My Neighborhood

Kumi Matsukawa

I live in yamato city, Kanagawa Prefecture, which is commuting distance to the center of Tokyo. My local area is not very picturesque, but I enjoy finding buildings that have unique stories to tell. For instance, when I was young, there were many American houses in the area—known as “foreigner’s houses”—for the officers of the US Navy and their families. There are still some US bases, but the old officers’ houses are almost all gone. I sometimes miss these old, familiar-looking houses; they are unique to a particular period in history, and I sketch them when I can to keep a record of them in my sketchbook.

It seems that we Japanese prefer to build new buildings rather than renovate old ones. Even not-so-old houses are being demolished and replaced with new houses as their owners change. As a result, my town is full of very different types of buildings, which makes the city look unplanned, and less harmonious. Nevertheless, it reflects today’s lifestyle, especially in urban areas.

Ever more state-of-the-art buildings are being built in Tokyo, alongside traditional old Japanese buildings. For instance, if you go to the Asakusa district, you can see the futuristic new Tokyo Skytree tower, standing as a backdrop to the old Senso-ji Temple. While in the Harajuku district, trendy stores and modern buildings sit alongside the serene Meiji Jingu Shrine.

One of my favorite places to sketch in Tokyo is the upscale business and commercial district of Ginza. The phrase “Ginza filter” describes the severely competitive nature of this central hub—the businesses that can’t survive drop through the Ginza filter and are swiftly replaced by new ones. Even newly opened chain stores can be gone in a short period of time. I like to record the ever changing life of this district through my drawings.

TOKYO SKYTREE

Tokyo

LOCAL HOUSE

Yamato City, Kanagawa Prefecture

CHUO STREET

Ginza, Tokyo