y\ Comparison

between Japanese Exterior Space

and Western Common Place

Fred Thompson

o us A " C O M M O N P L A C E " is s o m e t h i n g o r d i n a r y ,

was the planned organization o f civic buildings surround-

something mundane, something taken for granted.

ing the public squares o f American towns. W h e n he retur-

But i n Japanese culture the ordinary is not so easily

ned to Japan to make design surveys o f Japanese villages, he

separable from the extraordinary: i n fact, i n a marvellous

began to reflect u p o n the communal space o f the Japanese

and magical way, the ordinary and extraordinary can o n

villages and to compare t h e m to the 'commons' i n the N e w

occasion become one and the same! There is no roadmap,

England towns he had visited. Kojiro noticed that the spaces

no established direction we can take that w i l l lead us to this

he was l o o k i n g at and recording i n drawings (in both cases)

surprising discovery. Like Alice i n Wonderland, we must

were merely covering the physical f o r m o f the spaces. But,

leap "from metamorphoris to metamorphoris" i n order to

in Japan, a further dimension was evident i n the people's

understand something about the nature o f ritual space i n

involvement at the time o f festival through spaces w h i c h

that strange and wonderful country.

appeared to be 'enlivened' by the passage o f a temporary

M y interest i n the structuring o f exterior space i n Japanese towns was inspired by the w r i t i n g o f Kojiro Yuichiro,
w h o stated that

Before I started m y o w n study i n Japan (which I also

hoped w o u l d tie i n w i t h m y interest i n the Japanese

the core of the Japanese community is not a special fixed

space i n the center of the village like the pasture or open
space (commons') of the West but was linear, and, moreover, seasonally and temporarily mobile.

portable shrine mikoshi through the streets o f the village.

Kojiro had gone to America after the Second W o r l d War to

concept o f space ma, K o j i r o advised me that studying a

planned t o w n m i g h t lead to different conclusions about the
structuring o f exterior spaces than those to w h i c h he had
come through the study o f villages based o n indigenous
growth. I n retrospect, an i r o n y has presented itself. K o j i r o
saw and measured the commons o f N e w England towns; by

study the architectural manifestations o f a 'democratic' so-

considering these findings along w i t h his knowledge o f

ciety. W h a t he discovered and subsequently wrote about

Japanese spaces, he concluded that the multi-sensual effect

115

o f the Japanese festival revealed a series o f communal spaces

w h i c h were c o m m i t t e d to the collective m e m o r y o f the
Japanese by their involvemenr i n ritual acts w h i c h passed
through these spaces. I , on the other hand, set out to study
Kojiro's c o m m u n a l spaces i n Japan only to become acutely
aware o f the effects o f media, such as the effect o f rhetoric,
o n Western monumental spaces.
Kojiro k i n d l y introduced me to the civic authotities o f
the t o w n o f Kakunodate i n A k i t a Prefecture so that I m i g h t
carry out m y o w n design survey at the scale o f a 'town'
instead o f a 'village' as he had done. M y admission to the
local community, w h i c h was through a wakamono (literally,
"young people's organization"), began w i t h a revel. I t was i n
a nondescript barrack o f a b u i l d i n g w h i c h stood on the h i l l side above a local neighbourhood i n the t o w n o f Kakunodate, close to the local c o m m u n i t y shrine. T h i s small shrine
was that o f the neighbourhood deity.
M y introduction was anything but orderly. I was offered
d r i n k after d r i n k and various odd types o f food. As the
party got louder, people began to ask me for a speech. I
must admir that m y Japanese, although fluent enough at a
railway station or resrauranr, or i n an archirectural office,
was no match for the local jargon nor the dialect spoken i n
the n o r t h o f Japan k n o w n as zuzu ben. M y sponsor, however, insisted I speak. W h a t happened was typical o f what
was to come. H e placed his hand on m y shoulder and gave
me cues as to what to say. I f I stalled, he helped me out. I felt
as though I could laugh too. Maybe it was a way o f initiat i n g me into 'the way o f the gods' (Shinto) w h i c h , because
o f its c o m m u n a l nature, allows nobody to lose face. I t was
'the way o f the gods' w h i c h was to be celebrated, and one's
participation i n this celebration meant that one had to be
so totally involved i n the celebration that through exhaust i o n the gods w o u l d k n o w the participants had given them
the best they could. I call this commonplace or ordinary for
the Japanese for i t is analogous to the experimental way i n
w h i c h people o f pre-literate cultures i n the West participated i n the way o f the gods before the w o r l d o f Platonic
organization conceived o f a separation o f man and nature, a
w o r l d i n w h i c h to see was to accept. W i t h the heightening
o f the visual sense came the d i m i n i s h m e n t o f the other senses and the eye separated the ordinary i n t o loci or c o m m o n
places for private Devitalization.3 I n the Japanese festival,
the ordinary street or passageway i n a house is made extra-

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1998:1-2

ordinary by the presence o f the gods for public satisfaction.

I came to realize that what was commonplace for the
Japanese was a communal spirit, epitomized by the festival,
w h i c h overrode any sense o f the individual and his 'rights'
to a private p o i n t o f view. W h a t the eye (I) had p u t asunder
only the deities could j o i n together.
T h e days leading up to the festival i n Kakunodate were
filled w i t h preparations. Streets, houses and shrine compounds were cleaned

and then the implements

and

symbols for the celebrations assembled. T h e dancers and

the musicians were previewed and all were assured o f the
success o f the festival. O n the night before i t began, all o f
the wakamono met i n front o f the festival wagon to have a
feast for the children o f the neighbourhood. After all, i t is
Measurements o f a typical street

considered that the deities see the festival through the eyes
o f children. T h e symbols w h i c h w o u l d become the godseat or resting place for the kami or the spirits o f welcome
were m o u n t e d on the wagon: pine trees (symbols o f longevity) and a model m o u n t a i n (symbol o f the inner space
w h i c h is the habitat o f the deities) and a paper waterfall
(symbol o f m o t i o n and purity). I n front o f the sacred
symbols were a pair o f K a b u k i dolls whose eyes, when
painted i n by the doll maker, are considered to give the
dolls life, a life w h i c h , like the painted faces o f the Kabuki
actor, invites participation. Paper lanterns and

music

accompanied the wagons as they made their way through

the streets to receive the deities from the shrine for the t o w n
o f Kakunodate.
T o w i n g the five-ton wagon w i t h its fixed axles through
the streets, along w i t h twenty or t h i r t y men, m y body
responded to the irregularity o f the street, for every time the
direction o f the wagon had to be adjusted, eight ot ten o f us
were called u p o n to put our shoulder under the front beam
o f the wagon and to heave it inch by inch to the left or to the
right. The week before the festival, faithful to m y upbringing
as a Westerner and an architect, I had measured the apparently straight streets as accurately as I could (much to the
amusement o f the Japanese). I thus knew intellectually and
visually that the street was not exactly straight, but m y
having to heave the wagon every ten yards or so was an i m A Festival W a g o n i n t h e t o w n o f K a k u n o d a t e - p h o t o by
Chiba

pression o f a different order. M y recollection o f the street as

the sum o f a series o f visual segments was replaced by a total
experience o f the senses. T h e physical involvement i n
discovering the order o f the street left a deeper impression

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

117

upon m y m e m o r y than the abstracted sum o f m y previous

bourhood located o n a sign at the front o f the wagon. These

impressions. T h e street became part o f a living m e m o r y

confrontations, i n fact, were a form o f ritualized conflict

encycled through me rather than merely categorized by me.

between neighbourhoods.

T h e space, like the social organization o f the c o m m u n i t y

before it, became a part o f me and I became a part o f it.
T h e music w h i c h accompanied the wagons added yet

D u r i n g the prelude to one o f these crashes, we waited for

the appropriate m o m e n t at some time i n the early m o r n i n g
before taking action, and when we d i d , the action was one

another dimension to the festival. T h e music f r o m the

o f total anarchy, i n every sense o f the w o r d : socially,

musicians o n the wagon retained one type o f consistency

physically and mentally. A l l o f our energy went into p u l l i n g

u n t i l after we had received the kami at the shrine for the

our wagon against the other wagon, and even though we

t o w n o f Kakunodate; then i t changed to a more exciting

held a position o f deadlock for a full forty-five minutes, i t

tempo, and the dancers o n the front platform o f the

never entered anybody's m i n d that one could let up the fight

wagon began to perform ar various houses and temporary

for a split second. I t was total, unquestioning involvement

neighbourhood shrines constructed along the way. I was

and emotional c o m m i t m e n t , like an act o f faith. There was

t o l d , and felt, that our wagon was n o w 'alive'. T h e sound

no r o o m for rational disputation concerning the existence

o f the music and the emotional involvement o f the waka-

or non-existence o f the kami w h o were being celebrated

mono added to this impression. M u s i c had the additional

through the streets. There was only r o o m for negotiation as

advantage o f relaying to us t h r o u g h an audible m e d i u m

to h o w best celebrate the kami's presence through the

the status o f other neighbourhood wagons i n the proces-

expenditure o f human energies on their behalf.

sion, one k i n d o f music being used to approach a neigh-

T h i s experience made me reflect (after i t was all over) on

b o u r h o o d shrine and a change o f music w h e n departing

the etymology o f the w o r d matsuri, w h i c h means "festival".

from i t .

