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1. The Tokyo Cultural Resources District Vision
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District is the name for the area stretching from thenortheast Tokyo neighborhoods of Yanesen and Negishi to Ueno, Hongo,
Akihabara, Kanda, Jimbocho, and Yushima, all of which are concentrated in awalkable area less than two kilometers in radius.
The district is home to a concentration of cultural resources spanning history, fromthe feudal era through modern times to the present day. These cultural resources
include the culture of everyday life found in Yanesen’s landscape of old machiya
homes and alleyways, the artistic culture of Ueno’s museums and Tokyo Universityof the Arts, academic culture centered on the University of Tokyo in Hongo, popular
culture on display in Akihabara’s manga and anime industries, literary culture foundin Jimbocho’s old bookstores and publishing companies, and spiritual culture rooted
in the traditions of Edo that are still visible at Yushima Tenjin Shrine, Yushima
Seido and the Kanda festival.
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District was spared from large-scale redevelopment
during the era of high economic growth, and maintains its value as a treasure troveof cultural resources within Tokyo. Today, the area holds new potential for an urban
renaissance focused on culture, the environment, and tourism.

2. National and global impact as a model of urban policy
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District will become a global model that will influence
not only the rest of Japan, but also global cities possessing cultural resources, as
an important location showcasing both historical legacy and creativity through theuse of cultural and knowledge resources. The vision aims to induce the following
shifts in cultural strategy and redesign of urban space.
• Create new places, opportunities, and digital venues for the interaction of
manufacturing, art and knowledge• Develop creative local leaders through interactive and creative experiences
crossing boundaries between public, private, academic and industry institutions• Establish and utilize an archive that stores and curates local traditional andhistorical knowledge• Establish an incubation center in the form of a public urban lab to facilitate
interactions between art, industry, and community• Uncover and visualize local cultural resources necessary for the initiatives above

3．Implementing the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision
Utilizing distinctive cultural resources (cultural program)• Establish a project school: develop and employ specialists capable of utilizing
cultural resources to solve social problems• Create an urban lab as a base for culture (art), industry and community• Archive and digitize local cultural resources• Hold a competition for renovating old buildings• Spur a spiritual cultural renaissance centered on Yushima Seido through various
activities• Create a globally recognized rating system for food and restaurants that makeuse of Edo/Tokyo’s culinary cultural tradition• Develop circulator routes as a national model for cultural resource tourism
Investing in infrastructure (urban environment program)• Create walkable routes around the whole Tokyo Cultural Resources District andbetween Yushima Tenjin Shrine and Kanda Shrine• Design pedestrian-friendly streets (bury electric cables, preserve water andgreenery, increase street-side functions)• Renovate and reuse the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden• Create accommodations for foreign students and tourists (including renovation ofold hotels, temple lodging, and pensions in old houses)• Undertake administrative reform: strengthen and relax regulations, reduce taxes
on investment, create local currencies, support programs to preserve and use
cultural resources such as traditional buildings• Promote area management by cultivating and networking cultural leaders
Highlighting local distinctiveness (local program)• Produce a variety of events aimed at revitalizing Jimbocho• Preserve the Yanesen and Negishi area, and utilize and connect cultural
resources• Implement creative activities for a new hybrid culture in Akihabara• Form a creative complex bringing together new creative professionals in Kanda

Tokyo Biennial as a compilation and continuous event
The Tokyo Biennial is envisioned as a world-class event making use of local
cultural resources and symbolizing the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision andthe Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, to begin in 2020.
The Tokyo Biennial will feature a combined total of 10,000 main, co-sponsored andrelated events, including international modern art exhibits from around 200
countries, a project school, a creative industry festival featuring around 100
countries, a Tokyo renovation competition, a Japanese food festival featuring 300
locales from around the country, and a revival of spiritual culture using academic
and religious facilities and the restoration of Yushima Seido. The biennial’s aim will
be to create a new model of Tokyo tourism and to carry on a legacy that enables
professional development, promotes industry, creates community, and fosters
international exchange.

>What is the Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance?
The Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance was founded as a result of preliminary
discussions of the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision that began in June 2014
by a diverse group of concerned practitioners and specialists belonging to thecabinet, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Cultural Agency,
universities, private research organizations and companies.
The Alliance’s goal is to construct a new post-2020 Tokyo by advancing both hard
infrastructure and soft content projects making use of the variety of cultural
resources present in the distinctive local neighborhoods of Ueno, Hongo, Yanesen,
Jimbocho, Akihabara, Kanda, and Negishi in Central Tokyo North (CTN), stretching
between Ueno’s Kaneiji and the old Edo Castle to the south.

Outline of project plan
1. Oversee the vision of the Tokyo Cultural Resources District, compile anddistribute publicity reports, host seminars, and publish related books
2. Establish and manage a national liaison group for local revitalization throughcultural resources
3. Establish and support separate study groups for different event categories andareas, and host related events such as seminars
4. Design and begin to implement a cultural program and investments in facilities
and other infrastructure based on the vision
5. Offer proposals and suggestions for the cultural program of the Tokyo Olympics
and Paralympics based on the above program
6. Promote interaction between cultural organizations and leaders in the district

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Summary of Tokyo Cultural Resources District Vision
1. What is the Tokyo Cultural Resources
District?
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District is the name for the area
stretching from the northeast Tokyo neighborhoods of Yanesen
and Negishi to Ueno, Hongo, Akihabara, Kanda, Jimbocho, andYushima, all of which are concentrated in a walkable area lessthan two kilometers in radius.
The district is home to a concentration of cultural resources
spanning history, from the feudal era through modern times tothe present day. These cultural resources include the culture ofeveryday life found in Yanesen’s landscape of old machiya
homes and alleyways, the artistic culture of Ueno’s museums
and Tokyo University of the Arts, academic culture centered on
the University of Tokyo in Hongo, popular culture on display in
Akihabara’s manga and anime industries, literary culture foundin Jimbocho’s old bookstores and publishing companies, andspiritual culture rooted in the traditions of Edo that are stillvisible at Yushima Tenjin Shrine, Yushima Seido and the Kanda
festival.
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District was spared fromlarge-scale redevelopment during the era of high economic
growth, and maintains its value as a treasure trove of cultural
resources within Tokyo. Today, the area holds new potential foran urban renaissance focused on culture, the environment, andtourism.

2. The significance of the Tokyo Cultural
Resources District●Yanaka/Nezu/Sendagi

3. Steps to implement the Tokyo Cultural
Resources District vision
Making use of distinctive cultural resources (cultural
program) Establish a project school: develop and employ specialists

Nippori

YANESEN: CULTURE OF EVERYDAY LIFE
IN MACHIYA HOMES AND ALLEYWAYS●NegishiUguisudani●Nishikata

Investing in necessary infrastructure (urban environment
program)

●Ueno
Ueno

●HongoARTISTIC CULTURE AT MUSEUMSAND THE TOKYO UNIVERSITY OF
THE ARTS

ACADEMIC CULTURE AT
THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

Okachimachi●Yushima
SPIRITUAL CULTURE AT YUSHIMASHRINE AND YUSHIMA SEIDO●Akihabara

Suidobashi

Iidabashi

Influence as a national and global model of urban policy
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District will become a global
model that will influence not only the rest of Japan, but also
global cities possessing cultural resources, as an important
location showcasing both historical legacy and creativity
through the use of cultural and knowledge resources. The
vision aims to induce the following shifts in cultural strategy andredesign of urban space.
 Create new places, opportunities, and digital venues for theinteraction of manufacturing, art and knowledge
 Develop creative local leaders through interactive andcreative experiences crossing boundaries between public,
private, academic and industry institutions
 Create and use an archive to store and curate local traditionaland historical knowledge
 Establish an incubation center in the form of a public urban
lab to facilitate interactions between art, industry, andcommunity Uncover and visualize local cultural resources necessary forthe initiatives above

capable of utilizing cultural resources to solve social problems
 Create an urban lab as a base for culture (art), industry andcommunity Archive and digitize local cultural resources Hold a competition for renovating old buildings
 Spur a spiritual cultural renaissance centered on Yushima
Seido through various activities Create a globally recognized rating system for food andrestaurants that make use of Edo/Tokyo’s culinary cultural
tradition
 Develop circulator routes as a national model for cultural
resource tourism

