I knew that the road sign had some practical use

渋谷駅のあたりで、この交通標識のユニークな面白い使い方があるかもしれません。

Shibuya pedestrian bridge.

Have you seen Shibuya station lately?

最近、渋谷駅に行きましたか。２０２７年まで工事が続くみたいです。

The old station has been demolished, and a cluster of new skyscrapers will rise. According to developer signs around the site, completion will be in 2027.

Dressed like human gift packages at Shibuya station

夏の浴衣は季節の素敵なプレゼントのようです。少し不便かもしれませんが、上品です。一瞬、渋谷駅にいるのを忘れました。

Is it the ribbon tied in the back? Summer yukatas are the best. Maybe not the most practical clothing, but certainly stylish and elegant. I momentarily forgot I was at Shibuya station.

 

What would you draw on this young guy’s body?

この人の体に、あなたなら何を描きますか？　「Free paint」というサインを持って渋谷駅の前にいました。皆にマーカーで何かを描いてください、と言っていました。彼の足に「Eat me」と書きました。だれかが「バカ」と書いていましたが、かわいそうですね。「Eat me」の意味は何ですかと聞かれたので、やさしい招待ですと答えました。

At first, I wasn’t sure what he meant with his “FREE PAINT” sign outside Shibuya station on a warm summer day. He quickly invited me to photograph and to paint his body. When I wrote “eat me” on his leg, he asked about the meaning of this simple phrase. Someone had already written “stupid” on his shoulder, so maybe he was already strung by the cruelty of strangers. I explained that “eat me” was a friendly invitation to interaction. What would you draw on this young guy’s body?

Have you seen Shibuya Station recently? Seems to be demolition time, with a new mega-building in the making?

最近渋谷駅を見ましたか。今デパートとJRホームの構造を取り壊しています。手前で、新しいヒカリエという東急会社のビルが登場しましたが、どんな新しいショッピング・ターワーを作ろうとしているのでしょうか。東横線が今は地下に入ったので、もっと地上のスペースができたのでしょうか。

It seems the Tokyu department store above the station is being demo’d. I expect it will be another mega-shopping, “cultural” and office tower like the brand new Hikarie across the street. I wonder how it will be different and even “newer.”

Another rail change is the demolition of the elevated Toyoko line to Daikanyama, Nakameguro, and on to Yokohama, which has been replaced with the underground extension of the Fukutoshin subway line. Is there a plan on how to use this reclaimed public space?

How to entice tanuki “racoon dogs” to return to Tokyo

最近、東京ローカルフルーツのジェス(@jessmantell) とクリス(@a_small_lab) とタヌキが東京に来るタヌキの研究をしています。動物建築というコンテストに提案を送って、もうすぐ記事がオンライン出ます。この新しい研究所の名前は、「the Studio for Creative Revitalization of Tanuki Urban Manifestations, or S.C.R.O.T.U.M.」です。

渋谷で写真撮影をしました。タヌキが渋谷川から東京に入ってきます。東急グループの新しいヒカリエを訪れて、渋谷駅のDean & Delucca でコーヒーを飲みます。そして、サラリーマンに健康的な息抜きと逃避の方法を教えています。

Tanukis are real and mythic animals that once inhabited Tokyo, and are now primarily found as large ceramic statues outside local bars and restaurants. Tanukis are shape shifters, with a special superpower emanating from their floor-scraping scrotums.

My Tokyo Local Fruit co-instigators, Chris Berthelsen (of A Small Lab) and Jess Mantell (of Edoble), and I have been thinking about this subject through a contest submission for Animal Architecture and related articles to be published online soon. We’re calling our new research effort, the Studio for Creative Revitalization of Tanuki Urban Manifestations, or S.C.R.O.T.U.M.

We would like to encourage more urban human/non-human cohabitation, and are inspired by what a tanuki-friendly Tokyo would look and feel like. Here are some images from a recent photo shoot in Shibuya. Jess will add to the images to suggest new scenarios of interaction and play.

You could imagine tanuki entering the big city by river, and then interacting with the human inhabitants.

Tanuki visits Tokyu Corporation’s new Hikarie shopping complex, has a coffee at the Dean and Delucca outside Shibuya station, and encourages office workers to find healthier ways to relax and escape.