Japan Architectural Tour

When I was planning the Japan trip, the theme of the trip came fairly obvious to me. It was going to be an architectural tour, and mostly contemporary ones at that. While I did enjoy many of the popular attractions like the Osaka Aquarium, popular shopping districts, and eateries, the one thing that stayed consistent throughout the trip was the architecture. So starting out from Osaka, I went to first go visit the Sayamaike Museum.

I immediately fell in love with the site. The museum is situated just right below the hilltop and over the hill is a lake with a park around it. Coming from the subway station, you pass through a humble neighborhood of small houses and narrow, twisted roads. But as you climb to the hill, the view opens up and at the far end you can see the top part of the museum and adjacent to it is the lake and the park. Though the museum complex is fairly big and as dramatic as it can be once you enter, with a waterfall onto your left and right, it blends in quietly with the neighbor around it. The Sayamaike Museum, built in 2001, was my first encounter with one of the many buildings designed by the architect Tadao Ando. Afterwards, I headed straight to another museum by Tadao Ando. This one was a little far and hard to get to, but I got there just in time before the time of last admission.

Chikatsu-Asuka Historical Museum is located on a mountain-side. By subway, from the center of Osaka, it takes a good hour and thirty-minutes to just get there. And even when you get there, you need to hike fifteen minutes or so before reaching the museum. The plan of the building is quite simple. The roof is utilized as a staircase and also allows for few sets of emergency exits as well. The view is quite good, too. Inside the building is a spacious 2-floor, including the basement, exhibition space with a mix of wood and concrete interiors. At its center is a glassed roof where the light reaches a 15-foot-tall stone pagoda structure, the center piece of the museum. After this museum, I went to the downtown part of Osaka and grabbed my first bowl of ramen in Japan.

The next day, I went to visit the Ozayamaki Museum in Kyoto. Yet another architecture by Tadao Ando, but this one was a small extension project. So, the viewing time may feel sparse but the traditional residential-building-turned-into-museum blends with Ando's concrete mass quite nicely. It's the form more so than the colors or the texture. I also enjoyed the surprising number of contemporary exhibition found at the museum. But more so than the museum itself, I especially enjoyed my walk to the museum from the subway station. Crossing a bridge, walking through tile-roofed wooden houses, across the train tracks, hiking up the mountain, the forest of bamboo trees, and handicraft work of masonry around the tunnels and the floor, I quietly wondered how it must feel like living here and whether I'd ever get a chance to. Coming back from the museum, I grabbed some takoyaki, or grilled octopus.

This is the Komyo-ji Temple, also designed by Tadao Ando. Yes, four buildings in a row by Ando. By now, you might be thinking I'm obsessed with Ando's works. I am, to somewhat degree. When I was planning for this trip I wanted to get a good, modest survey of the contemporary architecture scene of Japan. Of course, I only had 10 days, but the more popular and well-known architecture should suffice, I thought. But I also wanted to get a good overview of one specific architect as well and that was Tadao Ando for me. So this Komyo-ji Temple, located on west side of Shikoku Island, was a must visit for me. The shrine, situated inside the central square wooden structure, is connected by a bridge from the entrance building. The wooden temple rests on a moat while the concrete mass protects the water and the temple from too much exploited view. Being so excited as I was, I didn't even remember to take a photograph of the entire building as I entered its grounds. So I have no photo of the entire complex. Ah, well. After my visit here, I went directly to Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art located east of the temple, on the same island.

I want to say so much about this museum and the exhibition I saw here. Pity I only have so much time and even as I write this post, I know a paragraph per single architecture doesn't do them justice. But hopefully, I can manage the essentials and move along. This museum was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi in 1991. While the planning of the museum doesn't allow too much room for flexibility and mobility, it emphasizes playfulness, combined with carefully chosen and displayed exhibition. In my opinion, the highlights of this museum have to be its well programmed atrium and the spaciousness of its galleries. After my Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum visit, I headed west to Hiroshima where I took a bath, snacked on some candies while watching a late-night Japanese show, and dreamt of concrete walls.

Early in the morning, the next day, I headed out to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. There, you can find the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum designed by the architect Kenzo Tange in 1955. His first major project. It's a yet-another concrete structure, but much more rigid, stark, and brutal than ones by Tadao Ando. At the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, you get a clear grasp of the rationale for the planning of the building and its choices for materials. Its strong edged lines speak of determination and a new sense of rationality towards art and science. Its open corridors and passages at its ground floor speak of invitation and access to the park. Adjoining the museum, the surrounding buildings have adopted similar color and scale as well. But Hiroshima, in general, is a very gray city. The gravity of such tragedy is not something anyone can take lightly.

Next stop after the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was the Hiroshima City Naka Incineration Plant. Located at the most southern part of the city, the incineration plant is a massive steel case with glass interiors. Forget the architecture. It's an amazing feat to just sit and watch, and learn about the incineration plant. The hall, which stretches from the north entrance to its south entrance, is named 'ecorium'. The words ecology and atrium fused together. Designed by Yoshio Tanguichi in 2004, the architect clearly wanted to publicize and attract visitors to learn about the city, the incinerators, and ultimately the environment. Well, after visiting I can say that I would've never thought that visiting an incineration plant could feel so relaxing. Like a walk in the park, pun intended. So soothing.

Leaving the incineration plant, I noticed it was nearing noon. I was a little hungry, so I dropped by 7/11 to grab an onigiri. The last photo of the incineration plant marks 11:34:35 a.m., Feb. 1, 2011. 4th day of my trip.