POP CULTURE OF MANGAAND ANIME

Ochanomizu
Akihabara●Hitotsubashi/Jimbocho

Measures related to local distinctiveness (local program) Produce a variety of events aimed at revitalizing Jimbocho
 Preserve the area of Yanesen and Negishi, and utilize andnetwork cultural resources Implement creative activities for a new hybrid culture in
Akihabara
 Form a creative complex bringing together new creative
professionals in Kanda

LITERARY CULTURE AT
OLD BOOKSTORES AND
PUBLISHING COMPANIES●KandaKanda

SPIRITUAL CULTURE IN THE
EDO-ERA TRADITIONS OF
THE KANDA FESTIVAL

Tokyo Biennial as a compilation and ongoing event●Nihombashi

PalaceTokyo●Otemachi/
Marunouchi/
YurakuchoＮ

Yurakucho●Hibiya
0

0.5km

1.0km

 Create walkable routes around the whole Tokyo Cultural
Resources District and between Yushima Tenjin Shrine andKanda Shrine
 Design pedestrian-friendly streets (bury electric cables,
preserve water and greenery, increase street-side functions) Renovate and reuse the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden Create accommodations for foreign students and tourists(including renovation of old hotels, temple lodging, andpensions in old houses)
 Undertake administrative reform: strengthen and relax
regulations, reduce taxes on investment, create local
currencies, support programs to preserve and use cultural
resources such as traditional buildings
 Promote area management by cultivating and networking
cultural leaders

1.5km

2.0km

The Tokyo Biennial is envisioned as a world-class event
starting in 2020 and making use of local cultural resources, as asymbol of the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision and theTokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
The Tokyo Biennial will feature a combined total of 10,000
main, co-sponsored and related events, including internationalmodern art exhibits from around 200 countries, a project school,a creative industry festival featuring around 100 countries, aTokyo renovation competition, a Japanese food festival
featuring 300 locales from around the country, and a revival of
spiritual culture using academic and religious facilities and therestoration of Yushima Seido. The aim is to create a new modelof Tokyo tourism, and to carry on a new legacy that will help todevelop professionals, promote industry, create community,and foster international exchange.

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Chapter 1: The Tokyo Cultural Resources District Vision
Summary and background(1)
At the beginning of the 21st century, cities around the world are competing on thebasis of their historical tradition and cultural creativity. Paris, London, and otherleading cities have positioned cultural tradition and intellectual creativity at theforefront of efforts to renovate central districts, attracting tourists and increasing
their cultural influence. Simplistic large-scale redevelopments are now a thing of thepast, and the expression of cultural distinctiveness plays an increasingly importantrole in intercity competition in a globalized world.
Some cities in Japan, such as Kanazawa and Yokohama, have also pursued
cultural strategies to position themselves as “creative cities.” But despite containing
a world-class concentration of cultural resources and knowledge, and a dense
distribution of diverse and abundant cultural strengths, Tokyo has been surprisingly
slow to recognize its own potential.
Instead, the development of postwar Tokyo was defined by the building of atransportation network and large-scale facilities in the south-central and westernareas of the city, symbolized above all by the fevered construction before the 1964
Olympic Games of the Metropolitan Expressway, Aoyama Boulevard, and sports
venues in Yoyogi and Komazawa. This was followed by the construction of highrise offices in West Shinjuku, and since the 1980s the wave of development has
returned to Roppongi, Ebisu, Shinagawa, and Shidome in south-central Tokyo.
On the other hand, the north-central and eastern areas of the city, home of largecommoner neighborhoods since the Edo Period, did not become the target of largescale redevelopment and mostly survived the past half century of prioritization ofroad and high-rise construction. Nevertheless, when the Metropolitan Expressway
was built atop the city’s canals and rivers before the 1964 Olympics, pricelesscultural landscapes including the view of Nihonbashi were destroyed.

(2)
The 2020 Olympics should not repeat the history of the past half century. Certainly,
Tokyo’s distinctiveness cannot be reduced only to the enormity of its population or
economy, nor new technology or consumer culture. Edo, as Tokyo was known until
1868, was already the world’s largest city in the 17th century, and the foundation forJapanese modernity can be found in the city’s roots as both a multicultural
metropolis that gathered people from every corner of Japan through sankin kotai
system (the requirement for feudal lords to maintain residences in the capital), andas home to a flourishing world-class cosmopolitan culture among commoners,
ranging from ukiyo-e prints and haiku to Dutch learning. Moreover, after the Meiji

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Restoration, Tokyo realized numerous cultural achievements that rivaled the Westin architecture, painting, literature, and film.
In other words, this city is filled with an enormous amount of cultural heritage
worthy of sharing proudly with the world. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s
Tokyo Vision for Arts and Culture outlines the idea of "Tokyo as a city of
individuality and diversity, born of the coexistence and fusion of traditional andmodern culture.” Such a vision must be rooted in the cultural heritage ofcosmopolitan Edo, as well as that of Tokyo as a city open to both Asia and theWest in the modern era.
Many of the cultural resources accumulated over the last several centuries in Tokyo
are concentrated in the Central Tokyo North (CTN) district, the area at the heart of
the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision. This area is composed of Ueno, homeof Japan's largest concentration of history and art museums, as well as the Tokyo
University of the Arts; Hongo, a center of academic learning home to the Universityof Tokyo; Yanesen, a popular spot among foreign tourists filled with old shops,
alleys, row houses, and temples; Yushima, a neighborhood of religious and culinary
culture centered on the axis stretching from Yushima Seido, a Confucian Temple,
and Kanda Shrine to Yushima Tenjin Shrine; Jimbocho, the birthplace of modern
learning in Japan once familiar to Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun, Zhou Enlai, and otheryoung leaders of Asia, and today a district of private universities, publishers, andbookstores; and Akihabara, known today across the world not only as anelectronics town, but also as a mecca of manga, anime and game culture. Theseworld-famous centers of high-level culture, arts, and learning are concentrated in awalkable area just two kilometers in radius.

(3)
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has made creating “sustainablelegacies” a guiding principle of the Olympic Games in the 21st century. This
principle is a recognition that the promotion of “creative cities,” a major focus ofdeveloped countries today, must be rooted in cultural tradition, creative talent, andtolerance of diversity. The leading cities of the 21st century will be those that value
cultural tradition and gather talent from around the world based on their tolerance ofdiversity. Reviving a city’s accumulated cultural resources is essential to facilitating
this transformation.
For this reason, restoring the unity of the Tokyo Cultural Resources District as theface of old and new Tokyo, and renovating the area as a center of culture, arts, andlearning worthy of showcasing to the world will undoubtedly elevate the cultural
stature not only of Tokyo, but all of Japan.
Currently, many new movements are underway in Central Tokyo North. In
Yanesen, a new vision of the neighborhood is being drawn up on the basis of yearsof dedicated community activism. The museums and art galleries in Ueno Park arecollaborating with universities to promote a vision of a “Cultural Forest.” The
University of Tokyo is considering how to reorient the university’s campus, which

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has long faced Hongo Dori to the west, towards Ueno and Shinobazu Pond to theeast. In Jimbocho, a strong community organization built around local bookstores isadvancing ideas to revitalize the area, while the district between Yushima andAkihabara has been enlivened by activities in new cultural facilities, especially Arts
Chiyoda 3331 and mAAch ecute Kanda Manseibashi. Once separated areas aregradually being reconnected.