T h e root o f matsurhs " matsu , "to wait". T h e waiting was as

T h e three-day festival concluded w i t h several wagons

i m p o r t a n t as the fighting. Some Western tourists w h o had

challenging each other i n the narrow streets for the right to

remained to see the t h i r d night o f the festival went home to

pass. These challenges occasionally led to disputes resulting

bed at i a.m. because to them n o t h i n g was happening.

in head-on collisions between wagons. Wagons w o u l d be

W h a t they failed to realize is that i t was happening all the

raised up on their rear wheels and each wagon w o u l d be

time for the w a i t i n g is the very essence o f the festival.

advanced so as to t r y to crash d o w n on the front o f the

Shinto is the way o f anticipation based on past experiences

opposing wagon i n order to topple the name o f the neigh-

w h i c h is different from our way o f waiting for something to

happen i n the future based o n theoretical speculation. I t is
not a believer's look into the future but the physical act o f
anticipation w h i c h constitutes belief i n the kami. I also
thought o f the etymology o f one o f the English equivalents
to matsuri, namely "carnival", w h i c h is part o f the act o f
4

expectation before Easter. T h e carnivals o f the West were

no doubt similar to the festivals o f Japan, before they were
turned into a tourist spectacle such as the famous Rio de
Janeiro carnival.
T h e townspeople o f Kakunodate are aware that their festival is a tourist attraction too, and that i t provides income.
T h e way they cope w i t h the situation is to stage programmed collisions o f the festival wagons at prescribed places
from 6 p . m . u n t i l 9 p . m . , at half-hour intervals on the
second night o f the festival. By the t h i r d night, the toutists

Programmed Collisions

118

are usually satisfied w i t h their picture-taking and have

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 998:1-2

perceived as solids vibrating i n a void o f infinitude. T h e

Japanese, do n o t appear to conceive o f private space as
enclosed as m u c h as they consider the household to be an
enclosed unit. T h e y w i l l allow the visitor i n t o the house,
but do not allow h i m to become a part o f the household. I n
a similar way, the Japanese do not conceive o f public space
as being enclosed; their w o r d kaiwai or "activity space",
denotes exterior spaces i n w h i c h people carry o n their daily
and festive lives. T h o u g h commonplace for the Japanese,
the ambiguity o f this street space confuses Westerners, w h o
find it lacking i n order and hard to remember. T h e systematic n u m b e r i n g o f street addresses allows us to remember
a house's placement on the street, whereas Japanese houses
are numbered according to when they were built: number
nine, therefore, m i g h t be next to number one. T h e i r n u m bering is historical, but not sequential, and is therefore hard
M a p o f Japan l o c a t i n g t h e t o w n o f K a k u n o d a t e

for the Westerner's absttact memory to grapple w i t h .

I n Japan, memory (whether i t be a house location or the
nature o f public spaces) has a relationship to physical activities

moved on to the next t o w n or city on their itinerary I t is on

involving all the senses. T h e Westerner is more comfortable

the t h i r d night that the real strategy and confrontations

memorizing something he can give the right answer for;

come into play. O n this night the sense o f t i m i n g (waiting

O n g calls i t memorizing through spatial diagrams.

for the appropriate moment) is not dissimilar to that o f the

Japanese physical activity takes place i n what they call

samurai swordsmen whose patience was a sign o f strength.

kaiwai,

This sense o f t i m i n g is parallel to the way i n which people

But

w h i c h , unlike the visually defined space o f the

West, is an amorphous space which changes w i t h the activities

perceive public spaces. T h e people o f the t o w n , through

o f its users and their intentions. Kaiwai refers to the empty

their collective memory o f previous festivals, wait i n anti-

space w h i c h surrounds the footprints o f physical structure.

cipation for the return o f the gods. After the Buddhist cele-

T h e kaiwai w h i c h takes on one f o r m d u r i n g the day m i g h t

bration o f the dead " k n o w n as' obori (or "all hallows" i n the
Christian w o r l d ) " the people o f the t o w n have fdled this
obligation to their ancestors and it is then appropriate for a
small group o f priests from the Shinmeisha shrine at the
foot o f the t o w n , to move through the t o w n purifying the
street and collecting the first rice o f the season from the
various households. The households w h i c h had been separated by the hierarchical order o f worship for the ancestors
were n o w free to mingle together i n preparation for the
Shinto festival o f the natural deities. I n this way spaces were
co-ordinated through a sense o f t i m i n g .
The Japanese perception o f space is related to time i n an
historical sense. We can also look at space as a record o f time.

take on another f o r m at night, one f o r m d u r i n g workday

activities and another at festival. Form is therefore a recognition o f patterns o f processes. The change i n pattern is most
highly noticeable when the recovery o f Shinto myths and
tituals w h i c h are embodied i n the f o r m o f the portable
shrines move through the streets o f towns and villages at the
time o f festival. I believe there is a correlation between the
physical environs o f the people o f Japan and the oral-aural
mode o f memory w h i c h the people use to awaken their
collective consciousness. I also t h i n k that there is a correlat i o n between the organization o f physical space i n the West
and the art o f rhetoric as i t placed its demands o n the
memory o f the individual.

T h e Etruscans and the Romans saw space as something

I n the Graeco-Roman w o r l d there were a series o f

contained w h i c h could be described by its perimeter and its

innovations w h i c h led to planning principles for towns and

content. For the Greeks, spaces were more likely to be

cities starting w i t h the division o f cities and classes by

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

119

Hippodamus o f Miletus i n the 5th century B.C. A l t h o u g h

wooden floor or matted floor, as well as the order resulting

grid plan symmetry appeared to creep inro planning as a

from the other senses. Thus we w o u l d say that Japanese ar-

matter o f organization, i t was never forced into m o n u m e n -

chitecture represents visible order i n l o w definition. Seeing

tal axiality. Later Greek developments such as Rhodes

is only part o f believing.

began to take advantage o f the visual axis offered by a varied

A t this p o i n t i t is appropriate to consider i n more detail

terrain. W i t h advances i n geometry the relationship between

the Japanese concept o f spacing k n o w n as ma. 1 have else-

built objects and nature becomes increasingly abstract such

where developed the argument that the Japanese perception

as can be seen on the Acropolis i n Athens.

o f spaces described by the word mawas not a noun, but rather

I n Japan, built form and nature tended towards harmony

a gerund (verb-noun) w h i c h could be better described by

rather than abstraction and separation. Instead o f geometry

the word "spacing". 1 will use here the word "space" to denote

w h i c h w o u l d see a straight line and a curved line as separate

a space as generally perceived by Westerners, and "spaces"

entities, the Japanese consider the curved line to be a

to denote a Japanese sense o f space, w h i c h is conceived o f as

straight line upon w h i c h the forces o f nature have acted.

having several potentialities at once. T h e Japanese ma

For example, the curve o f a temple r o o f w o u l d be derived

describes a c o n t i n u u m over space and time, or as Lao Tse

from a sagging rope. I f the rope were thinner at one end and

suggests, the emptiness contained by the walls rather than

thicker at the other, the result w o u l d be similar to a

the space as a repository. I n the West, spaces tend to be

catenary curve. This type o f curvature can also be seen i n

broken d o w n i n t o fragments w h i c h are visibly compre-

the stone wall o f a castle as i t descends into the moat. T h e

hensible and often labelled as to general use, such as living

visual dialogue between the object and nature was subser-

room, bedroom or d i n i n g r o o m . Japanese ma on the other

vient to the action o f nature on the object. T h e object was

hand, is not fragmented into small bits o f containment but

not free from nature, it was at one w i t h nature; the curve o f

is rather an empty place w h i c h gains its meaningful form as

a samurai sword was said to be related to the weight o f snow

it relates to an idea o f unseen boundaries through the

on a piece o f bamboo. T h i s coherence o f all the senses was

activities performed i n it. A friend o f mine suggested that to

used as a means o f connecting the things man made w i t h

describe Japanese ma is to describe what is lacking - what is

the visible forms o f nature. T h a t is to say; the Japanese,

not there rather than what is. W h i l e Aristotle abhorred the

relied on the forces o f nature to dictate a feeling for the

void, the Japanese have always thrived o n i t . I t o h T e i j i says

form. One cannot see snow on bamboo and measure i t so

that ma "cannot be seen since i t is void, vacuous, blank and

that it w o u l d coincide w i t h the curve o f a sword, b u t we can

o f nothingness i n character; b u t i t can be symbolized",

easily grasp the curve o f a sword when we t h i n k o f the force

namely by the ideogram ma. But ma also refers to other

o f snow landing on a piece o f bamboo. W h i l e Greek geo-

things such as the t i m i n g used by dancers and musicians i n

metry conceived o f an abstract relationship between man

their performances. To Takehiko K e n m o c h i music has a

made objects nature, the Japanese relationship was more

sense o f ma and that ma may lie i n those tensive characteris-

emotional than rational, more poetic than descriptive.

tics w h i c h have no sound, what the literary Westerners

Poetry relies on the interval while descriptions try to contain

m i g h t call "reading between the lines". We can therefore

things. Japanese space lacks a firm c o m m i t m e n t to contain

t h i n k o f the ma referred to by architects as a sort o f spatial

things as we can see from the example o f sliding walls and

flow, a combination o f spacing and t i m i n g as a constant

screens i n the Japanese house while Greek architecture tried

flow o f possibilities. A Japanese r o o m , the size o f eight

(each mat being approx. 3' x 6'), is used simul-

to describe a sense o f place i n a landscape and Roman archi-

tatamimats

tecture attempted to circumscribe the space i n w h i c h a

taneously for living, sleeping and eating, and is called an

b u i l d i n g was contained. I n the latter case, visible order was

eight mat ma".

a primary means o f describing man's intentions so we could

say that Greek and Roman architecture represent visible
order i n high definition. Japanese order, while visible, puts
equal weight on acoustic order, tactile order such as the

120

We m i g h t consider ma as a k i n d o f spatial current i n

w h i c h the tension between things sets up a pattern for i n terpretation. For instance, the context o f a space may be
changed from a study to one for a tea ceremony by the addi-

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1998:1-2

closely b o u n d to the intervals o f nature w h i c h cause fields to

yield the harvest and then to lie i n fallow. T h e Shinto deities
(kami) are invited for the season o f fertility, production and
harvest to an impermanent resting place i n the fields (or, i n
a fishing c o m m u n i t y , o n t o the boats o f fishermen). This
temporary resting place for the deities m i g h t be symbolized
by a straw rope h u n g between four bamboo saplings set up
i n a rice field. W h i l e the deities are invisible, the way o f formalizing and experiencing their presence is postulated by
the temporary preparation o f a space for the kami to visit.
T h e v o i d i n the rice field created by these four saplings (or
symbols) is then filled w i t h the spiritual f o r m o f the deities
called ki. T h e presence o f this spiritual force spreads out and
transforms the fields, temporarily, from a profane place for
A Japanese sense of space; open to a variety of functions

growing rice to a sacred place for the deities to rest. The sense
o f mahere,

t i o n o f a flower arrangement. These symbols, or to use the

etymological root o f the w o r d symbol, this " b r i n g i n g
together" o f the space w i t h the utensil, manages to give the
spatial current its temporary form. Like the form o f a stream,
the f o r m o f spaces i n a house is the result o f process patterns. I n fact, Kikutake K i y o n o r i has said that form is not
merely the visible delineation o f a space but is rather the total
consideration o f space plus f u n c t i o n .

