Buy Nothing Day Japan

So reads the purpose statement of Buy Nothing Day:

Provide a moment of pause in the production-consumption routine. Find alternatives to a shopping-centered life-style. Draw attention to the social, economic, environmental and psychological effects of overconsumption. Promote ecological economics (local and environmentally responsible business, non=GNP indicators of wealth).

Buy Nothing Day 2009 PV by Illcommonz

All over the country, individuals and organizations are planning special events to alert people to the problems related to irresponsible buying customs.
Ikuko, a member of the artistic group NU★ie, announces that they will organize workshops in Sapporo, in the northern island of Hokkaido. One of the workshops, for example, will consist of the production of useful objects by recycling cast-off products.

大量生産・大量消費。買い物すること、消費することに慣れきってしまっている生活を1年に1度だけ、ちょっと見直す良い機会。
「無くてもいい物は買わない日→無買日」です。
カナダから始まったこの運動は今や世界同時多発アクション！の日となっています。
さっぽろでも何かしたいな…と思い、イベントをやることにしました！
その名も・・・。
～無買日！タダを楽しむ休日～

Blogger zawasawa reflects on the meaning of ‘culture' and what are conventionally called cultural products.

僕たちは色々な「楽しみ」を買ってきた。そういう「楽しみ」は、だいたい文化産業と呼ばれるテレビとか娯楽産業とかのプロの連中が作った物だ。僕たちは受け身の消費者で、まぁ、せいぜい参加者といったところだ。CDを買い、映画に行き、イベントに参加する。ハリウッドやニンテンドーが、靴工場が靴を作るみたいに「文化」とやらを生産して僕らに供給してくれているわけだ。
でもね。文化というは本当はそういうものじゃない。工業製品じゃないんだよ。文化ってのは歴史的にみれば実はキミや僕らのような普通の人々が築いてきたものなんだ。

Buy Nothing Day 2009 PV-THEY STILL ALIVE by Illcommonz

On the occasion of the Kyoto Buy Nothing Day in 2007, a team of Japanese artists led by activist and video maker Illcommonz (イルコモンズ) produced a short movie as inspiration to the anti-consumerism movement titled 無買日 京都 二〇〇七(Mubaibi Kyoto 2007, Buy Nothing Day Kyoto 2007) .

【あらすじ】 「買うものであなたが決まる(You are what you buy)」という丸井のクレジットカードのＣＭを見たイルコモンズ。「そんなことあるものか！このＣＭは人間に対する冒涜だ！」と腹をたて、毎年、クリスマス・シーズンに行われるアドバスターズの「BUY NOTHING DAY」に参加することを決意。早速、自作のキャンペーン・ポスターをつくり、YouTubeにキャンペーン・ビデオをアップし、さらに、「資本主義への日々の投票用紙」であるレシートで覆われたマネキンまでこしらえるが、それでもまだ腹の虫がおさまらない。そこで、毎年、「BUY NOTHING DAY」に京都四条河原町の阪急百貨店前で行われる「禅タ・クロースの座禅」イベントに参戦。はたしてそこでイルコモンズが見たものは何か？　そして、「僕らがどんな人間かを決めるのは何なのか？」という問いにイルコモンズが出した答えは何か？現代美術家で民族誌家でメディア・アクティヴィストのイルコモンズが、クリスマスに贈るヒューマン・ドキュメント」

What are you? By Flickr id: Ripplet.jp

Beckii Cruel started to gain popularity at the end of this year thanks to some videos posted on YouTube where she appears dancing in her room, to the tune of anime songs, attracting the interest of inveterate fans of anime and manga.
After becoming a celebrity on the Internet as user xBextahx, she was invited to perform in Akihabara, the district in eastern Tokyo that is widely acknowledged as the symbol of the otaku culture [en].

bluecafe09k48 sums up Beckii's profile for us.