(4)
The keyword in all these activities is “connection.” The Internet has given rise to ahighly developed and ubiquitous information network linked to GPS-connectedmobile devices, and as a result the behavior of people in cities is changing
dramatically. From a pattern of people gathering together around famous facilities,
cities are shifting towards a pattern where each individual, relying on informationfrom the Internet and GPS functionality, moves independently from point to point.
Instead of redeveloping large-scale facilities, we must recreate Tokyo in the 21st
century by imagining the city as a cohesive whole, composed of a countless
number of routes connecting a plethora of attractive places—and nowhere is there
a greater concentration of cultural potential for the city than in the Cultural
Resources District.
Tokyo’s position as a leading global city cannot be maintained only through theconcentration of population or economic power. The current number of foreign
tourists in Tokyo is far fewer than Singapore, and fewer even than Seoul.
Considering the 2020 Olympics in that context, Tokyo should attract the people of
the world by showcasing the irreplaceable value of the Central Tokyo North area,connected to the culture and life of the Edo Period and historical transformation
since the Meiji Restoration. This program to link together the arts culture of Ueno,
local culture of Yanesen, academic culture of Hongo, religious and spiritual cultureof Yushima, publishing culture of Jimbocho, and pop culture of Akihabara so thatanyone can enjoyably walk, stay, and live in the area will be a central pillar ofTokyo’s Olympic “legacy” to share with the world.

National and global significance
1. A contact zone between Tokyo and Tohoku
We should not forget that one of the key reasons why Tokyo garnered support for
its bid for the 2020 Olympics was the emphasis on the recovery from the Great
East Japan Earthquake. Tokyo did not win over the world to support Japan’s dreamof hosting another Olympics through its strength or allure alone; rather, the city waschosen because of the world’s sincere wishes for the recovery of Tohoku.
Therefore, we must plan for the Tokyo Olympics and Tokyo’s future thereafter in a
way that also leads to a bright future for Tohoku.
Among the different areas of Tokyo, the Tokyo Cultural Resources District has aparticularly strong connection to Tohoku. During Japan’s modernization, Tokyo4

absorbed an enormous number of migrant laborers and young workers from thenortheast. Most of them arrived by train, disembarked at Ueno Station, and spreadout into the working-class areas of Taito, Sumida, and Koto Wards or towards
Ikebukuro and Shinjuku to the west. For the vast majority of Tokyo residents
originally from the northeast, Ueno was the entrance to the city, as well as the exiton the road to visit home.
When the Tokugawa Shogunate fell at the end of the Edo Period, the retainers of
the old regime were routed by the new Imperial Army advancing from the west, andfled from Ueno to the northeast, first to Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture andeventually to Hakodate in Hokkaido. In contrast, as Japan modernized and opened
to the world at the end of the 19th century, Western civilization entered from thesouth and west into Tokyo. Commodore Perry’s black ships first appeared in Uraga,to the south of Tokyo Bay, and the new Imperial Army passed through Hakone tothe southwest as it entered the capital during the Meiji Restoration. After the war,
General MacArthur landed at Atsugi Airbase, also located in the corridor between
Tokyo and Kanagawa to the southwest. Therefore, the feudal era escaped from
north-central Tokyo towards the northeast, while modernity flowed inward along theTokaido Road from Kanagawa into south-central Tokyo. For that reason, Tohoku
retains a stronger connection with Tokyo’s feudal past than its more modern
Western identity.
Throughout modern history, Tokyo and Tohoku were never in a dichotomous
relationship, but rather grew connected through the contact zone of Central Tokyo
North centered on Ueno, which developed an ambiguous identity as both a part of
the Tokyo metropole and the Tohoku periphery. In contrast to modern Japan’ssingle-minded faith in the West, Edo was a cosmopolitan city open to the diversityof Japan’s regions. We hope that the Tokyo Cultural Resources District will help toreconstruct these complementary and synergetic connections between Tokyo andthe rest of the country.

2. Escaping from the demographic blackhole
Tokyo needs to do more than simply collaborate with Tohoku. Today in Japan,
more than half of municipalities nationwide are threatened with demographic
collapse as a result of constant population decline. Even core regional cities may
disappear in the 21st century. This shocking projection has been greeted with loudcalls for regional revitalization, but true regional revitalization cannot be achieved
without also changing Tokyo. The Tokyo region has an exceptionally low birthrate
due to the high cost of living and challenging environment for raising children. The
capital has become a giant demographic blackhole, absorbing an enormous
population from around the country and dragging down the overall birthrate. As longas this demographic pattern persists, regional revitalization and self-sufficiency willremain wishful thinking.
Simply continuing widespread redevelopment of the urban core will not help Tokyoto escape the demographic blackhole. Likewise, public infrastructure projects havebeen used to stimulate regional economies and balance out investment in theredevelopment of Tokyo, but the economic structure dependent on public works

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spending is what pushed regional cities into a difficult economic position in the firstplace. To reverse this trend, it is necessary to create a new urban planning strategy
that can connect the legacies accumulated since the Edo Period to a creative
future. In other words, Tokyo should not pursue scrap-and-build large-scale
redevelopments, but instead devise a strategy and organized method to renovate
the city by making use of existing resources.

3. Tokyo as a part of modern Asia
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District reflects Tokyo’s identity not only as a city
connected to Tohoku, but also as a central city of modern Asia. This history is mostvisible in the area between Jimbocho and Hongo. In particular, Jimbocho had a
special impact on the intellectuals of modern China. For example, Lu Xun, whogrew frustrated as a medical student at Tohoku University, returned to Tokyo andestablished residence in Yushima, and grew into a major literary figure of modern
Asia while he read in the bookstores of Jimbocho. Similarly, a young Zhou Enlai,
who failed at the entrance examinations for several universities in Tokyo, sublet aroom in Jimbocho, where the Chinese restaurant he frequented is still known today.
It is no exaggeration to say that Jimbocho was one of the cultural wellsprings ofmodern China.
Today, the Tokyo Cultural Resources District is also connected to global pop
culture. Akihabara has become synonymous with anime and video games, and isperhaps better known to young people around the world than any other part ofTokyo. Moreover, the electronics stores of Akihabara today attract a great numberof shoppers from China and other places. However, the international identity of
Akihabara has not been linked to the international history of nearby Jimbocho andUeno during the modern era. We have thought about each area’s national andinternational significance separately.

4. The concrete strategy of the Cultural Resources District
As explained above, each of the areas composing the Tokyo Cultural Resources
District has a national and global significance, but separation has kept this common
potential hidden. The area has yet to realize the keyword of “connection.” Tochange this situation and develop the entire Cultural Resource District as a creative
district drawing on its global, national, and historical identities, at least three things
are necessary: 1) attention from abroad, 2) administrative mechanisms including
special zones, and 3) grassroots cultural movements. The 2020 Olympics presents
an excellent opportunity for these three factors to come together at the same time.
Seeking to seize the Olympic moment, the Tokyo Cultural Resources District will
carry out the following concrete strategies to ensure that the “connection” of theentire district leads to the creation of a legacy and creative future for 21st century
Tokyo: 1) create new venues for craftsmanship, knowledge and art to interact, 2)
cultivate individuals who can bring together the public and private sectors andbusiness and academic institutions to activate the local community throughexchange and creative experiences, 3) establish a public urban lab that functions
as a local incubation facility and makes possible synergetic effects between art,

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industry and community, 4) construct and utilize an archive that houses and edits
the area’s traditional and historical knowledge resources, 5) preserve and reuse
historical, cultural, and environmental resources such as buildings and waterways,
and 6) conduct the identification and visualization of local cultural resources
necessary to achieve the aforementioned goals.

