I dont know if you have left yet or not but there is, of course some great stuff to see. If you can find any of Hitoshi Abe, Kengo Kuma, The Tezuka's work, I would go. I spent 10 days in Japan last year and it literally changed my life. AMAZING PLACE. I would get out tokyo for a few days too and go to Kyoto. Osakas only cool when Ando-san has invited you to his office. Speaking of which, he did a new H and H (or whatever the furniture store is) right off of OmoteSando, its a very interesting piece for him, folded steel plates......also, if you are a Kuma fan, NASU is a city about 2 hours north east of tokyo that has his Stone Museum and City Museum in it, both are way worth seeing. Have fun!!!

I've been in Japan for almost 3 months and have hardly looked at any architecture. Well, other than stuff that is 900 years old. I haven't looked at any new stuff. I rented a bike today and rode around Kamakura for 7 hours and got sunburned and soaked in sweat. It was totally awesome though. Saw the big Buddha, went inside for 20 yen. Spent 3 days in Tokyo/Yokohama and just slept and ate at my friend's house, went to restaurants and shopping malls. But actually, the cultural and day to day life stuff I got out of this trip has been probably more useful than staring at Tod's or Church of Light.

The great thing about Japan is that if you wander around with no plan you will still see some amazing stuff. We found that walking from our hotel to our "destinations" we saw tons of cool old, new and odd stuff. I enjoyed walking around Nara, and had a blast in a little northern city called Yonezawa, it had this sleek international style modernist building right next to the Cities main old style temple/shrine (Uesigi (?)). Pick a town and just walk from place to place, your bound to be impressed, suprised and alarmed. And make sure you get into an old style residence, the space planning is great, the craftsmanship is out of this world (if you are into cool wood joinery).

my recent trip to Japan changed my life too. i like the Ando's folded steel plate furniture store H&H, Sejima's Christian Dior, Aoki's LV stores, Ito's Tod's, etc. besides the known buildings, i strongly recommend you check out the small restaurants all around tokyo to look at their interior design. About Kyoto, i went there not expecting much since i am not too crazy about ancient buildings/ temples. BUT....i was completely blown away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i suggest you to buy the train pass for a week for about $280 US. altho it is very expensive, but it's definitely worth it to go all around tokyo and even take the bullet train to kyoto.

Yeah. Agreed. There is a lot more than flashy Starchitect stuff. It's a totally different use of space. I found some great new houses on some back street in Kamakura. Definately spend some time just wandering. You can spend $98234983 going from "icon to icon" and miss JAPAN. HdM etc can be found anywhere. But a noodle shop with a train running over the top with a shoe store hanging off the side is only in Japan. You will see some weird stuff around the trains.

Thanks a million guys... definitely food for thought. It seems everytime i try to mae a list of things i really want to see it just runs off the page. good to know i can just wander around and still see coll stuff, unlike, say, LA.

actually joshcookie, or someone else, does anyone know how i could get into a traditional residence, with the cool layots and joinery etc?

We asked a guy sitting on his porch and he said sure. The people we met were very friendly and more than accomodating. If you are shy, try to stay in a traditional Ryokan, a traditional japanese hotel, for a night or so, they provide food and shelter and many have hot springs or spas associated with them. See this site link

I don't remember the name but outside Tokyo there is a 'minka museum.' Japan has a lot of outdoor architecture museums/parks. In this one, they have tranported and reconstructed a variety of old farm and merchant houses that you can walk around and go into.

DEFINATELY buy the train pass. It's not expensive. I just dropped that much to take the Shinkansen from Osaka to Yokohama, roundtrip. You must buy it before you leave, say at AAA or travel agency. It takes a few days to get it in some cases. You have to tell them which days you will be traveling. You then turn it in at a JR station in Japan and they give you the actual pass. It gives you unlimited travel on local trains, and unreserved seats on the Kodamo and Hikari Shinkansen (not the Nozomi, the fastest). But it will save you a lot of time since your time is limited. Exp. Local trains from Osaka to Yokohama, 9 hours, Shinkansen 2.5. If you don't get it, it would be impossible to get from say, Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima and still have time to see things.