イギリス・マン島在住の美少女、１４歳ですね～。
マンガ「フルーツバスケット」を読んで以来、
日本のオタク文化に嵌ったのが３年前とのこと。
ベッキー・クルーエル自身が日本のアニメソングなどで踊っている動画を
ＹｏｕＴｕｂｅで公開したのが今年の３月くらいから。
「男女」がニコニコ動画に転載されたのが５月頃で、人気が爆発。

PV of Danjo (男女)

Beckii Cruel's popularity is certainly a Japanese phenomenon, as demonstrated by the fact that the only Wikipedia entry on her is in Japanese. However, the word of mouth has spread also among those foreigners who are passionate fans of Akihabara and the otaku culture in general.

GodLen, at Animevice. com, for example, comments with a bit of mock jealousy on the British idol's career.

Beckii Cruel, oh how I wish I were her, for she is the Cinderella story of the otaku world. This 14-year-old girl from England has won over the hearts of moe-loving otaku in Japan by posting videos of herself dancing to anime and Jpop songs on youtube. Yesterday she had the opportunity to dance in front of over 600 fans at the Enta Matsuri in Akihabara; amazing, and it all started with a youtube video. Now she has a DVD coming out in Japan (which you can pre-order now) that features her dancing her dance, and being overall moe.

Sankei News interview to Beckii Cruel at Akihabara Enta Festival

Beckii Cruel, who was recently chosen by candy and sweets maker Lotte to promote the Fit's Dance Contest together with other celebrities, performed live for the first time at Akihabara Enta Festival on October 25 [here are some pictures of the show].

鹿の角きり (Deer antler-cutting ritual) by Flickr user merec0

Unmissable by any visitor, the deer in the park are beloved by many, considered a nuisance by some, but are assuredly among the most symbolic images of Nara and Nara Park. The deer can often be found walking (typically calmly) on the streets, sidewalks, and public parks, and are a visible part of the daily commute for the countless people living nearby. It is interesting then, to consider the practical side of dealing with a small army of animals congregating in a relatively small area. There are benefits, such as tourist adoration and the natural merchandising, but there are dangers and public concerns to be addressed - this is where the antler-cutting ceremony comes in.

Originally a task carried out by the authorities at Kōfuku-ji temple, the ceremony is now an annual event carried out by Kasuga Shrine, and organized by the Foundation for the Protection of Deer in Nara Park. Some introductory information from the event organizer's website:

古都奈良の秋を彩る勇壮な「鹿の角きり」は、江戸時代初期　寛文11年（1,671年）より、今日までおよそ330年あまりにわたり、受け継がれている伝統行事です。
発情期をむかえた雄鹿の角により、町民が危害を受けたり、鹿がお互いに突き合って死傷することを防ぐため、当時鹿の管理者であった「興福寺」が、奈良奉行の要請を受け、「鹿の角きり」を始めたと伝えられています。

Making the fall season of Japan's ancient capital, Nara, all the more lively, the thrilling “Shika no tsunokiri” is a traditional event passed down and carried on for more than 330 years, since its inception in the year 1671, in the early Edo Period (Kanbun Era). In the mating season, bucks (male deer) are known to run wild, and inflict potentially lethal harm upon the townspeople and each other. It has been said that in order to prevent such occurrences, Kōfuku-ji temple, under the orders of the Nara magistrate's office, first initiated the antler-cutting ceremony.

Nara's economic newspaper wrote up a descriptive article on the event, and included some great specifics on what physical considerations are made during the ceremony.

角は大きいもので約50センチ、重さは1.5キロにもなる。角が三又に分かれた4歳以上の鹿を対象として1日に約15頭の角を切る。体調により出血することはあるものの、完成している角には神経が通っておらず痛みはないという。

The antlers can become quite large, at roughly 50cm long weighing around 1.5kg. On a single day, around 15 deer have their antlers cut, and the target deer for cutting are those over the age of 4 with antlers branching off into three ‘horns'. Depending on their physical condition, blood may be drawn, however apparently a fully grown antler no longer has any nerve sensitivity, and thus there is no pain.

The article goes on to summarize the state of, and present issues facing the deer of Nara.