5. Creating value through the Cultural Resources District
These basic strategies are not only applicable to Tokyo. It is also possible todevelop an array of cultural resource district concepts in regional cities as well.
Therefore, we can imagine a network between cultural resource districts in Kyoto,
Fukuoka, Sendai, Kanazawa, Kochi and other major cultural cities nationwide. The
Tokyo Cultural Resources District has been conceived as a model for cities
nationwide, together with other visions such as the Kyoto Cultural Resources
Special District that is already underway.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will take place roughly 150 years after the Meiji
Restoration. The first half of this period encompassed the 75 years ofmodernization and militarization, and the second half was the 75 years of recovery,
high growth, and maturation of society. Throughout this century and a half ofmodern Japanese history, Tokyo was—and will continue to be—at the center.
Today Tokyo is at a turning point after this 150-year history of modernization. The
Tokyo Cultural Resources District endeavors to shift our outmoded understandingof cities, development, and culture towards an emphasis on utilizing cultural
resources, renovating local neighborhoods, and producing creative value.
Tokyo Cultural Resources District is an affirmation of the belief that Tokyo’s 21st
century potential lies not in a continued logic of large-scale development,
acceleration, densification, and standardization, but in a new direction of
encouraging medium- and small-scale renovations, reappraising slow-speed local
transport, and maximizing the potential of each area’s cultural diversity. This vision
is not dependent on the investment of major capital and can be adapted to regions
across the country, and therefore carries the potential for Tokyo to collaborate withmany historic cities both in Japan and abroad. We hope that by 2020, cultural
resource districts will spread across the country as a method to connect regions
and cities together.

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Chapter 2: Central Tokyo North (CTN)’s Distinctive
Cultural Resources(1) Cultural legacy of CTN
1. Edo cosmopolitanism
Central Tokyo North (CTN) was once the center of religion, learning, andcommerce in Edo. Yanaka, near Ueno, was home to numerous temples including
Kaneiji, whose pagoda towered over the surrounding town. Spiritual culture also
extended from Yushima Tenjin Shrine to Kanda Shrine. Yushima Seido was acenter of Confucian learning and the area to the south in Kanda was home to a
thriving commoner culture. Warriors and servants from the many domains of Japan
gathered in Edo, enlivening the capital through a flourishing exchange ofcosmopolitan culture that was on display in the central-north districts of Kanda andUeno, as well as the northeast areas of Asakusa and Ryogoku. These areas wereboth connected to the diverse culture of the many domains and gave birth to newforms of metropolitan culture, from haiku to ukiyo-e to kabuki.
Amid the atmosphere of cultural enlightenment after the Meiji Restoration, CTN
absorbed Western culture while still maintaining its Edo traditions, in the process
becoming a major center of unique knowledge and artistic fermentation. The area’s
cultural gravity was rooted in Ueno, the site of Japan’s grandest museums, theUeno Zoo, and the Tokyo University of the Arts; Hongo, Japan’s center of academic
learning home to Tokyo Imperial University; and Jimbocho, with many private
universities, bookstores catering to students and intellectuals, and publishingcompanies.

2. Jimbocho: the birthplace of modern scholarshipThis center of cultural gravity was anchored at one end by Jimbocho. The great
majority of Tokyo’s universities and trade schools, both public and private, were
established in either Jimbocho or Tsukiji. From the foreign settlement that existed in
in Tsukiji during the early Meiji period emerged the institutions that would become
Rikkyo University, Meiji Gakuin University, Aoyama Gakuin University, and Keio
University. Around the same time, Jimbocho was the birthplace of public institutions
such as the University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, and Tokyo University ofForeign Languages, as well as the private Gakushuin University, Meiji University,
Senshu University, Hosei University, Chuo University, Dokkyo University, andNihon University. The area surrounding these schools soon began to teem withbookstores, leading to the establishment of many publishing companies andprinters and pulling the center of publishing culture from Kyobashi, where it had
been concentrated at the end of the Edo Period.
Later, after the University of Tokyo moved to Hongo and Gakushuin University
resettled in Mejiro, Jimbocho mostly hosted private law faculties, but from the
1910s to 1930s, Lu Xun, Zhou Enlai, and other Chinese exchange students resided
in the area. The high intellectual literacy of modern Tokyo, centered on Jimbocho’s
mixture of newly-adopted western civilization and the cosmopolitan samurai culture8of Edo, is what enabled Meiji intellectuals to represent the concepts of westernmodernity in Chinese characters instead of alphabet. From Jimbocho, theseconcepts were transmitted across the East Asian world by a cohort of exceptional
Chinese exchange students.
The number of university students in Tokyo swelled after the mid-1920s, with mostclustering in Waseda, Mita, and the area between Jimbocho and Hongo, resulting
in the maturation of student culture in CTN. The students attended institutions
ranging from the elite Imperial University to private trade schools, and Jimbocho
became the center of student-related cultural industries, including music and sports
stores in addition to publishing companies. We can also say that the student andpublishing culture of Jimbocho’s bookstore district gave rise to the contemporary
manga and anime culture. Tokyo’s identity as a city of students is evident in thearea’s publishing, music, sports, manga and anime, all facets of urban culture
created by and for the students who flocked to the capital.

3. Ueno: a space of spectacular events
Ueno is the other major center of the Tokyo Cultural Resources District. Kanei-ji,
whose territory encompassed Ueno, was the highest-status temple in Edo and thefamily temple for the main Tokugawa clan. After Edo Castle fell to the advancing
Imperial forces in 1868, the remnants of the shogun’s army fortified themselves in
Ueno and the Imperial forces bombarded them with cannons from the heights of
Hongo. The Ueno area was burned down in Tokyo’s first experience of destruction,
predating the Great Kanto Earthquake or the firebombing of World War II.
The burnt out remains of Ueno eventually became the largest museum park inJapan, home to museums, art galleries and the Ueno Zoo. The impetus for thistransformation was the hosting of the National Industrial Exhibitions, lavish events
held in the Meiji and Showa periods that occupied the space stretching from themuseums on top of the hill in Ueno Park to the fields around Shinobazu Pond. Until
the war, Ueno remained the largest event space in Tokyo, functioning as the site ofexhibitions and concerts, while Shinobazu Pond also hosted the first glider flight inJapan, boat races, and marathons.
Modern Ueno derives its cultural distinctiveness was the existence of two clear
layers: Ueno Park as a site of spectacular modern events, and the commoner areas
near the park that have retained some of the atmosphere of Edo around Kanei-ji.
Time has obscured the few remains of Kanei-ji in Ueno Park, foremost the original
pagoda now enclosed inside the zoo, but a part of the religious culture of Edo canstill be seen at the temples and shrines of Yushima, such as Yushima Tenjin
Shrine, and Kanda Shrine, both of which are over 1000 years old and frequented by
local residents, tourists, and the waves of students praying for success in the yearly
entrance exams. Nearby, Christian congregations later erected the Kanda Church,
Hongo Church, and the Orthodox Holy Resurrection Cathedral, also known as
Nicolai-do. In addition, the town and life of Yanaka, Nezu, and Sendagi (Yanesen)
was spared destruction in the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II to survive
until the present day.

9

4. Student/publishing district and arts/spiritual district
In this way, the Tokyo Cultural Resources District is formed from the connection of
two cultural poles: a student and publishing area stretching from Jimbocho to
Hongo and Akihabara, and an arts and spiritual area stretching from Ueno to
Yushima and Yanesen.
In the past, these two poles were linked on a daily basis by the footsteps ofnumerous literary figures, including Mori Ogai, Natsume Soseki, Masaoka Shiki,
Higuchi Ichiyo, Ishikawa Takuboku, Osaki Koyo, Koda Rohan, and Futabatei
Shimei. For example, the protagonist in Mori Ogai’s novel “The Wild Goose,” basedon the author himself, follows a daily walking route stretching from Hongo to Ueno,
Yanaka, Yushima, Akihabara, and Jimbocho. As a young man, Ogai walked aroundnearly the entire area of CTN on a daily basis. With little automotive traffic and a
web of narrow alleyways, Tokyo in the Meiji Period was a city experienced on foot,and the area walked by Ogai was the very place where the academic, literary andspiritual legacies of Edo continued to live on in Tokyo. Knowing how these literary
figures walked through CTN during the Meiji and Showa periods helps us toimagine how we might experience the area in the future.

