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Arakawa 荒川
Déambulations / Ambling along the Arakawa river's banks
The part of the Arakawa River that flows through the eastern part of Tokyo is called the Sumida River. Central to Edo culture, the Sumida, which was celebrated by writer Nagai Kafu (1879-1959), is today nothing more than a canal flowing between two concrete walls. After the great flood of 1910, it was decided to divert the main flow of the river to create a drainage channel, the Arakawa. Isolated from the urban environment by 2 dikes, a particular vegetation - tall grass - has sprung up from the alluvial soil, and the area is populated by many species of birds. During the feudal period, the excluded lower classes settled down along rivers. They were called kawara-mono, the "people of the rivers." Today, the high grass offers protection for homeless people who find refuge on Arakawa's river banks. Some of them have gathered together and built barracks using floating wood and polyurethane canvas sheets; while others live alone in tents.
Shooting People
“La photo, c’est la chasse, c’est l’instinct de chasse sans l’envie de tuer. C’est la chasse des anges… On traque, on vise, on tire et — clic! au lieu d’un mort, on fait un éternel.” Chris Marker These photos were taken in Tokyo (Shinjuku, Shibuya) and Hong Kong (Central) in 2007. > link
“The photo is the hunt, it’s the instinct of hunting without the desire to kill. It’s the hunt of angels. You trail, you aim, you fire and — clic! — instead of a dead man, you make him everlasting.”
Arcades アーケイド Passages
The network of shopping arcades located in Nishinari ku -a southern ward of Osaka, links Kamagasaki, Japan’s largest district for day labourers, Tobita Shinchi a brothel district controlled by Yakuza and the entertainment district of Shinsekai (New World).
Unlike wealthier north areas, the neighbourhood, one of the poorer of the city, had seen little redevelopment since it was rebuilt after World War II. Much of it seems stuck in the 1950s.
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Empire
The construction of the "Palais du Commissariat de France" or "Hôtel du Résident Supérieur" in Phnom Penh was completed in 1942. Symbol of the French Colonial power, the building was chosen by Pol Pot to settle the Democratic Kampuchea government's headquarters.
Bokor
Located at the end of the Cardamom Mountain Range (Phnom Kamchay), overlooking the Gulf of Siam, Bokor (Bo Kau: hump of the zebu) is the highest point of the Popokvil massif (where clouds are turning). In 1917, the French colonial administration in Cambodia decided to build a weather station at Bokor. Together with Halong Bay and the ruins of Angkor, it was considered as one of the most beautiful sites of the Indochina peninsula. This mythical place changed over the course of the events which marked the history of Cambodia during the twentieth century. The colonial splendor didn’t last long and the site quickly fell into disuse. It remained abandoned during the Second World War and during the War of Independence. During the sixties it came back into life under the impulse of Norodom Sihanouk. At the fall of the regime in 1970, it was conquered by the Khmer guerilla which resisted vigorously against the Vietnamese army during the liberation of the country in 1979. After the withdrawal of the latter and following the Paris Agreements (1991), the Khmer Rouge once again took over. They were finally chased out by UN troops in 1992, but only for a short while. They came back the following year. The site became accessible to the public only after their definitive submission at the end of the decade.
Low City 下町
During the feudal period, when Tokyo was called Edo, the city was divided into 2 parts. The aristocracy resided to the west on the hills and the low castes occupied the marsh along the Sumida river to the east. This part of the city is called Shitamachi, the low city.
Most Tokyo residents never cross the Sumida. Vice versa, a resident of Shitamachi will brag about never having visited Aoyama. The Sumida river still separates two distinct cities; to the west, modern Tokyo which grew at a fast pace after the war, and to the north-east, a popular urban area which went through a slow development. This separation remains today and the differences have even increased; the wealthy moved out and the poor stayed.
Hit by numerous disasters, earthquakes, floods and blazes very little was left from the old Tokyo when near the end of World War II the Low City was the target of the most devastating civic air raid in history. Rebuilt in haste to accommodate people’s need for shelter, the low city went through a slow development compare to the rest of the city. This is where today we can reminisce on what Tokyo was after World War II.
One will find the discoveries charming, but will feel depressed by the signs of desolation in a dying world. And concerning the charm, one needs to appreciate rust, repairs done with scotch-tape, random piles of stuff, blue polyurethane tarpaulins, corrugated metal sheets and plywood.
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