10

Ma is constantly

awaiting or undergoing transformation by the availability

o f physical components and potential uses. Kikutake, like
I t o h Teiji, is recognizing process patterns rather than
objects. Thus an eight-mat r o o m , temporarily attired w i t h

too, is therefore indefinite and temporary, like

that o f the eight-mat r o o m w h i c h can be transformed by

sliding doors and the addition o f various accoutrements to
take on one f o r m after another. This lack o f fixed spaces
w i t h fixed walls is even more indirect i n the exterior spaces
o f Japanese towns and villages, where the spatial current o f
kaiwai appears to fluctuate between the day o f usual activity
called ke-no-hi and the day o f festival called hare-no-hi. T h e
public spaces for everyday life m i g h t r u n along a socioeconomic axis o f the town while the festive activities w o u l d
r u n along an axis from the house o f the gods i n the m o u n tain, through the t o w n , to the field or fishing harbour
w h i c h is i n w a i t i n g for this life-giving energy o f the gods.

a flower arrangement and a pot o f boiling water to make tea

I n Japan, u n t i l the M e i j i Restoration (1868) and the

for a tea ceremony becomes a guest ma (Kyaku ma), b u t

postwar b o o m o f Western architectural influences, there

only for the interval before i t accommodates another use,

appeared to have been a distinct lack o f public squares or

possibly as a r o o m to sleep i n .

plazas and o f monuments or monumental buildings made

T h e Japanese perception o f ma, or interval, is b o u n d up

o f permanent materials such as stone or brick. To a certain

w i t h their 'way o f life' w h i c h is i n harmony w i t h Shinto,

extent the lack o f rigid load-bearing walls may be explained

'the way o f the gods'. Shinto is not a religion w i t h a creed

by the fear o f earthquake. M o r e difficult to understand,

made up o f formalized statements o f belief, but is rather a

however, is the lack o f civic spaces w i t h a monumental

recognition o f the rhythmical order predominant i n nature:

character typical o f the West. Japan does have great temples

Shinto is constantly being transformed by context. Shinto

and shrines w h i c h are, i n many ways, equal i n scale and

is a pantheistic cult w h i c h has never been codified but has

grandeur to Western architectural expressions. There are

been rather passed on from generation to generation i n an

also great open spaces i n front o f and around buildings; yet,

aural form i n association w i t h the myths found i n the

as I t o h Teiji points out, these spaces were to be experienced

Kojiki and made tangible through the repetition o f rituals.

by m o v i n g through t h e m rather than by viewing t h e m

Shinto attributes personal welfare to the recognition o f har-

from a fixed vantage point:

mony i n and w i t h nature. The interval o f Shinto is therefore

THOMPSON:

..JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

121

Sequential spaces may be understood as a distribution o f

pounds (in the kaiwai) than that w h i c h we find i n most o f

memories of the experience, noting that the content of

the m o n u m e n t a l civic squares i n our Western towns and

memory includes not only the beaury of physical space, but

villages today. To the Japanese, exterior spaces are com-

also the story, or legend concerning the elements along the

m u n a l . I n the West, the individual views the m o n u m e n t a l

path."

space from a personal point o f view; the t o w n square, the

T h e sequence I t o h is talking about is not an abstracted

sequence o f houses i n logical, numerical order but rather a
sequence o f histories w h i c h are experienced and an understanding that results from the use o f spaces and the symbolic value o f the houses along the way.
It is o f interest to note that there m i g h t be similarities
between this sequential experience o f spaces observable i n
Japan today and that tevealed i n rhe architecture o f medieval
Europe. I f we could imagine the medieval cathedral o f Spain
i n the way I t o h T e i j i describes spaces, we m i g h t come closer
ro medieval man's experience o f a series o f spaces rhrough
w h i c h he progressed i n order to gain knowledge through a
"distribution o f memories". I f m y hypothesis is correct, i t
can be demonstrated that spatial concepts for the Japanese
are not three-dimensional and static but rarher linear and
mobile through time. This sense o f space, although not unique
to Japan, does have its o w n means o f interpretation. For

12

statue, or the shape o f the square. H e notices that the t o w n

is gathered around the square and he organizes this n o t i o n
spatially w i t h reference to visual limits, but i t was often the
intention o f the architect that he does this as an individual
spectator, and that he does so i n his m i n d . I f the plaza or
square is full o f people celebrating something, he has to
abandon his private stance for a public one i n order to j o i n
in the celebrarion. I n doing this, he makes a mental transition
from the m o n u m e n t a l i t y o f the things he has been l o o k i n g
at to one o f c o m m u n a l involvement, usually through music
and dance.
A l t h o u g h Japanese and Western festival spaces may
occasionally appear similar, the key difference lies i n rhe
fact that the Japanese does not need to make the transirion
from the individual to the public man because his is not
impressed w i t h what M c L u h a n has called the "illusion o f
u n i f o r m connected spaces". M c L u h a n has said that
13

example, I believe the Spanish cathedrals differ from French

the man who lives in an aural world lives at the center o f a

cathedrals i n their means o f m o d u l a t i n g space. W h i l e a

communications sphere, and he is surrounded with sensory

cathedral like Chartres or N o t r e Dame de Pairs is enclosed

data from all sides simultaneously.

by a volume w h i c h can readily be perceived as one great

space or narrative form, the Spanish cathedrals are often
made up o f separate spaces w h i c h are more like a series o f
episodes, to be experienced one at a time as the eye makes
adjustments to each individual space. D r . C u m m i n g s has

T h e Westerner may enjoy many o f the same festivals the

Japanese do, but he celebrates them in a different way and
hence his notion o f the structuring o f exterior spaces is different. Because the n o t i o n o f space and its physical presence

poinred out the parallels between the narrative f o r m o f

is tangible to the Japanese, their spaces are less sttuctured

Sophocles and the French cathedrals as compared to the

around visual criteria. T h o u g h i t may be possible for the

episodic form o f D o n Quixore w i r h the Spanish medieval

Westerner to make rarional sense our o f any space, he cannot

churches. T h e Japanese tea garden like the Tale of the Genji

do i t i n a way that w o u l d reveal the Japanese experience.

is a series o f episodes.

Nevertheless, i f we use the criteria o f visual connectedness

T h e Japanese sense o f space, while n o t contained like the

European cathedral, bears some similarity to the episodic
experience o f the Spanish cathedral. I n Japan the linear,
episodic quality o f the street is the place where the Japanese
sense o f c o m m u n i t y is strengthened through its c o m m u n a l
actions at the time o f festival. I n fact, i n Japan there seems
to be a stronger sense o f c o m m u n i r y or neighbourhood
involvement i n the festive use o f streets and religious com-

122

we may be able to create a rational, Western picture o f a

Japanese festival w i t h o u t the need to become involved i n it.
I n this way, we w i l l have our private point o f view w i t h o u t
being at the center o f the activity.
K o j i r o , i n his writings about Japanese communities,
points out that the route used on the day o f the festival was
often at fight angles to the routes used by people for their
daily chores and socio-economic exisrence. T h e everyday
route usually lay along rhe road connecting villages (dia-

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

Western i n many ways; for example, the Japanese have

adopted many o f our outward expressions i n some o f their
more popular festivals. I n the West, we are familiar w i t h the
takeover o f our festivals by politicians and businessmen
w h o are involved i n showing o f f their accomplishments
and current status. These revised celebrations i n civic places
tend to be orchestrated for visual effect at a particular moment, thereby avoiding altogether any sense o f the mythical
or timeless. I n Japan i n some cases, the long tradition o f
festive procession has now been transformed into a Western mode o f presentation. This making over o f a festival
for the gods to a festival for the tourists for visual effect can
be seen i n the great G i o n Festival o f Kyoto where m u c h o f
the sponsorship for the festival n o w comes from beer
companies rather than from the local neighbourhoods. Yet
we could say that the beer companies as merchants o f a
larger order have come to the aid o f the local merchants. We
m i g h t t h i n k o f this third level o f participation as a perversion o f the original festival but that m i g h t merely be a
Schematic description of village activities
a) horizontal axis: the everyday axis from village to village
b) vertical axis: the festive axis from mountain to village
shrine to field shrine and back to the mountains

long as i t is for the kami, the way o f the gods. H i r o s h i

gram i ) . The path o f the festival procession however, led

recovered".

from the m o u n t a i n habitat o f the Shinto deities, through

the village (at right angles to the thoroughfare) to the fields
where the presence o f the kamivras temporarily brought to
encourage the growth o f the rice seedlings. The route w h i c h
the procession took complemented the route o f everyday
activities, and this was done by enlivening the otherwise
dormant places w i t h the presence o f the deities. I n addition,
the procession enlivened the hearts and memories o f the
people by temporarily recovering the past through an
interruption i n the natural progression o f t i m e . T h e pur14

pose o f the procession-ritual was to propitiate the deities, to

mental construct while for the Japanese, i t is not perverse as

Soeda admits that even though the beer companies appear
to have taken over the festival "for many, the space has been
15

Nonetheless, the tendency to Westernize the

festival by heightening its visual aspect for outsiders may

have diminished its sense o f c o m m u n i t y involvement and
has led to performances which are paraded i n front o f
groups o f spectators

i n grandstands.