In my opinion if you go to Japan and don't look at old stuff (Kyoto, Kamakura, Himeji, Takayama) you are out of your mind. This is the stuff that made the modernists say "Whoa, shit, the Japanese have been doing modernism for 1000 years." It's absolutely worth it because unlike Omotesanda, the ancients REALLY worked the site. Kyomizudera, the incredible gardens, etc. The use of design for environmental control in the buildings. You can learn a lot more from some of the old stuff than Sejima's glass box and shower curtains (Dior) or Ando's HHStyle (looks like a semi collapsed warehouse, not really very interesting inside at all).

Do check out restaurants. You will be surprised that even not so expensive places have pretty nice designs. There is this place in Settsu-motoyama (don't go there for this restaurant, it's just an example) and it is really interestingly done. The Japanese often use this fake wood wallpaper that is really difficult to tell that it's fake until you touch it. Even still, it's hard if it's a low light interior. They can make some really nice spaces for really average shops.

In general, it's my opinion that most architects spend too much time in Tokyo. THere is a lot of history and great stuff beyond magazine fodder that can be of use to your design. Don't forget it's a big old country with more to offer than Ando's concrete details. Check out my school blog for "What I did this summer."

not much i can add to that.

i have been in japan altogether about 10 years now, most of that time working as an architect (spent the first year painting). hasselhoff is correct in pointing out that the starchitecture is boring once you have seen it. but you should still see it.

the temples are great. i don't revere the woodwork so much. it is impressive, but not really a model for us anymore, not technically. but spatially the places can be incredible. the best places i have seen here are temples and old villas (the villa in kenrokuen park, kanazawa city; right across from sejima's 21st c. museum is still a favorite). they seriously are light years more advanced than any of the starchitecture in town.

tokyo has lots of craziness to see, and kyoto has it all on the temples. if you wanna see real japan, don't need to go to small towns. it is all real. just as LA is as real as new york, and smallville. it depends on what you are into though. lotta my friends don't dig tokyo and think kyoto is the real heart of japan. i disagree 180 degrees. but it makes a difference when chosing where to go....

I agree. There is just sooooo much to see. I think you should see the new stuff, definately. But to make that your entire trip would be a waste, I think. You really can see Omotesando and Aoyama in half a day. You walk down the street and it's all there. YOu walk in, get dirty looks cause they know you aren't going to buy the $700 Prada card holder, then you leave. YOu can't photograph, sketch, sit and stare. Plus, inside they are just stores. The outside is the fancy billboard. Another thing to think about, which is true anywhere. A lot of buildings, other than maybe museums, are very restrictive in what you can see. You could travel X hours to Y municipal building only to look at the front door and lobby. You can't get in houses etc. I didn't bother going to Ando's Azuma house (which looks good in books) because it's someones house. I can't go in. Even if I did, you can't really spend a long time in there. Plus I'm sure every gaijin architect stops by and says "Hey can I look in here?!"

Jump is right, Tokyo is distinctly Japan. Everything in Japan is Japan. Japanese McDonalds is Japan. Tastes the same, but the feel is very Japanese.

bump.

Anyone have any new recommendations for stuff to see in Japan?

I'll be there for 1 week in October and I want to make the most of it... contemporary architecture, of course, but I'm also interested in the traditional stuff, more scenic/natural areas, bath houses, food, etc.

anyone have some more tips?

i'll be landing in Nagoya then proceeding immediately to Tokyo. after a few days I'll head to Kyoto and/or Osaka before catching my flight back from Nagoya.

nope. nothing really changed. there is more stuff in omotesando now including the mvrdv, and sejima and ando's work for H+H style is now probably going to be torn down (both empty now or soonest)...kuma did a museum at the end of the street that is nice if slightly boring. thas about it.


if you want something slightly different check out graveyards in aoyama and next to ueno. lots of tourists there but not as many architects. other than that? dunno. one of my colleagues wrote a guidebook on contemporary tokyo if interested in a relatively current guide to the city for architects. apologies for the shameless plug, but the book is actually good (and i get no proceeds from the book sale).

just walk around and enjoy.

while you are in nagoya don't forget to catch the toyota city art museum by taniguchi and peter walker. st. mary's cathedral in tokyo by tange is pretty cool too.