奈良公園の鹿は今年7月現在で、雄196頭、雌705頭、小鹿151頭の計1,052頭。昨年より76頭少なくなり、3年連続で減少している。この1年間で死亡した鹿は357頭を数え、中でも疾病で死亡した鹿は179頭と過去最多となっている。疾病の主な原因として、公園内に捨てられたゴミや、人間が与えた鹿せんべい以外の食べ物よる中毒が挙げられる。また、（人が）鹿をいじめたり追い掛け回したりされることによるストレスで命を失うこともあるという。

As of July 2009, there are 196 adult males, 705 adult females, and 151 fawns adding up to 1,052 total deer living in Nara park. Their numbers have been decreasing for three years straight however, this year seeing a drop of 76 deer compared with last year. Over the past year, 357 deer have died, with 179 deaths being attributed to some form of illness, the highest number yet recorded. Issues have been raised with litter in the park, as well as the feeding of inappropriate (and potentially poisonous) food to the deer as leading causes of the increasing disease-fueled death rate. As well, it is said that when people harass the deer and chase them around, it can be mentally stressful to the animals and negatively impact their life span.

Kyoto University professor Noburo Ogata wrote up a brief piece on the history of Nara's deer populace, addressing one of the fundamental reasons the animals have continued to live safely in the region for so long.

The history of the shrine compiled in medieval times indicates that Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto, the first of the shrine’s four deities was invited from Kashima (Ibaraki prefecture) and arrived riding a white deer in 768. Accordingly, the shrine and Kôfuku-ji, an associated Buddhist Monastery which exercised power over the Yamato Province, began to insist on the divinity of the deer inhabiting the Kasuga Hills.

The event was extremely crowded in the afternoon on the Sunday, and likely throughout most of the event's duration. Subsequently, quite a large number of individuals blogged about it.

Morinomiya-san covered some background details of the event, plus put forward his opinions and perspective as a photographer of the event. He took some great photos, visible in his blog post.

鹿は必死で逃げまどい興奮しているので、とても危険です。
それだけに実際に現場で見ると、凄い迫力を感じます。
写真は絶えず場内狭しと逃げまくる鹿を追って撮ったため、多少ブレてしまい、それはどうかご勘弁いただきたいと思います。
鹿にとっては少し可愛そうな気もするのですが、鹿の角きりは、人と鹿が共に暮らして行くための苦肉の策だったのでしょう。

The deer naturally become quite agitated, and in their frantic attempts to escape, present a significant danger.
Only in seeing the event first hand can you really appreciate the impressive force required to restrain the deer.
I hope you'll forgive the blurry pictures, following the deer running wildly in the small arena to get a photo made for a challenge.
I feel that while for the deer, the antler cutting is an unfortunate process, it was surely established as the only viable means of allowing humans and deer to live safely together.

Peperre also went, and provided some interesting photos along with his description of the event.

走っているところに角に紐をひっかけて・・・
…
で、神職さんが清めたお水を鹿に飲ませて

それからのこぎりでギコギコと切っていきます。

『獲ったどー！』

ちょっと遠目で見辛いのですが、逃げ回る鹿を勢子さんたちが

一生懸命捕らえようとする様は迫力があってとっても面白かったです☆

While the deer is running away, they toss a rope towards the horns…
(Once caught) the Shinto priest has the deer drink purified water, and uses a saw to cut off the antlers.
[Got ‘em!]
It was a bit tough to see from afar, but watching the forceful hunters (seko) working so hard to chase the escaping deer was extremely entertaining!

In considering the repurcussions of sawing off the chief visual object of masulinity the male deers have, one does feel concerned about their prospects of future mating (as virtually every blog and article linked above addresses at some point), but in looking at the male/female ratio of deer in the park… with more than 3 females for every male, I don't think it's an irreconcilable problem!

Note: The post was translated in its entirety with permission from the blogger. All links were added by Tomomi Sasaki for reference.

You know how the online community is sometimes wowed with the emergence of services with new technologies and ideas like Google Maps, Google Earth, and YouTube? The one that I'm looking forward to the most is “Automatic Translation”.