I n addition, the

televising o f the festival has changed the participation i n

the festival from one o f neighbourhood involvement i n a
physical space to one o f national involvement through
televised space. Even i f the circumstances surrounding the
festival have changed, the desired effect remains the same.
The festival is an open invitation to anyone w i l l i n g to celebrate the presence o f the gods.

purify the social and physical order o f the village, and to

T h r o u g h their preparations for the festival the Japanese

recover the life energy necessary for the c o m i n g season.

cleanse themselves o f the immediate past i n order to be

W h a t was monumental to the Japanese therefore, was

ready for the next day. To do this, the everyday sense o f time

monere - to be "reminded" o f the myths surrounding the

is temporarily suspended for the duration o f the festival. I n

kami by engaging oneself i n a process o f physical activity,

the same way the spaces o f the t o w n m i g h t be said to be

not by viewing the physical things and making mental

suspended i n time so that they too can recover meaning for

constructs o f history.

the c o m m u n i t y w h i c h uses t h e m . T h e festival, to H i r o s h i

M a n y o f the differences I have been discussing are rather

Soeda, (speaking o f the G i o n Festival),

more i m p l i c i t t h a n overt, since m o d e r n Japan appears

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

123

is not an integration of human inreracrion with its physical

visual f o r m o f reference. But the reference i n aural space is

setting, but the negation, the divestment of the setting of its

to process rather that to object. "Acoustic space" was familiar

everyday function and meaning so that new functions can be

to Western medieval man and is still familiar to pre-literate

people such as the Eskimo: i t is a space i n the perceptions o f

invented, other meanings recovered.

all the major senses parricipate. Japanese spaces w o u l d not

This recovery, he says, is possibly

the festival's most important aspect.

be perceived as chaotic by the memory system o f the Japanese

16

person whose use o f ideograms, both visual and acoustic,

(The annual fesrival ar G i o n celebrates the Japanese m y t h

keeps h i m constantly i n touch w i t h his surroundings.

i n w h i c h light is restored to the w o r l d by retrieving the Sun

A l t h o u g h the festival w o u l d appear to accelerate the sense

Goddess Amaterasu from the cave i n a rollicking festival o f

o f chaos for both Westerner and Japanese alike, the sense o f

music and dance.) The memorial organization o f spaces,

total involvement i m p l i e d by the festival reinforces Ono's

17

through the physical participation i n these timeless m y t h -

observation that Shinto is matsuri, or festival. I t cannot be

related annual festivals, is quite different f o r m the Wes-

explained i n rational terms b u t can be expetienced as a

terner's memorial organizarion o f space to overcome time

fluctuation o f chaos and order. M c L u h a n suggests that

by monumentalizing a space, a person, an event, or an idea

i n permanent materials. T h e Japanese spaces w h i c h were
purified and organized by the experience o f the festival
were the physical spaces w h i c h involved all o f the senses
simultaneously.

C.S. Lewis in The Discarded Image makes a similar observation when contrasting Western medieval and modern man.
He explains that the model of space gradually created by
medieval man gave him a feeling of looking in. In contrast, he
points out that modern man feels that he is looking out.

20

T h r o u g h m y study o f ma i n architectural terms and the

study o f the same phenomena as i t relates to festivals, I

M o d e r n man has been taught to observe while medieval

began to discover how the Japanese m i g h t t h i n k o f physical

man was led through experience.

spaces as the way o f everyday activity, and the way o f the

I n rhe Graeco-Roman w o r l d , i n contrast to Japan, the

festival as a flucruation o f spaces defined by their activities

rational m i n d ordered space i n direct relation to a visual

rather than the spaces visual semblance o f order alone.

bias. This visual sense o f spatial organization had its roors i n

Kaiwaioi acrivity space, as I t o h Teiji calls i t ,

the idea o f a C o m m o n Place from w h i c h a public speaker

is space resulting from activities . . . not a district or zone . . .

not necessarily established by buildings or walls.

18

could get his cues for his speech. This C o m m o n Place (or
"place to keep track o f one topic at a time") became the
ordinary ot "commonplace" way o f constituting an argu-

W h a t was commmonplace for the Japanese was a communal

ment. T h e w o r d "commonplace" today means "ordinary";

ordering o f physical spaces through a variety o f rituals, n o n -

previous ro that i t meant "a collection o f aphorisms, verse

festive and festive, rarher than the conceptual formation o f

or ideas" (1560). T h e meaning previous ro that was "topics

permanent monuments and civic spaces. Underlying rhis

w h i c h could be memorized"; i t is this meaning w h i c h refers

physical organization is the inherent quality o f ma w h i c h

to C o m m o n Places i n architectural rerms, and w h i c h is o f

implies that by themselves the spaces are v o i d , but through

inrerest i n this presenr invesrigation: it involves the effect o f

the activity taking place w i t h i n them they take on forms

visually connected t h i n k i n g complemented by visually

w h i c h are filled w i t h meaning for the p a r t i c i p a n t .

connected spaces supported by an alpha-bet.

19

A c t i v i t y o f course rakes place i n kaiwai whether on the

T h e idea o f a C o m m o n Place began as a reference p o i n t

ordinary day ( ke-no-hi) or the day o f the festival (hare-no-hi).

in physical surroundings and represented the first attempt

T h e spaces o f a Japanese t o w n therefore often appear to be

to separate a mental space from a physical space. This formu-

chaotic to most Westerners; however, this is, as I have been

lation o f a mental space based on the "artificial" memory

maintaining, a result o f a visual bias. To a Westerner, seeing

was a change from the memory o f an experience, be ir poetic,

is believing; rherefore, a perceived chaos is often an "acoustic

musical or physical, ro a m e m o r y established w i t h a pur-

space" w h i c h is n o t intended to fit harmoniously i n t o some

124

pose ' i n m i n d ' .

NORDISK ARKfTEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

and sequential, one could go "backwards and forwards" over

the argument since an argument is linear i n its arrangement.

22

Although the poet Homer was also committed to a linear arrangement i n his recounting o f the sequence o f events i n the
great myths, he hadn't the need for the argumentative freedom
available to the later rhetoricians. But visual abstraction
allowed the rhetorician to put his best voice forward and that
voice was the sound o f his thoughts. Literacy also gave buildings additional significance w i t h respect to rhetoric.
Their sequential arrangements became a visual aid to logical
thought, and as such were eventually abstracted from the oralaural culture which surrounded them. The effect of the visual
bias was such as to relate the physical environment to the context o f the new medium o f the phonetic alphabet. " C o m m o n
Places" have therefore their roots i n "the Commonplace" o f
the orator's aid in speech memorization.
We can see how the linear mode ofWestern logical thought
The rules of speech from
Frances Yates

was first codified in spatial forms, beholden to the eye, through

the development o f the notion o f the sepulchre as a physical
f o r m for remembering. M e m o r y was thus embodied i n a

Yates points out i n The Art of Memory that the c o m m o n

physical form that arrested time and eternalized i t . Subse-

places o f the orator were those things he wanted to remem-

quently, print technology made justice i n t o an absolute

ber and they were associated w i t h different pieces o f archi-

accumulation o f previous judgments w h i c h i n turn were

tecture. T h e orator was no longer reciting a play or epic i n

made permanent. A l l these concretizing acts pre-condition

traditional poetic f o r m , b u t an argument w h i c h was a new

our future. They monumentalize the past, freezing it i n time.

and private invention. Since early classical orators d i d n o t

We can therefore see the logical evolution i n the West o f

have their speeches w r i t t e n on a piece o f paper, they used

the w o r d " m o n u m e n t " from its beginnings i n the C o m m o n

different details o f a b u i l d i n g to r e m i n d them o f the topics

Places o f the rhetorician (where the visual mode o f percep-

o f their speeches (the Renaissance started w r i t i n g things

t i o n was heightened, yet supported by the orator's voice), to

d o w n for 'public' consumption - p r i n t ) . Havelock i n his

the m o n u m e n t as a physical object to be perceived by the

Preface to Plato says that

eye, and finally, through the effect o f the printed w o r d , to

The act o f organization which carries beyond the plot o f a

story in order to impose a rough logic of topics (Latin: loci) is

the silent pages o f the "Commonplace-book" in the Renaissance. As noted by Lechner:

an art performed by the eye, not by the ear. It reveals the archi-

Perhaps the most important distinction between the classical

tectural capacity made available by written signs, as opposed

commonplace mentality and that o f the Renaissance was in

to the acoustic patterns and response characteristics of a purely

the way each conceived knowledge. While the ancient orators

oral poem.

conceived of the topics and their seats of arguments as located in

21

Thus, although literacy d i d not precede buildings, i t d i d give

buildings a new significance.
Yates says further that these architectural loci or places were
like wax tablets upon which the image could be erased once it
was used, and replaced w i t h another image for use i n a different argument. I n addition, because the images are artificial

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

mental areas of the mind [Common Places] in which thought

processes developed and were expressed in the oral tradition
of the spoken wotd, the Renaissance teacher and schoolboy
tended more to locate his topics and their accumulated
wisdom outside the mind on the pages of his commonplace
book where thoughts were manipulated like objects.

23

125

'involvement' rather than 'detachment'; I was frustrated i n

t r y i n g to find an ideal type o f space w h i c h could be defined
and categotized for the sake o f the intellect alone. The details
o f the festival w h i c h were most v i v i d for me, then, were the
acts o f purification, the total involvement i n carrying out
the festival, and a strong sense o f c o m m u n i t y solidarity I
could not recall rhe explanations or the rarionale for d o i n g
rhings as m u c h as the negotiations w h i c h led to m y c o m m i t m e n t to the festivities. M y mental energies were not p u t
to the test the way they m i g h t have been had I been external
to the celebrations.
I n contrast to total involvement i n a celebration where
one's physical and emotional being is engaged, I am reminded
o f the story t o l d by Barrholemew o f Pisa concerning the
firsr provincial o f the Franciscans Agnellus o f Pisa, a true
follower o f St. Francis, w h o was fathering the i n s t i t u t i o n o f
Sebastiano Scrlio. Tragic Scene. Woodcut from Libro

57

the friars into O x f o r d i n rhe early thirteenth century:

primo . . . d'architettura, Venice, 1551, fol. 29 v.

One day when he wished to see what proficiency they were

making, he entered the schools whilst a disputation was going
I n the West, then, monuments i m p l y memory; the way
that memories have been codified is often through the use
o f permanent materials and well-defined senses o f public
space surrounded by buildings or walls, making them the

on, and hearing them wrangling and questioning, Utrum sit

Dens, he cried, "Woe is me, woe is me! Simple brothers enter
barefoot into Heaven, and learned brothers dispute whether
there is a God at all!

24

most visible and durable parts o f cities, towns, and villages.