5. Tokyo’s shift from the northeast to the southwest
Despite its rich historical and cultural resources, the CTN area became peripheral
to the story of Tokyo’s postwar development, which was centered on the southern
and western sections of the city around Minato and Shibuya Wards.
The southern area of the city was home to large samurai estates in the Edo Period.
These sites became the home of numerous Imperial Army facilities in the prewar
era, which were occupied after the war by American forces and later converted into
public parks or redeveloped as large-scale developments. The expansion ofimperial military facilities towards Setagaya, Tama, and Sagamigahara to the west
also spurred park conversion and road construction. The 1964 Olympics werestaged by making use of many of these large development sites.
When Tokyo secured the right to host the 1964 Olympics, the biggest challenge
facing the city was transportation. The metropolis was unable to keep up with therapid increase in automobile traffic and was perpetually strangled by traffic jams. It
was an urgent priority to create a rapid connection from Haneda Airport to the
Olympic facilities for visiting foreign teams and spectators. As a result, thegovernment prioritized the construction of the Metropolitan Expressway fromHaneda through the waterfront and central city to Hatsudai. National Route 246(Aoyama Boulevard) and the Seventh Ring Road were also constructed. Planningphilosophy at the time emphasized the transition towards automotive society. Just
as the Olympic events are battles of speed, it was believed that the host cities mustbe blanketed with a network of rapid road and rail connections. For that reason,
Tokyo abolished its network of streetcars, narrowed sidewalks, and even suggested
that the first floors of new buildings in the city center should be set aside forparking. Rapid automobile transport was believed to be a trait of the ideal city.
Eventually, expressways were constructed above Tokyo’s canals and rivers and10

major rail lines were also elevated. The Tokyo Olympics was the driving rationale
behind the elevation of Tokyo’s transportation network. As a result, many views
remaining from Edo times were destroyed, and areas of the old city were divided.
As Tokyo elevated and accelerated its transportation network, large-scale
redevelopment transformed the area stretching from West Shinjuku to Roppongi,
Shimbashi, and Shinagawa. The 1964 Olympics pushed Tokyo’s center of gravity
southward, away from Nihonbashi and Kanda towards Roppongi, Shinjuku, andYoyogi. The roads and subways prepared for the Olympics further accelerated thistransition. The shift towards the south was designed to accommodate the increased
speed and scale of modern Tokyo.

6. Divided Central Tokyo North
In contrast, Central Tokyo North had narrowly divided plots of land as a legacy of its
history as a commoner district since the Edo Period and was not easily adapted tolarge-scale development. Today this area, which mostly avoided the wave of urban
redevelopment from the 1964 Olympics until the present day, is regarded as
somewhat left behind by the new Tokyo. Moreover, the connections between thevarious areas that make up the Tokyo Cultural Resources District have beenforgotten, as few visitors circulate around the district and the modern transport
network provides little connectivity between different areas. Even many Tokyoites
do not realize that these areas are so close together.
Yushima is located in the center between Ueno, Hongo, Akihabara, and Jimbocho,
but there is no strong connection along the north-south axis stretching between
Yushima Tenjin Shrine, Kanda Shrine and Yushima Seido. The lack of walkableroads or places to sit is one of the issues holding back the area’s potential. Various
steps should be taken to connect these areas, including establishing paths forpedestrians and bicyclists, starting a unified circulator bus service extending acrossthe three wards encompassed by the Cultural Resources District, and networking
the different alleyways, but today such plans have yet to be put on the table fordiscussion. The cohesiveness of the region remains forgotten.

7. Central Tokyo North’s hidden cultural resources
Nonetheless, 21st century Tokyo’s cultural heritage is concentrated in CTN. Today,
the area located around the tranquil forest of Ueno Park is overflowing with facilities
including Yanesen Kioku no Kura, the arts and crafts exhibition, art-Link UenoYanaka, the Mori Ogai Memorial Museum, the Fabre Insect Museum, theShinobazu Community Center, the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, the Daimyo
Clock Museum, and the Yokohama Taikan Memorial Hall, as well as places closely
connected to literary figures including Masaoka Shiki, Natsume Soseki, Mori Ogai,
Koda Rohan, and Higuchi Ichiyo, religious landmarks including Kanei-ji, Kanda
Shrine, Nezu Shrine, Nicolai-do Orthodox Cathedral, Yushima Tenjin Shrine, andKanda Church, and local resources whose scenic potential remains
underdeveloped, including the spring at Nezu Shrine, Yanaka’s “hebi michi,” andthe canal between Manseibashi and Suidobashi.

11Each of these places is small in scale, but together they hold the potential to createa unique local identity by linking together many locations and building a renovation
network. Our vision is to reconnect the district’s various locales, in the process
reviving the many cultural legacies buried in CTN as the cultural spirit of 21st
century Tokyo.
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District also has potential as a base for medium andlong-term visitors in Tokyo, in addition to short stays such as tourism. Already,Yanesen attracts many foreign guests as an “international tourist village,” while theYushima area holds promise as an “international academic village” where hostyoung people, foreign exchange students and travelers could stay or live for the
medium to long term at a relatively affordable price and satisfy all needs fromshopping, food, living, learning to entertainment. Moreover, Kanda should betransformed into a mixed-use area with work and living functions side-by-side.
These initiatives would carry the cosmopolitanism of the literary figures of the past
into the future as the soul of a 21st century global creative city.

8. Tokyo’s Olympic legacy
Legacy is one of the themes of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This theme necessitatesthat we reflect on the path that the city has chosen to follow over the past half
century. If Tokyo continues to promote ever-increasing speed and scale, the city
could be headed to ruin. With the whole country facing the challenge of population
decline, we cannot place on our bets on the transformation of Tokyo alone into an
Olympic megacity. The Tokyo Olympics five years from now demand that we
discover a completely different notion of the city’s value compared to a half century
ago. Tokyo must create value by showing the people of the world unique culture
and lifestyles that cannot be found anywhere else.
If we can realize a vision where anyone can enjoyably walk around, stay, and live in
the Cultural Resources District area, interacting with the arts culture of Ueno, local
culture of Yanesen, academic culture of Hongo, spiritual culture of Yushima,
publishing culture of Jimbocho, and pop culture of Akihabara, then this compact
zone will become the future center of cultural and lifestyle value in Tokyo.
Moreover, the vision promotes value in Tokyo that is not dependent on
concentration, and could be the basis for creating cultural resource districts acrossthe country through cooperation with regional cities.

12

Chapter 3 — Realizing the Tokyo Cultural Resources
District
The following steps should be considered and implemented in order to realize theTokyo Cultural Resources vision.

(1) Cultural Program: Making use of distinctive cultural
resources
1. Renovation competition for old buildings
Hosting a renovation competition every year to find useful methods for reusing notjust historical buildings, but also older small and medium commercial buildings will
help promote the usefulness of renovation to society, and advance realistic
renovation projects within the CTN instead of the haphazard re-construction of old
buildings. By drawing a contrast with the large-scale real estate developments inthe southern and western areas of the city, such a competition would demonstrate
the importance of renewing CTN’s architectural cultural heritage.

2. Renaissance of spiritual culture centered on Yushima Seido
Yushima Seido, which could be called the center of Japanese feudal and modern
religious culture, will be made into a place to rediscover the many traditionalreligious facilities, universities, and other cultural facilities scattered across CTN
and turn the area into a center for the creation of new spiritual culture in Japan andAsia. Implementing a program to spread spiritual culture with the cooperation of all
the area’s spiritual facilities will help to accomplish that goal.

3. Create a project school to train and deploy knowledge professionals tosolve social issues through the use of cultural resources
Lay the foundation to develop, implement, and systematize a training program forprofessionals who can play a central role in solving local issues through the use ofcultural resources in CTN, and eventually across the entire country. Begin withrecurrent education for participants in knowledge industries and businesses whoare broadly scattered across the area. To achieve its purpose, the project school
should be opened as a collaborative, interdisciplinary initiative between existing
universities, cultural facilities, information and knowledge industries.