Right now, if an English site comes up while you're searching (in Japanese), there's a little button that says [Translate this page]. Yes, the translation is still very underdeveloped. I'm not asking for it to be perfect, but wouldn't it be exciting if the translation was just “a little bit better” AND automatic?

‘Tower of Babel' by flickr user ThomasThomas (Tower of Babel By Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 16th century.)

It would be fantastic if whenever I did a search for something in Japanese, Google would retrieve results from all of the languages of the world. For example, a search for “鶏肉 トマト レシピ (chicken tomato recipe)” would retrieve chicken and tomato recipes from all over the world with all of the results being displayed in Japanese. Recipes from French Italian, Chinese, Arabic cuisine, originally written in that language would show up in Japanese on the Google results page.

Then, let's say there was a blog by an Italian farmer's wife with a post called “Family recipe for tomato chicken pasta”. And the translation might not be perfect but it would be readable and have photos so I could nod along as I read the post, and perhaps I could even try cooking that dish.

And then and then! If the pasta was really good, I might comment on her blog saying, “I'm Chikirin from Japan, nice to meet you! I REALLY loved your pasta recipe <3 !!!”. And she'd be able to read it in Italian. Remember, it'd just BE in Italian, since it was automatically translated for her.

I want to live in that world of automatic translation.

It would be so much fun. A search for “wife mother-in-law troubles” might let you learn how the problem manifests itself in other countries. Or a blog about erotic games (エロゲー eroge) might attract a comment from a faraway land like Honduras, saying “What's an EROGE?” Or if you searched for “pirates”, you might accidentally stumble upon an underground Somalian pirate recruitment site… hey, anything could happen!

Of course, negative comments would be translated as well. And everything would be open for rating. Wouldn't this be exciting? How about a site called “Negative comments around the world” Obviously, 2channel would receive a flood of comments from around the world.

What if there was a Chinese junior high school student asking “Who is higher ranked, Hu Jintao or Wen Jiabao?” on a Chinese Q&A site. And then people from all over the would say “You're Chinese and you don't know the answer?” or “Join the communist party!”.

An oblivious American might interrupt with “What? The president and premier aren't the same person?”. And a Bulgarian might chime in with “Where's China? I couldn't find it on Google Earth… is it this island?” and someone might reply with “Nah, that's Taiwan!” and the conversation would veer off. That's the kind of thing I want to read!

Low employment rates among young people is a common issue throughout the world, right? A search with those keywords might connect us with angry Lost Generation youth from other countries. And it would be interesting to learn how youth in different countries expressed their anger.

A Korean student studying in Japan might post on her blog, “On the train today, I saw a woman do her make up routine perfectly during her commute. Japan is so incrediblimnida!”

These days, only important or relevant information gets translated. What I'm looking forward to is a world where even the most trivial and useless information is translated and available to anyone!

TV stations and newspapers broadcast news about other countries but they only cover “important news”: earthquakes, floods, forest fires, or political news. Personally though, I'm much more interested in the kind of information that I've given examples above, more than any forest fire.

In every country, there must be blogs that most people don't care about. (Well, I can't be certain but it's probably the case!) I believe that if everyone, everywhere could read all of the trivial information that's out there, we would truly be able to live together in a more peaceful world.

While it may be paradoxical, “What is truly important is to translate the unimportant.” and a world where only so-called important information gets translated is a boring one.

Cover of the manga 我が闘争 (Mein Kampf)

It is part of a series by the publishing company East Press which in the past has released the manga versions of several heavyweight literary works such as Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov and Marx's The Capital.
Since further publication of Mein Kampf is already banned in several countries including Germany and Austria, the manga Waga Toso (我が闘争), as it is translated in Japanese, has given place to very different reactions abroad and in Japan, as blogger zoffy well sums up.

