PRESERVATION OF URBAN CULTURAL LANDSCAPE: CASE STUDY OF ROJI IN KAGURAZAKA, TOKYO

Abstract

The Landscape Law, introduced in Japan in 2004, has granted the municipal governments the regulatory power to protect cultural landscape they wish to preserve. Due to its wider coverage, the law can technically protect the landscape developed through the secondary and tertiary industries, which theoretically includes the urban cultural landscape. However, until today, no significant cultural landscape is officially designated in its capital city Tokyo, although, such urban neighborhoods with historic sense of place still exist and are highly appreciated. By examining the fifteen-year community’s effort to preserve roji (alleys) and its landscape in Kagurazaka in central Tokyo as a case study, this paper aims to examine the achievement and limitation of the community’s advocacy efforts. In conclusion, this urban community has rather viewed its landscape as a favorable living environment than cultural resources, while the academic research recognized it as historic resource and urban cultural landscape. To better preserve the urban landscape as living environment with authenticity of the place, two approaches need to be combined in the future.