I got Sakobe Keiichi's album "Sketch of Shomokitazawa", i think it's a series of artitsts who try to save Shimokitazawa. Is that?
And this album is really nice~
I can't imagine anything worse than Shimokitazawa as we know it changing. It's my favorite place in Tokyo. Going to a show in another place is fun but it is sorely lacking that Shimokitazawa feel. The whole place is just crackling with energy, talent and artistry unlike anywhere else in Tokyo. It is also the home of K.O.G.A Records where all of my current favorite bands come from. Sigh... Where will the next Shimokitazawa be?
makzhou, I have a bad habit of sometimes buying CDs but forgetting to listen to them, and that CD you mention is one of them... I'll check it out and let you know.
Steve, Yeah, you're right. I've loved the place ever since I first visited it about a dozen years ago. And agree on K.O.G.A. Koga-san has great taste.
Haha! I remember writing a bitchy little piece about the whole Shimo-Kitazawa road-death-plan about a year back (general gist: burn the whole place to the ground and good riddance!)
Honestly though, I don't see it having the tragic impact a lot of people seem to be expecting. There hasn't been any new culture worth mentioning in Shimo-Kita for years. It'll just mean the town will get a bit of a commercial shot in the arm and perhaps the new road and development will bring in a wider range of different people, which could be a positive thing.
Sangenjaya survives despite Route 246 rending the place in twain, and Kichijoji seems like a good model of how counterculture and commerciality can coexist. It won't be the same, but then one mustn't cling to the past.
Ian, Nowhere else in Tokyo is quite like Shimokita, and it's packed every night--so why change it? What it is now makes it much more of a tourist attraction than if it was made into another Omotesando Hills or something.
Shimo-Kitazawa's become a bit of a victim of its own success in that sense. Any place where large numbers of young people gather is going to become a target for businesses wanting to absorb a bit of that cred for themselves, and the brand image of "Shimokita" has started to overshadow what actual creativity goes on there. Despite (more likely because of) the large numbers of live venues around Shimo-Kitazawa, most of the risk-taking among musicians tends to take place along the Chuo Line these days. New live venues like Mosaic charge extortionate amounts of money to play there, based only on the perceived status bonus that bands can get for being seen as a "Shimokita band"; and the older, more established venues like Que and Shelter have to look constantly towards established names to maintain their position. You say it makes a great tourist attraction, but what always happens to popular tourist attractions? Shimo-Kitazawa is stuck in a self-defeating position where it is supporting its brand image at the expense of creativity and risk, and its success in supporting that image is what makes the encroaching commercialisation inevitable.
Well if all those clubs want to head over here to Kunitachi, they're more than welcome.
But I'm with ken though. The Chuo Line places each have their own, appealing vibe (including Kunitachi I might add!), and I wouldn't want Nakano or Koenji to be affected by this kind of road planning any more than I would wish it on Shimokita. If the scene isn't to your liking then that's your prerogative of course, but you can't deny that there's nowhere else like it.
>The Chuo Line places each have their own, appealing vibe
I forgot to add, "except for Tachikawa".
That 71 year old guy will be dead soon. Sorry maybe that is insensitive but really the young should decide their own future. It is simply politics. The Road Warriors asthey are sometimes called, are politicians seeking reelection and gets votes based on how many roads they build for some weird reason. The old guy may just be sick of climbing stairs. the benefits of more traffic through the area pale in comparison to the benefit of what is left of Tokyo culture. This sort of "progress" is the anti- christ of Shimokitazawa philosophy. Don't fix it if it is not broken. This road has been planned for over 50 years and the area has thrived without it so leave the people alone and stop wasting tax payer money!
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