Agnellus' heart must have been so involved i n the act o f

T h e insights provided by Yates, Lechner and Havelock

reaching heaven that ( I wonder) i f he m i g h t have t h o u g h t

regarding rhe roors o f Western memorial organizarion i n

that the others w o u l d go to H e l l w i t h their shoes o n , for, to

rhe movemenr away from the oral m e m o r y may thus be

a medieval friar, faith began i n the attitude o f prayer, not

fruitfully applied to our prime concern here: h o w rhe orga-

disputation: his fairh, like rhe kami faith, was "caught, not

nizarion o f memory affecrs the organization o f physical

taught", to use Professor Ono's phrase. T h e friars i n ques25

space. M y hypothesis was that since the physical spaces o f

t i o n were carrying o n rhe Graeco-Roman tradition o f dis-

the West and o f Japan differed, the memorial organization

putation described i n the AdC.

o f the two cultures d i d too. After two years o f taking part i n

the festival o f Kakunodate, and m a k i n g a design survey o f
the t o w n , and after several years o f observing festivals i n
other towns and villages, I began to reflect upon how people
took part i n rhe fesrival and how I remembered

the

sequence o f spaces. I came to realize that the rirual o f rhe

Herennium (c. 86-82 B.C.):

The entire hope of victory and the entire method o f

persuasion resr on proof and refuration, for when we have
submitted our arguments and destroyed those of the opposition, we have, o f course, completely filled the speaker's
function (Ad C. Herennium, p. 33 1 xi.18).

26

fesrival was more a result o f the emotional involvement o f

T h e way o f carrying o n this disputation had five elements:

people i n a physical space than o f an intellectual detach-

inventio (invention), dispositio (disposition), amplificatio

ment i n an idealized type o f space. I f o u n d , t h r o u g h m y

(elocution), memoria (memory), and pronunciato (action).

o w n experience o f the festival, that m y numerous questions

T h e art of m e m o r y i n the classical art o f rhetoric used archi-

about space were better answered by participation than by

tecture as a support for irs Techniques. Recall Yates' Roman

conceptualization. To the Japanese, the ideal seemed to be

oratot w h i c h mentally placed the image o f that w h i c h he

126

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

wished to remember u p o n a c o l u m n or a fountain i n a b u i l -

I n Japan, as became evident i n m y consideration o f the

ding, and w h o w o u l d then be able to memorize his speech

festival, space is organized w i t h o u t intent to influence one's

by going f o r m a pillar to pillar, reading off the artificial'

mental space b u t rather one's emotional space. T h e festival,

image w h i c h he had placed on them.

by demanding involvement i n a physical space, does not

The art of memory is an invisible art; it reflects real places

but it is not about the places themselves, but the reflection of
these, within the imagination.

27

create a mental space ( i f anything, i t confuses the mental

ordering o f space), b u t rather orders physical space through
communal participation. We can therefore say that i n the
Japanese culture, space is recognized and defined through

I n this way the order o f the orator's argument was sup-

physical involvement, whereas the Graeco-Roman culture

ported by the visible order o f the architectural elements

o f the Western post Socratic times used space to support

and the artificial image w h i c h he applied to t h e m . T h i s

mental imagery.

does not mean that the architecture contained the images

T h e Western evolution o f space was changed by the fall

w h i c h aided the technique b u t rather that the technique

o f Rome and we see the evolution o f a different type o f

o f memorization affected the way b u i l d i n g was perceived,

space i n the Middle Ages. The commonplace o f medieval man

w h i c h was i n the f o r m o f a mental procession, rather than

was related to his manuscript culture w h i c h lay between the

a physical one. A l t h o u g h the orator m i g h t have practiced

oral culture o f the pre-Socratics, the alphabetic culture o f the

his oration by walking amongst the columns, his proces-

Graeco-Roman w o r l d , and the p r i n t culture o f the Renaiss-

sion was that o f a solitary m a n , memorizing a solitary argu-

ance. Medieval C o m m o n Places were no longer the "wax

ment. These loci communis or general topics were the first

tablets" upon w h i c h an artificial image w o u l d be place and

30

f o r m o f C o m m o n Place and were used by the orator to

then removed for the sake o f sustaining an argument, but

memorize an argument w h i c h separated h i m from his

were statues and symbols to w h i c h "virtues" were applied and

fellow citizens, i n order to persuade t h e m o f his "point o f

w h i c h sustained the memory o f a higher order kept w i t h i n

view". Thus, i n the West, architecture can be seen to have

the heart.

originally aided the memory; and furthermore, the aid was

W h i l e the Graeco-Roman orator tried, through the

visual and made up o f spatial fragments as a device for

abstraction o f a particular situation, to construct a probable

memorization. T h e memory therefore separates the speaker

solution by arranging his mental space i n a hypothetical

from the architecture, sets h i m on a mental or ethical plane

situation, the Western medieval m i n d had a respect for tra-

above it, beyond it. It is not the visual-audio-tactile perception

d i t i o n and ritual and the striking images became mor-

o f architecture i n which the Japanese w o u l d find themselves,

talized and ranged i n an order n o t chosen for their unique-

but rather a sense o f space based mainly on visual interpreta-

ness, as i n classical art, but rather for the way i n w h i c h they

tion and intellectual abstraction. Pseudo-Ciceronians,

harmonized w i t h

in

traditional sacred history.

Thomas

fact claimed that the technique o f memory depended on

Aquinas for instance, as Yates points out, gives the rules for

visual impressions and that these, i n the right order,

memory, n o t as a part o f rhetoric, b u t w i t h the virtue o f

showed that "the sense o f sight is the strongest o f all sen-

Prudence.

ses". I n some branches o f medieval learning the chanting

28

o f scripture meant the internalizing o f the w o t d which St.

Bernard says reveals the bias o f an aural cultute whose strength
lies i n c o m m u n a l values over private points o f view, " . . . i n
matters o f faith and i n order to k n o w the t r u t h , the hearing is

Memory, as a part of Prudence, means remembering past

sins, avoiding sins i n the present, and looking forward to
future punishment of sins in Hell and the reward of Virtues
in Heaven.

31

superior to v i s i o n . . . " Thus, the abstraction o f sight from

The architectural manifestations o f this respect for the divine

the other senses helped the orator to structure his private

office, the sacraments, the purification and return o f its

mental space w i t h the purpose o f affecting and convincing

members to the community, were the cathedrals o f Europe

his listeners, o f causing t h e m to re-structure their o w n

and Britain. T h e y were spaces through w h i c h one moved

mental space.

both physically and spiritually, and knowledge was gained

29

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

127

through a memory o f rhese experiences. I n Japan, the me-

its international affiliations. Yet there remains an apparent

m o r y aged through the emotional experience o f celebrating

lack o f visual order amongsr buildings w h i c h is most discon-

the gods i n the exterior spaces o f the t o w n as well as at the

certing to Westerners brought up on Renaissance princip-

shrines and altars w i t h i n the house. "While c o m i n g from

les o f visual order and the rational order o f Wesrern edu-

different roots than Japanese architecture, the Medieval ar-

cation i n general, and Western t o w n planning i n particular.

chitecture o f Europe may have had many similarities i n the

A t the level o f fashion, many Japanese buildings appear

way it was perceived as a memory sysrem builr up w i t h i n

Western, and, as w i r h many buildings i n our o w n culture,

the individual through his participation both physically

they advertise themselves. But while the overall appearance

and spiritually i n the spaces that surrounded h i m .

is chaoric, to the Westerner, the Japanese see visual order as

T h e invention o f the p r i n t i n g press changed the way

only one aspect o f the overall order o f the environment,

Westerners memorized rhings. I t was no longer necessary

especially to those w h o are still i n touch w i t h this environ-

to use the C o m m o n Places or loci o f a b u i l d i n g to support

ment w i t h all their senses on a day-to-day basis.

the memory o f the Graeco-Roman orator. T h e encyclopedic

T h e Japanese sense o f otder, moreover, is a marter o f

quality o f the medieval cathedtal had been a part o f

k n o w i n g one's place w i t h i n the family, the company and

man's all embracing complere education, an education

the biggest company "Japan". Yet, also peculiar ro the

w h i c h was gained by means o f processing through spaces

Japanese, is the usage to throw this order into disarray under

encircling t h e m , often to the accompaniment o f music.

the license o f the gods. T h a t is w h y i t is ordinary or accepta-

32

The p r i n t i n g press evenrually changed the encyclopedia o f

ble to allow the extraordinary, the presence o f rhe gods, ro

the physical circle o f learning inro rhe alphabetic index found

create a temporary sense o f chaos, both i n time and space,

in most libraries. M a n could search amongsr the printed pages.

so as to renew the energy o f people and to create a new sense

H e no longer needed to c o m m i t his memorization to heart.

o f order i n w h i c h the order o f everyday life gives way ro

I n a sense, the architecture w h i c h had been filled w i t h

chaos i n terms o f street uses, loyalties to w o r k , and loyalties

sound and rirual was silenced. This silence was b u t one

to the contemporary political system. I n its place people re-

more abstraction o f the physical reality o f the building from

establish their sense o f communal loyal ry for the purpose o f

the emotional reality o f man's life. T h e b u i l d i n g had gone

carrying a portable shrine through rhe srreets to purify both

from a structure able ro be manipulared by people for their

the people and their ground, to revive their life energy and

individual use to one w h i c h structured their communal

to ensure the fertility o f the fields. A l l this is celebrated by a

life, and finally to one w i t h aesthetic qualities based on "the

w i l d , rollicking feast i n w h i c h d r u n k e n ecstasy, and i n some

archival accuracies o f eclecticism" o f purely visual modes o f

cases hypnotic submission, displace any thoughts o f cool,

33

rhought. T h e Japanese encyclopedia, on the other hand, is

"detached", rarional behaviour. E m o t i o n overtakes reason,

an " e n v i r o n m e n t a l " commonplace i n w h i c h involvement

and the memory o f the past serves as a guide for the present.

on a two-dimensional plane leads to knowledge. ' The encyc-

T h e participants organize their emotional space around the

lopedia o f the printing press has helped us to perceive o f things

festival father than adjusting their feelings to their thoughts.