注目されている背景には、
・本書の著者がナチスドイツの独裁者アドルフ・ヒトラーであること。
・そして、ドイツでは今なお本著作の出版が禁止されていること。
・さらに、内容がネオ・ナチの思想を助長するのではないかといった懸念が世間にあること。
などの事情がある。
これに対し出版社側は、
「有名な本だが、読んだ人は少ない。どんな思想があれほどの悲劇を生んだのか、『悪魔』で片付けられるヒトラーの人間の部分を知る材料になると思った」
と企画の理由を話している。

Two scenes from the manga 我が闘争 (Mein Kampf)

Commenting on this particular manga, many bloggers chose to copy-paste an article published in the daily Asahi Shimbun on September 20th and titled The manga version of ‘Mein Kampf' is a hit. Reactions range from critical to calling it “a historical resource” (売れる「わが闘争」漫画版　苦言も「歴史資料」の声も) [ja].
The same article, translated in English 　by the same paper a few days later, states the cause of the ban by saying that “The Finance Ministry of the state of Bavaria, which holds the copyright to the book, has refused to grant permission to reprint it out of sensitivity to victims of Nazi atrocities.”

However, journalist Yoshio Kisa (木佐芳男), former correspondent in Germany for the daily Yomiuri Shimbun and author of essays such as The Question of War Responsibility - Germany's unaccounted for past (戦争責任”とは何か―清算されなかったドイツの過去), says he does not agree with Asahi's explanation.

だが、発禁となっている本当の理由は、そんなきれいごとではない。出版すれば、ドイツをはじめヨーロッパ各国にいるネオナチ組織の聖典となって、政治的な大問題となりかねないからだ。バイエルン州の州都ミュンヘンのキオスクに立ち寄れば、いくつかの極右新聞が売られていることに気づく。ドイツには、それぞれ数千人の動員力を持つ極右・ネオナチ組織が複数ある。当局は、彼らを刺激しないように細心の注意を払っている。

Kisa, who considers the presence and actual danger of the rightist groups in Japan to be irrelevant if compared to those in Germany and in other European countries, also reflects on the publication of such a book in Japan.
　

日本で今、漫画版の『わが闘争』がどんな意味を持つか、どれだけの影響力があるかはよくわからない。しかし、４０年近く前の訳者の意図と漫画版刊行の意図とはそうちがわないだろう。
　平野氏はこんな言葉も書いている。 　「戦争経験なき世代こそ、この書を読むべきではないだろうか。この書をくもりなき目で読み、客観的に判断することが、この世代にとって必要であり、戦後の教育を受けたものなら、十分な判断力をもって読むことができるのではないか」

　
The manga depicts Hitler as a man obsessed who accuses the Jewish people of being the origin of all Germany's evils. Its anti-Semitic thought is paramount and it seems unlikely that such a flawed figure could lead any reader to feel fascinated by his personality.

As some bloggers pointed out, the manga version of Mein Kampf is an abridgement of the dictator's ideology and may be seen instead, as a different way to be introduced to the study of history. It needs to be supplemented with other sources theternal suggests, praising the interesting East Press publishing project of making manga out of the world works of literature.

何かの話題が関心を呼び、より深い議論や理解に進むことはよいことだと思う。漫画では描き切れていないヒトラー本人の『わが闘争 』原作も読んだ方がよいし、他の関連本を読むのもよいだろう。読書はそのように進んでいくものだ。関連おススメ漫画としては、『マンガで鍛える読書力』でも紹介した水木しげるの『劇画ヒットラー (ちくま文庫) 』もよいし、手塚治虫の『アドルフに告ぐ 』はかなりのおススメだ。

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Shimokitazawa's spaghetti-like mess of streets and train lines evoke passion among some, frustration among others. The area has earned a name for itself as a breeding ground for creative young artists with its dozens of small theaters, art galleries and music venues. While eccentric characters like Rikimaru Toho fit perfectly into this urban environment, others see the maze of narrow streets as a dangerous fire hazard and a giant urban congestion knot in need of unwinding.

Planned route through Shimokitazawa (Subsidiary Route 54)

The entire area happens to lie in the path of a would-be thoroughfare running through Shimokitazawa to Shibuya, originally set forth in a “War damage revival plan” drafted all the way back in 1946. After several changes, that plan was brought back to life in 2003 and demolition and construction work has been slated to start in 2010. Should it be executed, the plan will split Shimokitazawa apart with a 26-meter wide expressway, Subsidiary Route 54 (補助54号線).

