Placemaking and pastoral park planning in Japan: the Showa case

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to critically assess how a National Government Park in Tokyo aims to commemorate the first 50 years of the Showa era (1926–1976), a time of drastic upheaval and societal change, with a naturalistic landscape.Design/methodology/approachThe author investigated the park by conducting a literature review, making observations in the park on multiple occasions, conducting a survey of and interviews with park users and compiling photographs.FindingsThe author found that the park nostalgically highlights the early 1950s as the essence of Showa Japan. These few years represent a lull between the two Showa-era upheavals of war and rapid development and urbanization, and symbolize a last flowering of Japan’s 2,000-year-old agrarian way of life. The nostalgic presentation of Japan’s rural essence presents, the author argues, a different nationalist narrative than the military-glorifying variant that has gained traction since the end of the Cold War.Social implicationsAccording to critical theorists, society and space are dialectically related and mutually constitutive. The nationalist vision of a landscape, then – including the park’s landscape – has potential to inform and help shape social beliefs and values.Originality/valueWhile Japanese nationalism is a major topic among Western academics, the literature on nationalist landscapes in Japan – with the exception of “obviously” symbolic sites, such as Yasukuni Shrine – is extremely limited. This paper helps fill the gap.