34

as being separate from rheir process patterns. This manner

o f perception is evident when we view each individual b u i l ding as a private declaration o f architectural intention. T h e
Westerner's, heightened use o f the visual mode o f orientat i o n looks for rhe characrer o f a particular part o f t o w n to
give h i m his sense o f place.
T h e Westerner's conceptual ordering o f space w h i c h was
first affecred by irs use i n aiding rhetoric and later i n the
Renaissance by its construction to fit the eye o f the beholder
through the m e d i u m o f perspective, is n o w beginning to
affect Japan through the media o f the printed magazine w i t h

128

T h e Western spaces w h i c h Yates describes are o f another

order and she provides a warning for architects i n her
address to the Archirectural Association o f Britain:
I emphasize the thought that memory architecture was invisible
[observe rhe author's visual bias!]: it used buildings for its
pufposes, but we can never see [italics mine] into the actual
memofies in which these buildings were reflected. It taises
the rather interesting thought, that a building lives, not only
by its actual visible existence but by its invisible reflections in
the memories of generations of men.

36

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

Here we see that there may be some limitations to the visual

with the disappearance of participation, is still, of course, the

interpretation given to objects, for, although we cannot "see

ordinary man's concept.

into the actual memories", we do k n o w that they were used

by people i n both a ceremonial and an everyday way. So that
"a building lives, not only by its actual visible existence but
by its invisible reflection i n the memories o f generations o f
men" because these generations have experienced, both
mentally and physically, and w i t h all the senses, the spaces
between the buildings as well as the buildings themselves.
They recover some o f the existence o f those buildings through
the myths t o l d about them: collective m e m o r y applies to
Western architecture too, i f we could o n l y see the buildings
as inseparable from their context. O u r language, as applied
to Western architecture, doesn't help us. T h e w o r d "reflect i o n " implies a visible i m p r i n t , a bounded image i n h i g h
definition, i n contrast to the w o r d "Recovery" as Soeda uses
the term i n relation to Japanese architecture, by w h i c h he
implies the simultaneous use o f all the senses i n a space
whose center is nowhere and whose circumference is everywhere; the b u i l d i n g is i n l o w d e f i n i t i o n . T h e collective
m e m o r y does feast o n Western space i n spite o f our efforts
to rationalize and categorize it. Every building has a cultural
context: the construction and life o f every b u i l d i n g can be
understood i n relation to contemporaneous paintings, music,
dance, and other arts which stimulated the people i n question.
Unfortunately, however, we often l o o k at the forms as
divorced f o r m their contextual significance.

37

T h e three-dimensional v o i d w h i c h Barfield refers to is the

great encyclopedia o f the Western m i n d w h i c h the perspective o f the private p o i n t o f view is brought to focus. T h e
focus is made o f individual locior topica, the assembly o f which
leads to knowledge. This ordering or commonplace concept
had its beginnings i n the C o m m o n Place or loci o f the GraecoRoman orator's imagination. Thus, artificial imagery used
architecture as a means o f support u n t i l the p r i n t e d w o r d
(15th century) changed the need for learning things by
heart to a need for learning h o w to l o o k up references (19th
century) w h i c h were filed i n alphabetical order. T h e threedimensional v o i d was changed by man's w i l l f u l placing o f
himself at the center o f a p o i n t o f view w h i c h demanded set
limits i n order to define his position. T h e perspective becomes the extension o f the eye w h i c h could fix the position
o f things and hence the locior places could eventually be fixed
into mental constructs called concepts. This way o f ordering
things i n pictorial compositions was eventually developed
for literary purposes into charts and diagrams w h i c h could
be memorized for the purpose o f examination. T h e examination denied the r h y t h m o f the oral-aural culture and
heightened the visual image o f the t h i n g to be memorized
from paper so that i t could be p u t back o n paper. To p u t i t
i n Chaytor's words, " i n printers' i n k auditory memory has
been drowned and visual memory has been encouraged

Westerners have the variety o f physical and imaginary

and strengthened." I n order to strengthen the visual memory

spaces which Yates speaks of, while the Japanese have physical

on the page we have to contain our argument as I am doing

spaces w h i c h they remember through physical and emo-

here. A n argument tells y o u about something, i t gives you

tional participation i n t h e m and an understanding o f the

m y p o i n t o f view and i t tries to refute any contradictions so

symbols w h i c h surround them. The physical participation

that y o u w i l l be convinced I am right. To do that I have to

o f the Japanese at the time o f festival prepares the whole

contain all m y thoughts about m y topic on this page. So, i f

man both physically and mentally - i n terms o f ritual, emo-

you can't hear the tone o f m y voice or follow m y emotional

t i o n , tradition and c o m m u n i t y - for the recovery o f a sense

c o m m i t m e n t i n the f o r m o f non-verbal gesticulations you

o f place i n the Shinto belief o f the way o f the gods. This

w i l l have to make your private translations o f the words on

involvement i n the festival is combined w i t h the subse-

this page and I ' l l never k n o w the difference.

quent restoration o f people to their everyday life and activ i t y i n the same spaces. There is n o t h i n g imaginary about
it. I t is both real and encyclopedic.
O w e n Barfield has said that

Indeed, the fact o f our o w n literacy makes us open to

propaganda i n ways to w h i c h the illiterate man is n o t
susceptible. Let me give you an example: the Cree Indians
were given a syllabic alphabet by Christian missionaries so

The concept of space as an unlimited or three-dimensional

that they could learn the t r u t h i n their o w n language.

void - a kind of extrapolated 'perspective' - which came in

Before this, they lived i n the context o f their total environ-

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

129

w o r l d o f space" (space is something we visualize - spacing

40

is something we feel by means o f the interval).

The printing form itself appears in this setting as a kind of
locus or "common" place from which can be pulled an
unlimited number of pages, each blanketed with argumenrs
.. . I n the initial stage of printing, individual bits of discourse
are frozen into space ... as soutces from which meaning can
be dispensed.

41

T h u s , the predominant media t h r o u g h w h i c h we perceive

our environment has an effect o n our view o f physical
space. W h a t Barfield refers to as commonplace is changi n g i n Japan and elsewhere, t h r o u g h rhe heightened participation i n the electric media w h i c h surrounds

us

"environ-menrally". I n b o t h Japan and the West we are

being kept i n touch w i t h ever larger environments t h t o u g h
the m e d i u m o f television and radio, and yet we continue to
perceive events w i t h a visual bias epitomized by the dialectic method based on arguing, o n logical dexterity, and on
debating. T h e television anticipates the viewer by involving
h i m as a spectator without his saying a word, imaging (and
imagining) his p o i n t o f view w i t h o u t giving h i m an ear to
hear, w i t h o u t i n v i t i n g h i m to j o i n i n a dialectic. U n t i l this
new organization o f space being thrusr upon us is perceived
and understood we may be b l i n d to the environmental processes surrounding us. W h a t is presently commonplace is a
greater activity space than we have ever perceived before.
Just as rhe use o f television affects the way space is used, so too
the logical thought sequence, supporred by the phonetic

The private eye ("I")

alphabet, affected the concept o f space conceived by the

ment w i t h all their senses at bay. So their culture was

changed by rhe coming o f lireracy by w h i c h the message is
presented (and the t r u r h or falsity o f its contents understood) visually.

38

This heightening o f the visual mode o f

classical Graeco-Roman orator, unril the after-effect o f the

" C o m m o n Place" became commonplace.
T h e argument presented here is only an outline o f an
experience w h i c h went f o r m head to gut to head again. T h e

perception created the unconscious context o f Western

center is nowhere to be found outside me. T h e irony o f

cultures. Chayror adds, " I f the thinker is illiterate, his m i n d

w r i r i n g this paper lies i n rhe attempt to establish an argu-

w i l l be auditory; i f his is literare, he w i l l be visual."

ment by rarional organizarion o f topics when what I wish I

39

I n Ja-

pan the aural-oral Transmission o f myths and ritual sup-

could do is to suggest rather than to define. I t h i n k that the

ports a memorial and material organization o f spaces w h i c h

disjuncture w h i c h Chaytor and O n g have identified w i l l

is hard for the eye (or the private " I " ) alone to detect while

continue from the w o r l d o f p r i n t to the w o r l d o f electronic

in the West the p o i n t o f view o f the eye (and " I " ) has been

media i f we merely concern ourselves w i r h the content and

accentuated

not the context. T h e context is environ-mental; hence m y

as part o f the historical development

of

culture. O n g has said that "ideologically, the w o r l d o f

initial question:

sound has yielded, u n w i t t i n g l y but quite effectively, to the

130

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

What is there about the Western system of memorizing

things which is different from the Japanese, and how does it
affect the outcome of physical space?

(Revised for chapter i n forthcoming book.)

Note
I wish to add a note of thanks to Laurence Cummings and to Eli-

We stand to benefit from b o t h content and context i f we

zabeth Cummings and to John Greenwood for their advice and

realize that content is context. I n this way the present can

editorial help in preparing this manuscript. I also want to thank

be empowered by the past, the past can be revisited, and the

Barry Nevitt for his initial conversation on the Common Place

ordinary can be extraordinary.

and Itoh Teiji and Kojiro Yuichiro for their assistance in Japan.

Fred Thompson,
Professor of Architecture,
University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Motes
1.

Marshall McLuhan and Harley Parker, Through the Vanishing

Point (New York, 1969), p. 163.
2. Yuichiro Kojiro, "Japanese Communities", a special edition
of Space Design ( V I I , 1975), p. 9.
3. The O.E.D. definition of a topic refers to a "place, local or
concerning commonplaces", referring to the place upon which
the orator focused his attention in order to remember his argument. The common places were then to become the headings under which a subject or argument could be located.
What started out as a part of a building became an aid to
forming a mental space ot a concept. "Topic" is the standard
English translation of the Greek topos (the Aristotelian counterpart of locus) which means, literally, a place or area. Eleanore Stump, Boethius's De topicis differentiis (Ithaca and London, 1978), p. 16.
4. Carnival has its origin in the word came meaning "flesh". In
Roman Catholic countries the week (originally the day) before Lent was devoted to revelry and riotous amusement. The
beginning of Lent meant the beginning of the fast before Easter. It was a time of purification, a time for putting away the
use of flesh for food. The word "carnival" therefore meant a
time of anticipation to the users of the word. It is interesting

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

131

that the Chinese ideogram for matsuri is made up of three

parts, which alone mean "flesh", " i n the hands", and "offer to
the gods".
5. See Walter J. Ong, Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue,
chapter iv, (Cambridge, 1958).
6. Much has recently been published on the Japanese concept of
ma and in particular I would bring to your attention to Arata
Isozaki's exhibition on ma which toured Paris, New York and
Helsinki. The catalogue from the Musee des Arts Decoratifs
(Paris, Oct.-Dec. 1978) is entitled MaEspace-TempsduJapon.
7. ARKKITEHTI Finnish Architectural Review, "Unity of Time
and Space." 2,1981, pp 68-70.