While the basic shape of those redevelopment plans had been known for some time, it was only a few weeks ago that the first glimpses of the new design finally emerged on the blog of Kuniyoshi Yoshida, a local landowner and head of the Shimokitazawa South [ja] shopowners' union. Comments which began to appear on the blog, blasting the new design for its failure to respect the Shimokitazawa atmosphere, were swiftly deleted, but hostility against the plans only grew.

New Shimokitazawa Station design

In a blog entry [ja] that drew a large response [ja], blogger and writer Hideaki Matsunaga [ja] explained why:

リリー・フランキー氏をはじめとして、下北沢の文化や町並を愛する人たちが、下北沢再開発に反対の意見を表明している。そこには、住人も、住人以外も含まれる。しかし、今、下北沢で何が起こっているのか、なぜこのデザインがこんなに反発を受けるのか、その経緯について簡単にまとめてみる。

The blog entry starts with a bit of history:

下北沢は「Ｘ」の交点に当たる。新宿から伸びる小田急線がその一つのラインであり、渋谷から吉祥寺に伸びる京王井の頭線がもう一つのラインである。新宿・渋谷・吉祥寺、そして小田急線で成城の東宝撮影所や祖師ヶ谷大蔵の円谷プロ旧本社などとつながる交点、それが下北沢である。

(Note: all photos of Shimokitazawa reproduced with permission from the blog of Hideaki Matsunaga.)

かつて農村地帯だった駅周辺は次第に郊外の宅地化していった。やがて、横光利一、東郷青児、宇野千代、萩原朔太郎、斎藤茂吉らが住み、「下北沢文士町」という要素も持つようになっていく。萩原朔太郎の『猫町』も下北沢地域を舞台としている。この街と切り離せない作家として、森茉莉らもいる。（→萩原朔太郎 猫町 散文詩風な小説）

戦後の闇市の時代を経て、下北沢は住宅地から繁華街へと発展していった。さらに本多劇場をはじめとする小劇場やライブハウスが次々と生まれ、演劇・音楽・サブカルの街、あるいは演劇や音楽を目指す若者たちが多く集まる街となる。

闇市の記憶を残す下北沢北口の駅前食品市場は、やがて衣料品「アメリカ屋」ブームを起こし、その記憶は下北沢に多く見られる古着やファッションの小さな店に引き継がれているといえよう。

迷路のような、とたとえられる下北沢。狭い路地が複雑に走るゴチャゴチャ感あふれる街は、徒歩によって回遊できる空間として親しまれてきた。

この下北沢の街が大きく変わろうとしている。そして、その変化は下北沢を「破壊」するものであると考える人が、下北沢住人にも、あるいは下北沢に来る人にも、非常に多い（一方で、その変化を歓迎する商店主もいる）。

In the next section, Matsunaga points out that there are actually two parts to the redevelopment plans for Shimokitazawa. The first part, which he does not personally oppose, is already underway and focuses on expanding the number of tracks on the Odakyu line and burying them to reduce the number of crosswalks.

The second set of redevelopment plans are of a different kind:

さて、この小田急線地下化工事はすでに始まっているが、一方でこれとセットのようにして進められているのが「都市計画道路補助54号線（以下、補助 54号線）」という26メートル幅道路の建設計画、ならびに下北沢駅前にバスロータリーを造るという計画（世田谷区画街路10号線）である。この道路・バスロータリーが、下北沢の街を根底から破壊するものとして反対されている。そして、小田急線地下化と道路事業がセットで行なわれることで世田谷区は補助金をせしめたと考える人たちもいる。

補助54号線は、下北沢演劇文化発祥の地ともいえる「スズナリ」を背後からたたきつぶし、北沢タウンホールの北側を抜けて本多スタジオを踏みつぶし、下北沢北口の街のど真ん中を貫いて、環七と同じ幅の自動車道で街を分断・破壊しようという計画である。そして、環七と都心を結ぶ道路となる。