4. Establish an urban lab as an activity center for the project school topromote community revitalization and formation of creative industries
Establish a “community art center” as an urban lab (tentative name) in the center of
CTN (eventually expanding nationwide) that will function as a place to train
professionals and develop lifestyles and businesses integrated with cultural
resources. This initiative will seek public support as a national government project,
functioning as a public urban lab to solve local problems and an institution ofcreative activity and professional incubation through the fusion of art, industry, and13community. Participants will be placed in other domestic cities with Tokyo as a basein order to increase the circulation of skills and knowledge.

5. Archive and digitize local cultural resources and promote their use
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District is home to numerous cultural resources(including corporate records) preserved and produced by public and private
institutions of various sizes. These resources should be archived, utilized, digitized,
and networked, with the goal of establishing a National Digital Archive Center andNational Design Museum at the center.

6. Develop new Tokyo culinary culture
Uncover ingredients and restaurants making use of the culinary cultural tradition of
Edo and the innovation of Tokyo, and develop and promote worldwide a new foodranking system focused on connoisseurship rather than cost-performance ornovelty. Collaborate with initiatives to rediscover and create regional culinary
culture around the country.

7. Develop a circulator route as a national model for cultural resources
tourismDevelop a concrete model route for cultural tourism integrated with the latest ICT
that enables visitors to discover the appeal of the district’s combination of distinctive
cultural resources.

(2) Urban Environment Program: Investing in the urban
environment to achieve the cultural program
1. Create pedestrian leisure paths throughout the entire Tokyo Cultural
Resources District
The Tokyo Cultural Resources District is an area that bustled with both samurai andcommoners during the Edo Period, due to the sankin kotai system, trade,pilgrimage, and seasonal celebrations, and was frequented in the late 19th andearly 20th century by Ogai, Soseki, Shiki and other authors and painters on footand by streetcar. Still today, each area has its own distinctiveness focused onuniversities, bookstores, temples, and other cultural facilities, in addition to being
called home by many people. However, due to the increase in vehicular traffic andthe concentrated development of areas around stations, today it is difficult to see
the district as a walkable area of the city with attractive inter-area connections.
Investing in infrastructure to enable relatively low-speed pedestrian, bicycle, andcommunity bus transport between the district’s different areas will promote thepreservation of the urban environment in the Cultural Resources District andencourage the interaction of people and culture. Such investment will benefit
people living, learning, and working in the district, in addition to domestic andinternational tourists, who will have increased opportunities to interact with cultural
resources and producers instead of simply consuming at different tourist spots.

14

1. Establish enjoyable streets for walking(Improve walking/low-speed transport network, preserve water and greenery,rationalize electric wires, build out street-side functions)
1. Improve pedestrian and low-speed transport network
Establish easy-to-walk routes within the district. Consider implementing
bicycle lanes and a bicycle rental system and community buses spanning
Chiyoda, Bunkyo, and Taito Wards.
2. Consider pedestrian-priority streets, reconsider previously planned
roads
There are several road construction projects within the district that arescheduled to be reconsidered as part of urban planning initiatives in areas
such as Ueno and Yanaka. Reconsider road plans to prioritize the area’s
cultural resources and preserve the pedestrian environment and landscape.
Moreover, in addition to public roads, investigate routes to allow circulation
between the premises of Yushima Seido, Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden, theUniversity of Tokyo, Ueno Park, and the Tokyo University of the Arts.
3. Preserve water and green space
Create a walkable network that brings pedestrians into contact with waterand greenery, through the preservation of the greenery on the slope of theMusashi Ridge, the restoration of the waterfront and water-borne
transportation on the Kanda and Nihonbashi Rivers, the former daimyo
gardens and other gardens, green space around temples and shrines, andprivate gardens and plants in alleyways.
4. Rationalize electric cables
Consider burying electric cables along routes where the organization ofcables would be preferable from the standpoint of traffic safety, visualappeal, and preserving cultural resources.
5. Expand street-side functions
Support the development of private projects and public-private projects
alongside pedestrian-priority streets, including the establishment of quiet
cafes and pocket parks where people can rest. Create a local Japanese
atmosphere by planting street trees such as weeping willows, cherry
blossoms, and Japanese maples and flowers such as Japanese morningglories and Chinese lantern plants that are characteristic of Edo. Openbustling stores and markets, bookstores, galleries, and libraries in a manner
appropriate to the locales and consistent with the goal of concentrating andconnecting cultural resources and activities.
2. Establish a route between Yushima Tenjin Shrine and Kanda Shrine
Geographically and culturally speaking, the shrines of Yushima Tenjin andKanda are central elements of the Cultural Resources District, but at present
few people walk to them from the surrounding area. Establishing a desirable
route between them will play a major role in developing a walking network forthe entire district.

15

2. Preserve and utilize traditional architecture and cultural resources(Renovate and reuse the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden, rebuild the Yanaka
Pagoda)• The district is home to numerous traditional buildings from the feudal era andmodern Meiji period, including many registered cultural properties. These places
should be activated as living cultural spaces. Furthermore, a process should becreated to support public and private entities that work to preserve traditionalbuildings.
• Currently, the Japanese and Western buildings and gardens at the Kyu-Iwasakitei Garden in Yushima are preserved and open to the public and play host to
cultural events. Pursue the preservation, renovation, and reuse of this resource,
including the restoration of its original appearance, including the horticultural
facilities such as a greenhouse and vegetable garden that existed when it washome to an industrial magnate.
• The Yanaka Pagoda was once one of the four biggest pagodas in Edo and acultural symbol of Edo and Tokyo that became a model for Koda Rohan’s “The
Pagoda.” After burning in a fire in 1957, the ruins became a Tokyo Metropolitan
historical site, but the local community has long wished for its reconstruction, andmany people have offered to make financial donations. A public account for
donations should be established with the goal of rebuilding and managing thepagoda as a symbol of place-making using Tokyo’s historical culture.

3. Establish accommodations for foreign students and tourists (Renovate
and restore existing hotels, temple lodging, and lodging in old homes)• The Tokyo Cultural Resources District aims to create an attractive and walkablecity, but in order for travelers to enjoy the area at a leisurely pace, it is necessary
to increase the number of facilities for visitors to stay for a few days to a week.
• Rather than construct new large-scale hotels, establish lodging facilities where
people can experience and interact with lifestyle culture and religious culture,such as renovated old hotels, temple lodging, pensions in converted homes,
guesthouses, and independently-run ryokan.

4. Reform the administrative system: relax and strengthen regulations,
reduce taxes on investment, and create foundations
Tokyo’s long-standing prioritization of disaster safety and road transport safety
make it difficult to preserve historical buildings such as traditional wood structures
or narrow alleyways. In addition, there is no comprehensive or area-widemechanism for preserving and utilizing cultural resources. Spatial resources suchas nagaya tenements and shop houses, alleys, traditional wooden houses andgardens, trees, sign architecture, and post-Kanto earthquake elementary schoolsthat gave rise to diverse local cultures are proof of ways of life that have existed forgenerations and a source of local pride. A community-wide process should be
developed to safely preserve and utilize spatial cultural resources in order to16sustainably inherit the town and convey its value to the next generation, newresidents, and visitors.
1. Relax and strengthen regulations to preserve cultural resources
Establish ordinances under the framework of an administrative “special zone”
in the Tokyo Cultural Resources District to relax the application of the BuildingStandards Law and Fire Prevention Law and allow for the protection of historicalbuildings under a plan for preservation and use (Examples include ordinancesin Kyoto, Kobe, and Yokohama).
For example, install fire hydrants that are easy for anyone to use, strengthen
traditional wooden and historical buildings with appropriate earthquake
resistance measures, conduct periodic maintenance, implement anti-firemeasures, and collaborate with local fire brigades, residents, wards, and fire
departments.
2. Special zone for cultural resource preservation and reuse
Make it easier to support preservation and reuse by designating buildings orareas of special importance across Chiyoda, Taito, and Bunkyo Wards.
Take measures to improve safety by undertaking community-wide disasterprevention policies.
3. Invest in preservation of areas of special importance in the Tokyo Cultural
Resources District
In areas where the local community and municipalities can work together, makeuse of the Historical Town Planning Law’s Historical Landscape Maintenanceand Improvement Plan to implement systematic support for the legal
preservation of historical buildings.
4. Create a system of finance and funding supported by public and private
entities including industry and academic institutions in the district
Create systematic mechanisms such as investment funds and foundations
sponsored by public and private sources to continuously support preservation,
reuse, and renovation of historic buildings by private entities.
Instead of one-time subsidies, provide ongoing support for self-sufficientbusinesses through low-interest finance.
• Ex. 1) Create a finance and loan mechanism for the restoration and reuse of oldhouses, traditional wooden buildings, and sign architecture• Offer evaluation and financing of renovation projects (run together withrenovation competition)• Ex. 2) Helping local residents stay put: Establish a mechanism so that owners oflarge plots of land are not forced to sell it and move away when paying
inheritance tax, and enable original residents and new residents to interact.
• In central Tokyo, it is common for land owners to sell their family land as a
block to outside parties at the time of inheritance, resulting in scrap-and-build
construction or conversion to parking lots or multifamily housing, and forcing
the former residents to leave and lose a historic and intimately enjoyed homeand garden.
• Buy up the land of the landowners who wishes to continue to living in theircurrent homes, and divide it between the landowner and an appropriate
buyer, or create a fund to provide bridge financing for joint projects.

