"The Culture of Rebuilding" | Jiro Kokuryo (Vice-President for Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC))

2015.05.08

There are heated debates over the rebuilding of structures like the National Stadium and the Hotel Okura. Closer to home, Shibuya Station is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction, and it's in a state of chaos. Last year, because the passageways at Shibuya Station—a station I should have been familiar with, having used it for transfers for 40 years since starting high school—were constantly changing (that's my excuse), I made the huge blunder of mistaking the Den-en-toshi Line for the Toyoko Line and ended up being late for the entrance ceremony (my apologies...).

One could say that rebuilding, regardless of the trouble, is a part of Japanese culture. While in the West, stone buildings are used for a very long time, in Japan, rebuilding is seen as a matter of course. The ultimate example is the Shikinen Sengu of Ise Grand Shrine, where all the shrine buildings are newly constructed and the deity is moved once every 20 years. This is likely an idea unthinkable for temples in Western civilization. There are probably reasons for this, likely developed in a climate with high humidity and frequent natural disasters, where buildings are prone to damage. Above all, there is a tendency to favor new things; pachinko parlors, for instance, will advertise a "grand re-opening" just by replacing their machines.

While constantly renewing, what needs to be preserved is tenaciously protected. Symbolically, the custom of rebuilding every 20 years has been continued for 1,300 years. This concept of constantly metabolizing while preserving tradition is an excellent model that combines maturity and youth, and I believe it is a piece of Japanese wisdom that should be shared more with the world.

Incidentally, there are now plans underway to build the Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) with a wooden structure. Although there were opinions that a wooden structure might not be as durable as concrete, we have come to realize the joy that comes from thinking and building it together with students. Furthermore, the rebuilding cycle will be shorter than that of a concrete building. To be honest, we initially considered a concrete structure, but when we found out that the cost would far exceed our expectations due to the Olympics, we shifted our thinking, which led to this development. But this is a good opportunity. I expect this to become an initiative that can bring about a major innovation in how university campuses are built, while making use of Japanese tradition.