また、この補助54号線から旧小田急線路跡地に沿って下北沢駅北口に伸びる道路は、駅前食品市場の雑然とした空間を取っ払って作られる駅前ロータリーにつながる。

In the next section of the blog entry, Matsunaga points out some implications of the redevelopment project:

駅前ロータリーができることで、高層ビルの高さ制限が大きく緩和される可能性も指摘されている。下北沢一帯の建物は低いものが多く、これも歩く街としての性質を生み出しているが、これが一転して高層ビルの町へと変貌する可能性もある。

And he explains:

もちろん、再開発については（今回の白髪爺さんを筆頭に）「地元」でも歓迎する声がある。今回の衆院選前に各陣営に確認したところ、自民党は再開発こそが地元の活性化につながると全面的に賛同していた。民主党は、本当に必要な道路か再調査して不要不急であれば計画見直し、という、どちらともとれる見解だった（一応、無駄を省くという趣旨ではあるのだが、八ツ場ダム中止のように明確な態度を示しているわけではない。ある民主党都議会議員は、「消防車が入れない狭い道は防災上問題」と、事実上再開発賛成を表明している）。みんなの党は、下北沢については詳しくないが、下町風情は残したい、という見解であった。それはさておくとしよう。

この再開発歓迎派は、要するに、今までのゴチャゴチャした下北沢が大嫌いなのである。闇市の記憶を受け継ぐような、北口食品市場が平成の今に至るまで残存していることが許せないのである。自動車が入ってこれないのが発展と進歩を阻害していると感じているのである。

Returning to the original topic of the design for the new Shimokitazawa station, Matsunaga writes:

下北沢という街の記号として存在するもの、たとえばそれはスズナリであり、駅前食品市場であり、車の入ってこない（タクシーさえもなかなか入って来たがらない）「徒歩空間」の路地であるが、そういうものが補助54号線と駅前ロータリー計画によって、文字通り「ブルドーザーでならされようとしている」。

そしてその後にやってくるものとして提案されたのが、よりによって今回の「下北沢駅駅舎整備イメージ案」なのだ。なぜこんなガラス張りの幾何学的な（つまり非人間的な）ものが「下北沢にふさわしい」のだ。「きれいさっぱりすっきりで直線的な、清潔で明るい駅舎」のどこが、ゴチャゴチャくねくねチマチマでジグザグの、雑然としているが活気のある下北沢の街にふさわしいのだ。

多くの下北沢フリークがこの案に対してほとんど反射的に反発を覚えたのは、決して偶然ではない。まさにそれは「今までの下北沢」のイメージ（あるいは下北沢を守ろうとする人たちの持つ下北沢のイメージ）と、「今までとは根本的に異なる下北沢」を作りたい人たちの願望するイメージが、まさに正反対、明らかに対極に位置するものであったことを意味する。

Reflecting on his own relation to Shimokitazawa, he continues:

別に下北沢に生まれ育ったわけではないが、その街の雰囲気を楽しみ、好きになってきた一人の人間として、そんな感傷やノスタルジーを感じている。そして、それを共有する地元の人たちと、そうではない地元の人たち、あるいは外部の人たちがいる。

下北沢再開発問題は、決して（八ツ場ダム問題のような）地元VS外部の闘いではない。街とは何か、街の発展とは何かについてのイメージの対立である。

(In response to many bookmark comments, Matsunaga wrote a follow-up post [ja] in which he clarified his position on a number of points. In particular, he emphasized that while he is personally against the Sub-Road 54 plans, he is not against the expansion/burying of Odakyu line tracks. He also responded to many comments claiming that the redevelopment is necessary for safety reasons.)

Update (Nov. 7)

Some more pictures of Shimokitazawa:

The Suzunari theater in Shimokitazawa (photo by mamacharikinoko)

Building in Shimokitazawa (photo by mamacharikinoko)

Cafe in Shimokitazawa (photo by mamacharikinoko)