1. In the context of a declining population, falling birthrates, and an aging population, the phenomenon of “spongification” in cities that expanded during the period of rapid economic growth has become an issue, especially since the 2010s. “Urban spongification” refers to the phenomenon of a considerable amount of unused and underutilized space, such as vacant lots and houses, occurring within a city in small site units, characterized by randomness in terms of time and space. Moreover, it is sometimes described as the movement of small lacunae randomly opening up inside a city while the size of the city remains the same. The City Planning Act and Building Standards Act govern Japan’s current land use and building regulation systems, which were enacted during the period of urban growth. Furthermore, these systems are based solely on the premise that urban areas would expand in an uncontrolled manner if left to market and natural forces. Regulatory measures, such as block and district zoning, development permits, and building permits, were thus used to check this expansion. Given that the government’s focus has been on how to regulate the “excessive use” of land, it has been unable to respond adequately to the spongification of land caused by neglect. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

View full abstract

　Edo period paintings are characterized by the beautiful balance between realism and imagery. From this perspective, this paper aims to consider three Edo paintings that the author has recently viewed.
　Mt. Fuji in a Dream is an inscribed work by Ogata Korin. On the left side, Korin uses simple brushstrokes to depict the peak of Mt. Fuji, and on the right side, he provides an inscription. The inscription describes a dream he had on the night of January 9, 1699. While painting this piece, Korin had not yet seen Mt. Fuji in person. He finally saw Mt. Fuji when he went to Edo during the Hoei era (1704 to 1711). However, what is important is the fact that Korin was well acquainted from an early stage with “The Tales of Ise”, attributed to Ariwara no Narihira. The ninth tale, “Departing for the East,” must have been a particular favorite of the artist as it provides the basis for the famous Irises screens. This tale and the inscription in this painting are connected by “Departing for the East,” but another important motif that appears in this tale is Mt. Fuji. In other words, Korin had a mental image of Fuji before he painted Mt. Fuji in a Dream. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)

View full abstract