8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

Teiji Itoh, Nihon No Toshikukan (Tokyo, 1973), p. 42.

Ma Nihon No Bunka, Kenmochi, Takehiko.
Kiyonori Kikutake, The Kentiku. Tokyo: 1965, p. 28.
Itoh Teiji, Nihon No Toshikukan, p. 108.
See Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
(New York, 1963).
13. McLuhan and Parker, Through the Vanishing Point, p. 6.
14. Cox comments: " I n festivity, paradoxically, we both heighten
our awareness of history and at the same time we take a brief
vacation from history making." The Feast of Fools, p. 56.
15. Hiroshi Soeda, "Festivity and the City: Mobile Stages of the
Gion Festival" in Concerned Theatre Japan, (II, 3, 4,1973), p.
207.

16.
17.
18.
19.

20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

ibid p. 207
TheKojiki, trans. Donald L. Philippi (Tokio, 1968), pp. 81-86
Itoh, Nihon No Toshikukan, p. 44.
Activity in the Buddhist sense takes place on a two-dimensional plane as represented by the Mandala; I quote from Teiji
Itoh: "the first philosophical and methodological impetus to
formal design in Japan came from esoteric Buddhism, in
which the design elements were considered as symbols of the
esoteric world and their arrangement of a model of this
world. It should be noted that originally the Mandala was
merely a temporary terrace made of packed earth upon which
the Buddhist ritual was performed, and that it was desttoyed
at the end of the ritual." Itoh, Nihon No Toshikukan, p. no.
McLuhan and Parker, Through the Vanishing Point, p. 24.
Eric A. Havelock, Preface to Plato (Cambridge, 1963), p. 296.
Frances A Yates, The Art of Memory, (Harmondsworth, 1966),
p. 22.
Joan Marie Lechner, Renaissance Concepts of the Commonplace
(Westport, 1962), p. 236.
I am grateful to Laurence Cummings for this reference.
Sokyo One, Shinto: The Kami Way (Rutland and Tokyo,
1962), p. 94.

26. I am grateful to Lautence Cummings for this reference.

27. Yates, "Architecture and the Art of Memoty" in Architectural
Association Quarterly (X, 4,1980), p. 5.
28. Yates, TheArtofMemory,^. 19

132

29. Robert Lawlor, "Geometry at the Service of Prayer, Reflections on Cistercian Mystic Architecture" in Parabola (III, 1),
P

'

'

30. "The art of memory is like an inner writing. Those who know
the letters of the alphabet can write down what is dictated to
them and read out what they have written. Likewise those
who have leatned mnemonics can set in places what they have
heard and deliver it form memory. For the places are very
much like wax tablets or papyrus, the images like the letters,
the arrangement and disposition of the images like the script,
and the delivety is like the reading." Yares, The Art of Memory,
p. 22.
31. Yates, "Architecture and the Art of Memory", p. 5.
32. O. E. D. "encyclopedia: a) circular or complete; 1. The circle
of learning; a general course of learning 2. A work containing
information on all branches of knowledge, usually arranged
alphabetically, 1664."
33. Joseph Rykwert, "The Purpose ofCeremonies" in LotusInternational(XVW, Dec. 1977), p. 57.
34. O. E. D. "environ: "To form a ring round, surround, encircle..."
35. Ong, Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue, p. 310.
36. Yates, "Architecture and the Art of Memory", p. 12.
37. Owen Barfield, Saving the Appearances (New York: n.d.), p.
152.

38. Father Ong makes the following comment: "Ramus had

insisted that analysis opened ideas like boxes, and it is certainly significant that the post-Ramist age produced so much
more than its share of books identified by their titles as "keys"
to one thing or another. In this same age (the age of the philosopher Peter Ramus) the notion of 'content' as applied to
books is extended, so that statements, the words of which
statements consist, and concepts or ideas themselves are habitually considered as 'containing' truth. A n epistomology
based on the notion of truth as 'content' begins to appear."
Later he says "Pre-Gutenburg man does not readily think of
ttuth as 'content'." Fot Pre-Gutenburg man the ttuth lay in
his memotizing such phrases as " I n the beginning was the
Word" and the word was with God and the word was God" and the word - the truth- "the way the truth and the life"
became flesh. Medieval or Pre-Gutenbetg man contained
that truth. The book was only an aural aid to the man who
was the container, in fact he had to heat the word, even i f he
was literate. Ong, Ramus, Method and Decay of Dialogue, pp.
316,

316.

39. H . J. Chaytot, From Script to Print (Cambridge, 1950), p. 8.

By "illiterate" I take Chayior to mean illiterate in terms of
Western alphabet. The Japanese have both a phonetic sctipt
as we do and Chinese ideogtams which are morphemic. To be
literate in Japan means to be acquainted with Chinese ideograms and the phonetic sctipts of hiragana (for Japanese words)
and katakana (for foreign words). Fenallosa gives us some

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2

indication o f the effects o f this kind of literacy on its users:

"perhaps we do not always sufficiently consider that thought
is successive, not through some accident or weakness of our
subjective operations but because the operations of nature are
successive. The transferences o f force from agent to subject,
which constitute natural phenomena occupy time. Therefore, a reproduction of them in imagination tequires some
temporal order. Fenallosa, The Chinese Written Character as a
Medium for Poetry, p. 7.
40. Ong, Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue, p. 290.

41. The space which Ong is referring to is the space limited by its
definition to but a fragment of the whole. This is quite different from the concept of ma which refers to the reverberation
between the parts of the whole. Standing on the bow of a ship
I discover space; it is not simply "me plus seagull": it is the ma
which gives it meaning, the gap (spacing) between the seagull
and I . Space refers to a topic which contains its own justification: it contains things, contents, the connections. Ma is
the space between, or the interval.

Bibliography
A D C. HERENNIUM.

Ed. and trans. H a r r y Caplan. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press, 1954.

London:

Bowes, 1870.

Press, 1959.
CARPENTER, E D M U N D A N D M A R S H A L L M C L U H A N . "Acoustic

AUGUSTINE, City of God, E d . D a v i d Knowles. Harmonds-

Space". Explorations in Communication.

Eds. E d m u n d

Catpenter and Marshall M c L u h a n . Boston: Beacon

w o r t h : Penguin, 1972.
BARFIELD, O W E N . Saving the Appearances. N e w York: Har-

Press, 1967, pp. 65-70.

CASSIRER, ERNST. An Essay on Man. N e w Haven & L o n d o n :

court, Brace & W o r l d , n. d.

B L O O M , ALFRED. The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study
the West. Hillsdale,

B O M A N , T H O R L E I F . " T i m e and Space", Hebrew

Thought

With Greek, Chap. 3. Philadelphia: West-

B R A N D O N , JAMES R. Kabuki, Five Classic Plays. Cambridge:

Harvard University Press, 1975.

CHAYTOR,

H.J. From

Script

to Print.

Cambridge: W .

Heffner & Sons, 1950.

1969.
D O X I A D E S , K O N S T A N T I N O S A P O S T O L O U . Architectural

N e w York: G .

Space

in Ancient Greece. E d . and trans. Jacqueline T y r w h i t t .

Cambridge: M I T Press, 1972.

Braziller, 1961.
B R O W N , J A N A N D K N E T Z , Y O K O S. Exploring

CHAMBERS, E . K . The Medieval Stage. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford

Cox, HARVEY. The Feast of Fools. N e w York: Harper & Row,

minster Press, 1960

B R O W N , FRANK. EDWARD Roman Architecture.

Yale University Press, 1962.

University Press, 1963.

N.J.: Laurence Erlbaum, 1981.

Compared

A N D ROBERT

FLAHERTY. Eskimo. T o r o n t o : University o f T o r o n t o

A S C H A M , ROGER. E D W A R D ARBER. Scholemaster.

in the Impact of Language Thinkingin

CARPENTER, E D M U N D , F R E D E R I C K V A R L E Y

Tohoku.

New

York, Tokyo: John Weatherhill Inc., 1982.

DUFFY, D E N N I S , Marshall

McLuhan.

Canadian Writers

Number 1, N e w Canadian Library, Toronto: McClelland

& Stewart L t d . , 1969.

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

133

EISENSTEIN, E L I Z A B E T H . The Printing Press as the Agent of

I T O H , T E I J I . Space and Illusion in Japanese Gardens. N e w

York, Tokyo and Kyoto, Weathethill/Tankosha, 1973.

Change. Cambridge: University Press, 1979.

FENALLOSA, FREDERICK.

The Chinese Written Character as a

I T O H , T E I J I . Nature and Thought in Japanese Design. Publis-

hed for 'The W o r l d Design Conference.' Tokyo: i 9 6 0 .

Medium for Poetry. Ed. Ezra Pound. San Francisco:

JACOBS, JANE. The Life and Death of Great American Cities.

C i t y Lights Books, 1936.

FESTIVALS

OF JAPAN:

N e w York: Vintage Books, 1963.

illustrated. J.T.B. Inc. Japan: 1985.

FLAUBERT. Bouvard andPecerchet. Penguin Classics, 1976.

FREDERIC, L O U I S . Daily Life in Japan at the Time of

JAPAN

the

Japan, 1973.

G A N D Y , S O L O M O N . The Knot in Hebrew Literature. Isis X I V ,

KANJI

1930.
G R U N B A U M , A D O L P H . Philosophical Problems of Space and

The Dance of Life. N e w York: A n c h o r

Editorial Staff o f the East. Tokyo: T h e East

nese by Edward G . Sidensticker, Rutland and Tokyo:

Charles E. Tuttle, 1972.

Press/Doubleday, 1984.
E D W A R D T . The Hidden

Dimension. N e w York:

H A L L , J O H N W . A N D T O Y O D A T A K E S H I . Japan in the Muro-

machiAge. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University

&c W i n s t o n , 1973, pp. 339-354.

