Opinion Renewal - a Japanese trait to be proud of By Juliet Hindell	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
新しさを求めること 最近、六本木の街が変わり始めている。どうやら大掛かりな再開発が行なわれているようだ。日本は、伝統的なものを大事にするイギリスと比べて何かをどんどん新しいものに変えていくことをいとわないようだ。そしてそれが悪い傾向であるとは一概には言えない。

A major transformation is taking place in Tokyo: the rebuilding of a large chunk of Roppongi by developer Minoru Mori. I can see some of it going up from my window as I write. There is a tangle of cranes on the horizon and one high-rise building that has changed my view rather dramatically.

The area will include several massive office buildings, cinemas, restaurants, housing and even a branch of The Museum of Modern Art, New York. It will change the tone of the area from a slightly sleazy nightlife mecca to a swish metropolis.

It has taken Mori years to acquire the land on which this new development is going up. He bought land from individual home- owners and businesses lot by lot.

Some foreigners (especially the British) are shocked that buildings in Japan get knocked down and rebuilt so often. It's true, a number of quaint, traditional and old Japanese houses went under Mori's bulldozer. If the same scale of development had been proposed in central London, the property developer would have had to build around so-called "listed buildings" — structures that are protected from demolition because of their historical or architectural importance. Britons' love and respect for old buildings is one reason why central London is so hideously congested; no new roads can be built without knocking down a slice of our preciously guarded history.

But I think there is much to be said for the Japanese approach, where buildings are rarely regarded as things that will be there for much more than a generation. Some key buildings, of course, should be saved, such as the important temples of Nara or Kyoto, but as I look out of my window I can't see one building that I would rate as architecturally impressive enough to stand the test of time. The view from my family's house in London is entirely different, being dominated by Dulwich College, a beautiful Victorian edifice. I would not suggest that it be knocked down anytime soon.

But at some point, it may become a crumbling ruin that is not practical as a school building. In Britain, at the moment, it could not easily be removed. Regulations aside, public protests to save both old buildings and unspoiled bits of countryside are very powerful and often successful.

The British love old things. That has its good side. We keep things from generation to generation, which gives us a sense of history. It's also environmentally sound. For instance, in my family, we have a dining table that dates from the 1920s. We have no intention of throwing it out for a new one. The piles of newish TVs and electrical goods that end up in the rubbish tips of Japan would be inconceivable in Britain.

But the British habit of saving buildings and things goes too far. It stifles progress. Each generation should have its own monuments and style. Many people in Britain feel the country is stuck in the past in many respects. Some might argue on the other hand, that Japan's passion for Renewal also goes too far, especially when you look at the concrete jungles that most Japanese cities have become.

The Mori development in Tokyo has yet to be finished. I am eager to see whether it has style, as well as size and modernity. The irony is that while I am praising Japan's openness to the new, I hear that the Mori buildings are intended to last about 100 years. Let's hope they stand the test of time.

Shukan ST: Feb. 15, 2002

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