What would constitute a typical Tokyo landscape? I’ve been thinking about this a lot for several years now. I think it began when I had increased opportunities to visit other towns and cities on business. In Kagoshima for example, Sakurajima volcano gives off smoke plumes on a daily basis. And in Hita, one never tires of the moods of the Mikumagawa River, which change according to the time of day and the weather. When I go back to Tokyo after seeing such inspiring sights, the initial question pops up again.

It’s been ten years since I went to New York for the first time in a decade, and although many of the shops and restaurants I used to like had gone and there were lots of unfamiliar places, the city seemed pretty much unchanged. I soon realized that this was because the buildings were the same. The buildings I used to head for on foot were all still there. There seems to be repeated renewal, but the scene is a familiar one. This creates a sense of security and attachment. No doubt New York is still the same, ten years on.

I was born and raised in a mining town in Hokkaido. I was one of those people who wants to get out as soon as possible and left for Tokyo. I’ve lived in Tokyo for over forty years, so I think the time is nigh when I can safely call it my town. It’s high time I had city sights I’m attached to. The area I’ve lived in for the longest is Shibuya, so I’ll think about my favorite Shibuya scenes. The elegant old Shibuya City Office with its gentle curvature is under reconstruction. Shibuya PARCO, which introduced me to various exciting forms of culture, closed just the other day for reconstruction. A building in front of the station which had a Russian restaurant I loved is also being rebuilt. The old Shibuya Tokyu Toyoko line station building has gone underground, and you can see the Yamanote line platforms from the pedestrian bridge. Tokyo is a place that changes its buildings as well as everything else. I understand that this is the nature of renewal, but I truly wonder when all the construction work will be over and a more composed and settled Tokyo will emerge.

If someone asked me to tell them a typical Tokyo scene, “cranes” would be my only response today.