KIKUTAKE,

KIYONORI.

The Kentiku. Tokyo:

Seidoh-sya,

1965.

o f California Press, 1977.

H A V E L O C K , E R I C A . Preface to Plato. Cambridge:

K E E N E , D A V I D . "A Literatute o f C o u r t and People". Half the

World. Ed. A r n o l d Toynbee. N e w York: H o l t , Rinehatt

Doubleday Anchor, 1969.

Harvard

THEKOSI

Kl. Tokyo: University o f Tokyo Press, 1968.

K O J I R O , Y U I C H I R O . "Japanese C o m m u n i t i e s " . Space Design,

University Press, 1963.

H O F F , FRANK. Warlords, Artists and Commoners. Ed. George

Elison. University Ptess o f H a w a i i , 1981.

V I I (1975).
KOJIRO, YUICHIRO A N D M A T S U M O T O , K A T S U H N I . "Six Japanese

H U I Z I N G A , J. Homo Ludens. A Study o f the Play Element i n

Village Festivals". Ekistics, ( M a y 1975), pp. 339354K O J I R O , Y U I C H I R O . The Japanese Community, unpublished

Culture. Boston: Beacon Press, 1950.

Japanese Art: A Cultural Appreciation. T h e

Heibonsha Survey o f Japanese A r t , Weatherhill, N . Y ,

manuscript.
K O M P A R U , K U N I O . NOH,

The Noh Theater. Principles and

Perspectives. N e w York, Tokyo, Kyoto: Weatherhill/

Tokyo, 1979.
I M M O O S , T H O M A S . " M i n o a n and Japanese R i t u a l " . Trans-

actions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, X V (Dec. 1980),

Tankosha,

1983.

KORSCHERT, O . The Theory and Practice of GO

KUROKAWA, K i S H O . " R i k y u Gray" Chanoyu Quarterly, no 36,

PP- 47-72.
I N N I S , H A R O L D A . The Bias of Communications. Toronto:

at the Service o f Prayer,

Reflections on Cisrercian Mystic Architecture". Para-

Inouye, Jukichi. Home Life in Tokyo. Tokyo: 1910.

och tid i Japan. Catalogue for

exhibition: Committee for the year 2001,

pp. 33-51.
LAWLOR, ROBERT. "Geometry

University o f Toronto Press, 1951.

ISOZAKI, A R I T A . MA Rum

KANJI.

Publication Inc., 1972.

KAWABATA, YASUNARI. The Master of Go. Trans, f r o m Japa-

Time. Dordrecht & Boston: Reidel, 1973.

IENAGA, SAKURO.

C o m p i l e d by the Japanese

KAGAYAMA, H A R A K I . The Arts of Shinto. Weatherhill: Arts o f

Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1972.

HALL,

AND PEOPLE.

o f Education, 1964.

SamuraiII8$I6O}. Trans. Eileen M . Lowe. Rutland &

H A L L , EDWARD T .

- ITS LAND

National C o m m i t t e e for UNESCO. Tokyo: M i n i s t r y

Festival

d ' A u t o m m e , Paris, Helsingfors Stads Konstmuseum,

Frenckallska Tryckeri, Helsingfors, 1981.
I T O H , T E I J I . et al. Nihon No Toshikukan. English trans.

bola, I I I , 1, pp. 12-19.

L E C H N E R , J O A N M A R I E . Renaissance Concepts of the Com-

monplaces. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1962.

M A K I , F U R N I H I K O . " T h e C i t y and Inner Space". Japan Echo,

V I , 1,1979, pp. 91-103.

unpublished. Tokyo: Shokoku, 1973.

134

NORDISK ARKITEKTURFORSKNING

1998:1-2

M C L U H A N , M A R S H A L L A N D PARKER, H A R L E Y . Through

the

Vanishing Point. N e w York, Evanston and L o n d o n :

Harper C o l o p h o n Books, 1969.
Village.

N e w York: M c G r a w - H i l l , 1968.
E. Tuttle Co., 1967.
The

Ecology, Toronto: B u t t e r w o r t h , 198,

pp. 58-75.

N e w York:

SEBASTIAN, L I A N E . Peaks and Mountains,

Japan

in Aspen.

Chicago: Sebastian Graphics, 1980.

SELYE, H A N S . From Dream to Discovery. N e w York: McGraw-

N E V I T T , BARRINGTON. "Visible and Invisible Bias via Media".

Canadian Journal ofCommunication,VH,

3 ( D e c , Jan.,

Feb. 1980-81), pp. 9-42.

H i l l , 1964.
SIEGEL & W H I T E . On Spatial Thinking About Non
Matters.

N I T S C H K E , G u N T E R . " T h e Metabolists o f Japan". Architectural Design, October, 1964.

Design, M a r c h ,

1966.

S M I T H , A R T H U R . GO the national game of Japan.

esoteric town planning

in East-

Orient. V o l . I , Tokyo 1967.

Theatre Japan,

I I , 3, 4

(Spring 1973), pp. 194-207.

STCHERBATSKY, T . H . Buddhist

tectural Design, X L I V , 12 (1974), pp. 747-791.

Logic. N e w York: Dover,

1962.
STUMP, ELEONORE. De Topica dijferentis. Ithaca & L o n d o n :

N I S H I , K A Z U O A N D H O Z U M I K A Z U O . What is Japanese

Archi-

Cornell Univetsiry Press, 1978.

T A K A H A S H I , YASUNARI. " T h e Theatre o f M i n d " .

tecture Kodansha I n t . L t d . Tokyo,

Encounter,

L V I I , 4 ( A p r i l 1982).

N e w York, San Francisco, 1983.

NISHIHARA, K I Y O Y U K I . Japanese Houses. Tokyo, Japan Publications Inc., 1968.

T H O M P S O N , FRED Ritual and Space. University o f Waterloo

Press, 1988.

O N G , W A L T E R J . Ramus, Method and the Decay of

Dialogue.

O N O , SOKYO. Shinto: The Kami Way. Rutland and Tokyo:

P A I N E , ROBERT T R E A T A N D SOPER, ALEXANDER. The

Art

and

Pelican H i s t o t y o f A r t , H a m -

of Philosophy.

Ham-

m o n d s w o r t h , England: Penguin Books L t d . , 1969.

and

the Church

Year.

unpublished essay, November 1983.

RYKWERT, JOSEPH. Theldeaofa

T O S H I D A , M I T S U K U N I ; T A N A K A I K K O A N D T S U N E SESOKO.

Kogyo Co. L t d . H i r o s h i m a , 1982. (publ. by Mazda

corp.)

Rutland & Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1972.

R O O R D A , A N G E L A B. Sun, Moon

2, 1981 " T i l a n ja ajan ykaes",

(trans. " U n i t y o f T i m e and Space), p. 58-63, 68-70.

The Compact Culture: The Ethos of Japanese Life. Toyo

m o n d s w o t t h , Middlesex, 1955.
PAPINOT, E. Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan.
Consolation

Edited by A n -

Waterloo Press, 1986.

T H O M P S O N , FRED Arkkitehti

Charles E. Tuttle, 1962.

of Japan.

T H O M P S O N , FRED Fudo: An Introduction.

thony v. L i m a n and Fred S. T h o m p s o n , University o f

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1958.

(ed.)

Rutland

SOEDA, H I R O S H I . "Festivity and the C i t y : M o b i l e Stages o f

the G i o n Festival". Concerned

N I T S C H K E , G U N T E R . " S H I M E : B i n d i n g / U n b i n d i n g " . ArchiN I T S C H K E , G U N T E R . Kyoto...

Spatial

1975.

and Tokyo: Charles E . Tuttle, 1956.

N I T S C H K E , G U N T E R . " M A " . Archtiectural

BETTY

SCRANTON, ROBERT LORENTZ. Greek Architecture.

George Braziller, 1962.

N E V I T T , BARRiNGTOn. " C u l t u r a l Biases", Chap. V,

RADICI,

ported and Transformed". Kenyan Review, I I I , 4 (1981),

pp. 83-113.

M O D Y , N . H . N . Japanese Clocks. Rutland & Tokyo: Charles

Architecture

national, X V I I (Dec. 1977), pp. 5761.

SCHECHNER, R I C H A R D . "Performers and Spectators Trans-

M C L U H A N , M A R S H A L L . War and Peace in the Global

Communication

RYKWERT, JOSEPH. " T h e Purpose of Ceremonies". Lotus Inter-

Town. Princeton: University

TOSHIDA, M I T S U K U N I , TANAKA IKKO A N D T S U N E

(eds.) The Culture

of Anima.

SESOKO

Published by Mazda

Corp. Cosmo Public Relations Corp., Tokyo, 1985.

T U R N B U L L , S.R.

The Samurai:A

military history. N e w York:

M a c M i l l a n Publishing Co. Inc., 1977.

Press, 1976.

T H O M P S O N : ...JAPANESE EXTERIOR SPACE A N D WESTERN C O M M O N PLACE

135

WARD-PERKINS,

J.B. Cities of Ancient Greece and Italy: Plan-

ningin ClassicalAntiquity. N e w York: George Braziller,

1974WATSUJI, TETSURO.

Climate and Culture, A Philosophical Study.

Tokyo: T h e Hokusaido Press, 1961.

WEISS, PAUL.

Religion and Art. Milwaukee: Marquette U n i -

versity Press, 1963.

W H I T L O C K , RALPH.

"Lean Times", Manchester Guardian

Weekly. Feb, 5,1984, p. 19.

YAMAGUCHI, MASAO.

"Kyogen as a Carnival Culture". Hashi

no Kai, printed for the First International Theatre Festival inToyama '82. Tokyo, 1982.
YATES, FRANCES A . "Architecture and the A r t o f M e m o r y " .

Architectural Association Quarterly, X , 4, (1980), pp. 4 13YATES, FRANCES

A . The Art of Memory. H a r m o n d s w o r t h :

Penguin, 1966.
Z U C K E R , PAUL.

Town and Square. N e w York: C o l u m b i a

University Press, 1959.

136

NORDISK A R K I T E K T U R F O R S K N I N G 1 9 9 8 : 1 - 2