Archinect - Garry's Blog

The madness of Tokyo's Pachinko - Akihabara

2013-11-04T12:27:00-05:00

16th October 2013

Waking up in Tokyo during a fully blown typhoon is kind of fun and scary in equal measure. This is the start of my revisit to Japan, and it is day two. Day one was taken up with finding and checking into the Candelo Hotel in Ueno, and catching up on some jet lag whilst waiting out the typhoon rain. I did not bring a raincoat – dam.

I have decided day two can not be rained off – so here I am, in Akihabara, it is blowing a gale and I have already seen a Japanese salary man blown-off his feet whilst trying to cross the station square. I retreat back to the station to wait this wind out. Now I am on the third floor in a Starbucks within the Akihabara station complex.

The typhoon wind is dying down a bit but the damage is clear to see, bikes, tree debris and umbrellas strewn everywhere. What a mess. Still the Pachinko hall – Big Apple, is in full swing.

It is 9.30 am and this five-storey palace of Pachinko is open for business, people are already stationed at ...

A refugee crisis in Iwaki, Fukushima…

2013-10-29T14:06:21-04:00

21st October 2013

For the next three days I get to see how the Yoshida’s have transformed their home to make way for two Fukushima refugee families who are occupying the top floor and annex of their three storey home.

The refugees are from the nuclear fallout area of Hisanohamma, which is 20km from the Daichi plant. One family of four consists of Mr. Endo – a roofing contractor, Ms. Junto – a housewife, their two sons Yusuke San – a 22 year old at university, and Hiroaki San – their 10-year-old son. Hiroaki still goes by bus everyday to his old elementary school in Hisanohamma. The other tenant residing in the annexed house is Mrs. Kawada San – a local supermarket worker.

Yoshida San’s next-door office space is rented out to another design company, as surprisingly there is very little work for an architect around Iwaki. Yoshida San has reduced his architectural staff to just one – himself, and now he works from a desk in his open plan kitchen living room. Yoshida San’s so...

Iwaki city refugee and radiation crisis... and how people believe the Japanese mafia are controlling radiation clean-up workers at the Daichi nuclear power station…

2013-10-29T12:09:00-04:00

Weds 22nd / Thurs 23rd October 2013

As a student of architecture I first visited Iwaki city some 19 years ago when working with Yanai San, a Japanese Architect in Iwaki, Fukushima. This month I revisited the city once again to find out about the refugee crisis, radiation, earthquake reconstruction and the tsunami damage along the Fukushima coastline.

Over my five day visit I stayed at Yanai San’s house for two days and was able to discuss and see first hand the many problems that the earthquake, radiation and tsunami has rained down on this city.

Some businesses are booming in Iwaki city, but others are not, hospitals, community centres, traffic systems are all services under pressure as they try to absorb 25k people displaced by the effects of radiation, the tsunami and earthquake damage.

Iwaki has become a no go area at night, as people believe the Sake bars are populated by refugee people who are too rustic for Iwaki city types. In reality it is the Tepco radiation clea...