17• Create a fund to provide low-interest financing for preservation of cultural
resources by calling for investment from companies that support the activitiesof the Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance and local companies in the district.

5. Create and strengthen the system of area management of community
spaces
1. Archive and utilize cultural resources• The district stores many cultural resources (such as documents, etc) resulting
from research by various actors including universities, municipalities, and citizen
groups, that are presently not shared.
• Create a venue and system to realize a comprehensive archive of cultural
resources in the district in collaboration with voluntary local cultural activity
groups, university laboratories, and local governments.
2. Cultivate and support leaders• Support the cultivation, continuing education and networking of leaders inabove-mentioned activities.
• Undertake collaborative discovery of cultural resources with the involvement ofself-governing local district neighborhood associations, merchant associations,school PTAs, libraries, and elderly and young generations, working together todetermine how to use local cultural resources. Ex.) host a “hunt for local
treasures” and public planning forums• Provide a place for students, university laboratories, and local culturalorganizations to interact.
• Undertake a pilot program to turn citizen action and research results into actual
preservation and reuse projects• Ex.) Project for running cultural center with integrated culture, dining, lodging,education, and welfare facilities in reused old homes and buildings.

(3) Local Program: Enhancing local distinctivenessThrough collaboration and cooperation with various projects and organizations
focused on utilizing cultural resources in the CTN region, the Tokyo Cultural
Resources District will play a central role in addressing systemic challenges thatare difficult to solve through the actions of individual areas or organizations alone.

A. Revitalizing Jimbocho
A Jimbocho revitalization project team headed by Akihiko Takano of the National
Institute of Informatics and composed of volunteers from the various stakeholder
groups in the neighborhood has already compiled the following revitalization
strategies in September 2014. In order to realize these proposals, it is necessary tostrengthen cooperative relationships between various groups and programs in
Jimbocho. Proposals 1-8 and 1-9 have already been implemented in March 2015as part of the “Jimbocho Picture Book and Manga Festival.” Proposal 1-10 isplanned to be incorporated into the “Jimbocho Shirabetai” (tentative name).
1. Short-term proposals

18

1. Survey and network event facilities centered on the Tokyo Old Book Center,and host numerous small events (especially at night)
2. Establish “Terakoya Jimbocho” (Jimbocho Academy, tentative name) incooperation with nearby universities (Meiji Univerity, Senshu Univeristy,
Nihon University, Kyoritsu Women’s University, etc) and various publishingcompanies
3. Unify and improve dissemination of information about events held in
Jimbocho
4. Expand and improve the functions of the book and town information center
5. Improve handling of foreigners: create pamphlets for navigating the area,
conduct overseas PR, collaborate with restaurants and stores selling goods
such as karuta cards, conduct tours for foreigners
6. Open old book stores on Sundays and weekday nights
7. Create events for newcomers (especially, children, young people, andwomen)
8. Attract the envisioned Tokyo International Manga Museum (tentative name)and hold lectures on manga-related topics
9. Hold a Jimbocho manga festival every spring
10. Take Jimbocho’s cultural resources off the shelf and put them on display
2. Medium-term proposals
1. Expand operating hours for major bookstores to Sundays and weeknights(for example until 9 PM)
2. Create a pedestrian avenue from Marunouchi to Jimbocho and attract
businesspeople as customers
3. Host program and events of fiction characters that visit Jimbocho
4. Promote public access to the precious archival resources of the Imperial
Household Agency Archives, Museum of the Imperial Collections, Cabinet
Archives, Tenri Gallery, and Ochanomizu Library and their collaboration withold book stores, and establish an old book gallery

B. Formation of a unified conference for the Yanesen/Negishi area
A preparatory committee to form the “Yanesen Concern Group (Yanesen o omoukai)” composed of local volunteers was held in February 2015, bringing together
cultural organizations active in the Yanesen area (Yanaka, Nezu, Sendagi, Ueno
Sakuragi, and Negishi). Cultural organizations within each area of Yanaka, Nezu,
and Sendagi have long interacted, but this was the first chance for nearly all of thewider region’s organizations to assemble. The conference committed to establish
an informal group dedicated to addressing common issues pertaining to cultural
resources and local activities in the Yanesen area, including nearby areas such as
Negishi.
Steps are now being taken to establish a network committee (tentative name) tobring together cultural groups for planning conferences.

19(4) Realizing the Tokyo Biennial: Synthesis and promotion of
the Tokyo Cultural Resources District
1. The Tokyo Biennial will be held as a method of synthesizing andpromoting the Tokyo Cultural Resources District’s aforementioned
cultural, urban environment, and local programs.
Specifically, the project-oriented leaders developed in the cultural program willtake charge of the organization and planning of main and co-sponsored events.
The biennial will be held on a continuous basis once every two years with thegoal of spurring innovation and development of urban value and to take the leadin solving social problems.

Program for implementing the Tokyo Cultural Resources District<Examples of cultural program>• Host art exhibitions featuring artists from 200 countries• Establish a project school (train collaborative leaders)• Establish a culture center by opening an urban lab to realize art/industry/community
interaction• Create a digital archive of local cultural resources• Host an international creative industry festival featuring over 100 countries• Undertake renovation competition for old buildings• Create cultural centers at religious facilities such as Yushima Seido• Host Japanese food festival featuring 300 locales from across the country• Develop a tourist circulator route for cultural resources<Examples of urban environment program>• Bury electric cables, preserve water and green space, improve street-side functions• Renovate and reuse the Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden• Establish accommodations for exchange students and foreign tourists (renovationof existing hotels, lodging in old houses)• Propose relaxing and strengthening of regulations, reduce investment tax<Examples of local program>• Host events to reactive Jimbocho• Establish network for utilizing cultural resources of Yanesen/Negishi area
• Support activities to create hybrid culture in Akihabara• Form a creator complex in Kanda

Synthesis and promotion of all programs
Tokyo Biennial
Leaders from nationally-funded community art centers nationwide take chargeof the planning and production of main and co-sponsored events. The biennial

