Economist.com Cities Guide: Tokyo Briefing - April 2006

News this month

Tall tales

Not to be outdone by the mighty towers in Taipei, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, Japan's capital has unveiled plans for the New Tokyo Tower. The 610-metre structure will include at least two viewing platforms and carry the television broadcasting equipment of six companies. By the time it is completed in 2011, it will be 57 metres taller than the CN Tower in Toronto, but shorter than the proposed Burj Dubai tower in the United Arab Emirates, the exact height of which remains a secret and which is due for completion in 2008.

The spot chosen for the tower is an old Tobu Railway shunting yard in Sumida ward. This is close to the Asakusa district, whose serene temples and rowdy beer halls already make it a prime tourist spot. The competition for the tower was fierce among local governments, and a bidding war between Sumida and Saitama wards grew ugly. These rival bidders worked to persuade the tower's adjudicatory panel that the other location was more earthquake-prone.

Cry me a river

Tokyo households have become so skilled at conserving water that municipal authorities are preparing to “punish” them by raising rates. The trend towards careful water husbandry is enabled by appliance manufacturers, such as Toto, Matsushita and Sharp, which produce washing machines, toilets and dishwashers that use a fraction of the water of their forebears five years ago. As a result, over those five years average water consumption in Japanese homes has fallen 10%, and water bills have tumbled, since most water use is metered. Consequently, Tokyo and Yokohama residents now face possible water-price hikes of 20%.

For the past two decades, the local water boards have been engaged in an expensive frenzy of dam-building and other engineering projects, to ensure a healthy water supply. The local governments never reckoned that people would use less water, and they still have to pay for these projects. Even after a recent government crackdown on unnecessary dam construction, there are 200 live projects at any given time nationwide.

Pollen plea

Those who are bemused by financial penalties for water conservation may also be surprised by Tokyo's decision that it has too many trees. From early February to late spring, the capital’s growing number of hay-fever sufferers endure an annual onslaught of cedar pollen. The pollen is coming earlier, which meteorologists blame on climate change and a spate of warmer summers. And there is more of it too, because Japan’s forests are slowly expanding. These forests are the legacy of a reforestation drive following the second world war, which did not take account of the allergenic properties of the fast-growing cedar tree.

So, on the insistence of its hay-fever-struck governor, Shintaro Ishihara, the metropolitan government is hitting back. It has begun asking the nose-running, eye-watering masses to donate ¥1,500 ($13) each to a project that would see 1.8m cedar trees felled in a forest west of Tokyo. These trees would then be replaced with a species that produces less pollen.

Mickey mocked

The annual Tokyo Anime Fair hosted an unexpected clash of cartoon cultures in late March. Mr Ishihara opened the event, which is the largest international convention of its kind and the site of hundreds of commercial deals. The outspoken governor, who once argued that the French could not count properly, stunned his audience with the declaration that he hated Mickey Mouse for the way the Disney rodent lacks the unique sensibility of Japanese cartoons. This is not the first time Japanese animations have been used to pique foreign pride. The country has come under fire in recent months for some far-right manga comic books that purport to chronicle Chinese and Korean history, but paint a deliberately nasty picture.

Nevertheless, Chinese visitors to the fair, preparing for their own cartoon convention in Shanghai this summer, said that they hoped such fairs could be used to promote cultural exchange between China and Japan.

Of the shoppers, by the shoppers, for the shoppers

Toshiba, an industrial conglomerate, is preparing to unleash a piece of software that will “democratise” shopping in Tokyo by linking mobile phones to internet weblogs. The software, which will work in any handset equipped with a digital camera, will let users scan the barcodes of an item in a shop, then call up assessments of the product on the internet. The phone connects to a central Toshiba server that can both identify the barcode from a database of 1.5m products and then sift through all 6m Japanese weblogs for any references to it. A more complex algorithm then decides whether the reference is broadly positive, broadly negative or neutral, and within about ten seconds the product's reputation gets a numerical value on the handset.

Tokyoites have already shown an appetite for insight into what other shoppers are thinking. The Toshiba invention goes one step further than RanKing RanQueen, a chain of highly popular shops in the capital where everyday items are ranked in order of their national sales.

Catch if you can

April 2006

From Sesshu to Pollock

Until June 4th 2006

Almost all of Tokyo’s art museums are one-track affairs, specialising in classical, modern or contemporary shows. The most notable exception is the Bridgestone, near Tokyo's main railway station, where exhibitions run the gamut from ancient Chinese ceramics and Japanese national treasures to the likes of Jackson Pollock.

The museum has perked up recently, with an excellent bilingual redevelopment of its website and some new acquisitions. It is now celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Ishibashi Foundation, which funds the museum and is endowed by the Bridgestone Tire Company. To this end, 170 highlights from the foundation’s 2,433-piece collection are now on view. Keep an eye out for “The Four Seasons”, a splendid four-piece work by Sesshu, a 15th-century artist, which is the museum’s pride and joy.

Bridgestone Museum of Art, Kyobashi 1-10-1, Chuo-Ku. Tel: +81 (0)3 3563-0241. A ten-minute walk from the Yaesu exit of Tokyo station. Nearest subway station: Kyobashi on the Ginza line. Open: Tue-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm. Closed April 16th. See the museum's website.

More from the Tokyo cultural calendar