gsi.go.jp/#17/35.610248/139.368299/ #2 In the case of South America, Japanese immigrants colonized valleys to cultivate paddy rice (and were suffering from malaria), while immigrants from Western countries created ranches on hills ("creadors" in Portuguese means ranch owners) (Maruayma, 2010). That was a long time ago. #3 Many of the apartments on the hill are public housing. They are managed by the organizations of Koudan, Kousha, and UR (Urban Renaissance Agency). The area near Minami-oosawa Station were developed in the early 1980. It was before the opening of the station. At the time, residents commuted to Tama-center Station by bus. Other areas, including the vicinity of the university and Tank Road, were developed in the end of the 1980s to the 1990s. In the early 1990s, a teacher at Tokyo Metropolitan University applied to buy an apartment in Belle Coline (it means "beautiful hill" in French) near the university. The price was 80,000,000 yen. It was expensive for a public apartment. It was during the bubble economy. He could not buy it because more than 50 people applied and he lost the selection (lottery). These are the data about the Belle Coline: Average floor area: 105-145 square meters. Average price: 401,000 - 520,000 yen per square meter. by Tama-new-town-danchi-zukan http://tamant.s500.xrea.com/index.php?FrontPage Cf. In Sapporo, I lived in a teachers' apartment that was built in the 1960s (by T. Nihei). Each apartment was 55 square meters in size (plus a coal storage). In Brazil, in 2005, I visited a showroom for a new 30-storey apartment building. Each apartment was 200-204 square meters in size and had four toilets (the 140 square meters' apartment in Belle Coline has two toilets). V. Pedestrian Promenades Pedestrian promenades and motorways are separated in the new town of Minami- oosawa. People can walk around without worrying cars. A network of pedestrian promenades allows people to walk to any destination. Pedestrian promenades are broad, allowing people to walk side by side or push strollers slowly. According to the number of pedestrians, the most popular promenades are: (1) cherry street in front of university, (2) residential street leading to Oyamadairi Park, (3) Tank Road, and (4) shopping street in front of Minami- oosawa Station. This street is also used by residents to access public facilities (Kikuchi et al., 2023). Pedestrian promenades connect green spaces that remain on hill slopes. Green spaces make up about 30% of the new town area in Minami-oosawa district. They are distributed like green strips. Residents walk along pedestrian promenades through green spaces and refresh their minds and bodies. Japanese people, who were once called worker bees, now have time to contemplate nature (Photo 2). #4 _______________ | | | PHOTO 2 | | | --------------- Photo 2: Deciduous oak (konara) in Tokyo's new town. Source HTTP://2242. MOOO.COM/NOTE/NTF3.JPG The woods in the new town are darker than those of northern country (Hokkaidou). In early spring, flowers of Sakaki bloom here. Sakaki is an ever-green broad-leaved tree. It is written as "tree, god" in Japanese. Exif data (original): DateTime 2023:10:21 15:22:18, ImageLength 2992, ImageWidth 2992, Make PENTAX, ExposureCompensation -0.7EV, ExposureTime 1/60 sec, FNumber F8, FocalLengthIn35mmFilm 100.0 mm, ISOSpeedRatings 3200. #4 Old people would say "hardworkers like the Puritans" or "hardworkers like the Japanese." A long time ago, active people from (what is now) China crossed the sea and came to Japan, as active people in England crossed the ocean and came to the USA. We may inherited the genes. (A professor from Beijin said that today many Chinese people go to the USA via central and south Americas.) After all, people who live in new towns were migrated from other places. It resembles the northern island Hokkaidou. The people who moved to Hokkaidou in the past got land there, but the people in new towns do not have the land here. We are like tumbleweeds. People do not need much land as they used to. This may lead to the end of geography. VI. Green Spaces Green spaces of various sizes are distributed in Minami-oosawa district. They are the symbol of urban planning in harmony with nature. The largest green spaces are Oyamadairi Park and Nagaike Park. Both have management offices and volunteers to preserve the environment. Oyamadairi Park is located in the western end of Tama Hills. A lake was created near the ridge. It utilizes the spring of valley head. The park retains the landscape of satoyama (neighboring mountain) and provides one of the popular walking courses. Adjacent to Oyamadairi Park, Tank Road runs on the ridge. It is also a popular walking course that offers a panoramic views of Sagamihara. #5 Nagaike Park is located in the south of Minami-oosawa district. The land is a rolling hill on the border between Hachiouji and Machida cities. The park maintains natural ecosystem and traditional rural culture with the participation of local residents. Paddy fields remain only in the park. They are used for education, not for producing food or selling food. #5 About Sagamihara in the middle part of Kanagawa Prefecture and Musashino in the western part of Tokyo, they are covered with Kantou Loam. The loam soil was derived from western volcanoes such as old Mt. Fuji and old Mt. Hakone. During the past 10,000 years, it accumulated one meter in Musashino, and three meters in Sagamihara (by Professor Takehiko Suzuki). VII. Bibliography Hiraoka, A. 2008. "Chizu de yomi toku nihon no chiiki henbou [Geographical changes in regions of Japan]." Ootsu: Kaiseisha. (written in Japanese) Kikuchi, T., Suzuki, T., Nihei, T., Sakamoto, Y., Miyamoto, Y. and Kobayashi, T. 2023. Shizen to kyousei suru new town no machi zukuri: Minami oosawa chiku no chousen [Development of new town in harmony with nature: the case of Minamiosawa]. "E-journal GEO," 18(2), 357-360. DOI 10.4157/ejgeo.18.357 (written in Japanese) Maruyama, H. (2010): "Burajiru-nihon-imin: hyakunen-no-kiseki [Centurial trajectory of Japanese immigrants in Brazil]." Tokyo: Akashi-shoten. (written in Japanese) Nihei, T. 2018. "Regional geography of Japan." Sapporo: Hokkaidou University Press. Nihei's laboratory 2021. Dictionary 1: Oshima & Hiyama. "Hokkaidou Atlas & Gazetteer," (7). UR East Japan Region 2022. "New town jigyou no keifu [Genealogy of new town projects]." Tokyo: Urban Renaissance Agency. (written in Japanese) (END)