20

2. Tokyo Biennial as a means to solve social problems
Tokyo and Japan’s regions are faced with numerous social challenges: the lackof social ties due to the division of communities into separate workplaces andlocales, imbalance between work and private life, gaps in media literacy, anddifferences over cultural values and other lifestyle issues. Cities are faced withnumerous challenging problems including urban overcrowding and regional
depopulation, the homogenization of urban landscapes, the disappearance of
local cultural resources, and low ability to promote their culture internationally.
This social context has led to an acute awareness of the need to train leaderscapable of solving such problems according to the needs of a new era, toestablish programs and venues to leverage added value, and to develop topquality talent capable of working together with local communities in every field.
The Tokyo Biennial is a creative social project aimed at developing solutions tothese problems through the fusion of art, industry, and community.
3. A stage for interdisciplinary leaders to grow and excel
Exceptional leaders who can work broadly across organizations and specialties
and create horizontal connections need to hone skills in communication, on-thespot awareness and networking. Society continues to need effective methods
for training leaders who can cut across organizational silos to solve social
issues and produce knowledge and experience, and organizing such leaders ina way that can sustain continuous activity.
The Tokyo Biennial will be a stage for leaders who are specialized but also
capable of moving across many genres to grow and excel, both during theevent to be held once every two years, and during preparations and related
intermediate programs.
4. Community art centers as management, planning and production leaders
The planning, production, and staging of the Tokyo Biennial will be handled by“community art centers” (tentative name) that will host educational programs
and other events.
Community art centers will be centered to the Tokyo Cultural Resources
District, and function as institutions to develop leaders with a global perspective
who can devise solutions to social problems. The centers will plan, produce,and stage many events related to the cultural, urban environment, and local
programs. The staff will be gathered from cities across the country, and it ishoped that the centers will increase the number of leaders who circulate
between activities in Tokyo and other regions, in the process fostering a newconcept of work-life balance in Japanese society.
The Tokyo Biennial will be planned and staged as a synthesis of the activities
within the Cultural Resources District, involving many people and focusing onlarge and small activity centers throughout the district.
<Three functions of community art centers>
1) Plan and produce social projects to encourage the regeneration, promotion
and solving of challenges associated with cultural resources in cities acrossJapan.
2) Hold a new interdisciplinary school through the collaboration of public,
private, academic and industry institutions with an educational program21

designed to enable participants to solve problems and learn while
participating actively in social projects.
3) Host large festivals every other year in Tokyo and the regions. Strengthen
local branding capacity, professional capabilities, and the self-sufficiency of
local economies.
5. Implementing the Tokyo Biennial
The Tokyo Biennial will be a project of an international creative city to pioneer
new solutions to urban issues, consisting of more than 10,000 main and cosponsored events of all sizes.
Venues will be located in various facilities within the Tokyo Cultural Resources
District, and event centers will be established in major areas (Yanesen, Negishi,
Ueno, Hongo, Yushima, Kanda, Akihabara, Jimbocho) as well as in the
Otemachi-Marunouchi-Yurakucho and Nihombashi areas. Ten thousand eventsof varying size will be held.
Event centers will include Kanda Shrine, Yushima Seido, Nicolai-do, Waterras,
mAAchecute Kanda Manseibashi, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Modern Art Museum,
Tokyo University of the Arts, University of Tokyo, and parks, vacant buildings,
and other venues in the district.
6. Examples of main programs
1) Approach from art
International art exhibition featuring 200 participating countries:
Representative artists will be chosen in cooperation with international
embassies, and a biennial prize established. A large-scale international
exhibition using vacant buildings will be undertaken in cooperation withindependently held exhibitions in the district. Participants will experience a
process of creating cultural value through the interaction between the city andpeople.
2) Approach from industry
International creative industry festival with more than 100 countries:
A venue will be created for the world’s manufacturing and creative industries
to exhibit and negotiate over products and projects. Another biennial prize willbe established, and the event will strive to become a major hub of global
marketing for creative businesses. Cooperation with independently held
events inside the cultural resources district will connect many creative
industry leaders and form sprouts for new projects.
3) Approach from community
A. Festival of Japanese food with 300 participating locales
Aim to promote and share Japan’s cultural resources with the world. Hold
events showcasing distinctive Japanese food from around the country.
Establish a value standard and give awards. Create a global standard forJapanese food worthy of international pride and establish a program for
cultivating Japanese food culture across the globe.
B. Revival of spiritual culture: Use of universities and religious facilities andthe restoration of Yushima Seido
Establish and implement a program for spreading spiritual culture.
Promote the restoration of Yushima Seido as a center for spiritual culture
in East Asia.

22

7. Examples of ongoing programs
A. Social project school: Train specialized professionals who can take the leadin solving social challenges at a new school where students learn throughparticipation in real projects
B. Tokyo renovation competition: establish and conduct a global competition to
restore and reuse of historic buildings
C. Develop a new model for Tokyo cultural tourism: Implement a circulator
route to create a new way to discover the allure of Tokyo’s cultural
resources.
D. Invest in digitizing and networking scattered archives of cultural resources:
Construct a unified archive to make use of cultural resources. Investment indigitization and infrastructure is necessary to ensure that the right resources
are accessible to the right people.
E. Encourage the participation of foreign residents and promote international
interaction: Integrate foreign students into the leader training system,
increase professional mobility, ensure comfortable stays for foreign tourists,and develop accommodations, including through the renovation of existingbuildings.
8. The Tokyo Biennial will lead to solutions for social problems
1) The Tokyo Biennial will utilize cultural resources to strengthen the city’s
creative capacity by continuously developing Tokyo’s global appeal throughinternational exhibitions
2) Transforming an area that contains the city’s history into a space for people
to live and be active will promote better work-life balance by fusing work,
living, and leisure and creating new flows of people through theestablishment of local cultural centers.
3) The biennial will enable participants to share opportunities for training anddeploying leaders who can work across organizational boundaries.

(5) Cooperation with the Kyoto Cultural Resources Vision andnational expansion
Building on the proposal of the Olympics and Culture Committee (Chair: Makoto
Nagao, Kyoto University Professor Emeritus and advisor to the Tokyo Cultural
Resources Alliance) aimed at promoting Japanese culture ahead of the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics and Paralympics, an investigatory committee was established incooperation with Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City. In May 2015 the group gathered
proposals related to cultural tourism in Kyoto utilizing cultural resources, and thecommittee will search for possible routes for collaboration and synergies between
the two city’s cultural resources.
Furthermore, there are efforts underway in Shizuoka, Niigata, Okinawa and otherregions to revitalize local areas through the use of cultural resources, and wedevelop a structure to collaborate with these activities.

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Organizational structure
The Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance (structure illustrated in figure below) and theTokyo Cultural Resources District Promotion Committee (tentative name), a publicprivate-academic-industry organization envisioned to be established in 2018, willtake the lead in realizing the Tokyo Cultural Resources District vision.
• Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance Organizational structure
The Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance will be governed by an executive committee
overseen by the chairperson, and will work to plan and execute various projects
that utilize Tokyo’s cultural resources.

図Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance
Chairman: Shigeru Ito
Discussion of vision
Vision Committee
Project management
Executive Committee
Executive chairman: Shunya Yoshimi Vice-executive chairman: Masato Nakamura
Coordination
Secretariat
Chief secretary: Yoshio Yanagi
Project planning discussion
Sections (Cultural program section, urban environment section)
Program production and implementation
Program implementation teamRenovation competition, etc.
Participation in project production and information sharing
Official members (Organizations and individuals)
Participation in project production, sharing of sponsored information, enjoy results
Supporting members
Provide advice

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Special members
Advisors
Partners
Local Yanesen groups
Jimbocho revitalization project team
Etc.
• The vision committee will be under the supervision of the chairperson and willcontinue to lay out the vision of the Tokyo Cultural Resources Alliance, carrying
on the work of the Cultural Resources District Vision Committee that began in2014.
• Special members, including advisors and partners, will provide occasional
opinions and advice on an individual basis.
• Sections will discuss concrete planning for each of the programs, develop
individual program implementation teams, and carry out plans.
• Partners will include organizations dedicated to implementing specific projects,
established independently in various local areas such as Yanesen and Jimbocho,with which the Alliance will pursue collaboration.
• Official members will participate in programs and offer advice, as well as receive
details of the alliance’s discussions and achievements.
• Supporting members will work together with sponsors to support the alliance,
participating in the planning of specific programs, providing advice, and receiving
updates on the alliance’s discussions and benefits as programs are implemented.
• The executive committee will compile the vision created by the vision committee
and program proposals developed in each section, and lobby the national andmetropolitan governments through special members and advisors to position thevision as part of the Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics Cultural Program that begins in
2016, draw up budgets, and create an organization capable of continued
development after 2020.