The new construction projects are sad as evidenced by the horrendous Osaka train station. What a waste of space and concrete.
If Japan insists on these projects, they should look at Sanatana Row in San Jose or the Assembly in Somerville. Offer assistance and transition help to existing small businesses. (What supermarket is planned? Don-Qui?)
Enlighten me as to what's wrong with the Osaka train station? Conceivably I would imagine that it's built with a bit of a buffer to handle the demand that such an infrastructure project could eventually service. What do you think they did wrong?
Prior to this didn't they lose a lot of the little parts stores/stall in... I think it was Akihabara IIRC? I am struggling to re-find the name of the area, it was like a giant open air radio shack and it's my understanding has been shrinking and/or disappeared.
Radio kaikan. It's been remade to focus on anime/otaku stuff like the rest of akibahara. There just isn't the demand for buying niche electronic parts in person anymore.
It still remains though. In Osaka dendentown there is a shop that exclusively sells screws.
Its not that. Its that Japan lost the tech lead so they have nothing to offer that's distinct that cannot be found in our own mega distribution channels (Amazon).
I remember when living there of the marvel of teenagers having GPS in their own cars circa 1999. Or the incredibly advanced cell phones miles ahead of their western counterparts. That's no longer the case.
Now you can find everything, much cheaper, and more conveniently, right here in the US.
Akihabara was over when Amazon and Alibaba opened the floodgates of distribution to Chinese and American electronic manufacturers.
If you want kirkland brand, you have to go to Costco. There's no equivalent for japanese electronics anymore.
There are still niche electronic shops in Akihabara though: the ones under the tracks, Radio Department Store, Aisan, and the back streets parallel to the main street.
Shotengai arcades have been dead or dying since the 1990s if not earlier, and it's not gentrification that's killing them, it's lack of demand. For daily needs, in Japan as everywhere else in the world, one-stop shopping spots like supermarkets and convenience stores win out over visiting lots of specialty retailers that can't compete on price.
I am just back from Japan and I am not going to lie, I think they are great in how they both value their traditions and history but as a society they only look forward.
Sure, they might be economically less wealthy than they used to 30 years ago, but in practice you see them being bold in their projects and developments 24/7. Their cities are forward looking, more efficient, developing higher so less people need to commute it's a necessity that eventually will kill many of these older districts, but so be it if it spares tens of thousands from commuting every day.
Tokyo is the most livable big city in the world, and the only one where housing is still vaguely affordable, because they constantly rebuild and regenerate. Long may it continue.
There’s often a romantic expectation that charming relics like these, old market stalls or arcades etc etc, should simply continue to exist. But what’s often overlooked is that these aren’t just aesthetic artefacts they’re run and sustained by real people with real lives, modern needs, and evolving values. It has dwindling longevity.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 39.7 ms ] threadIf Japan insists on these projects, they should look at Sanatana Row in San Jose or the Assembly in Somerville. Offer assistance and transition help to existing small businesses. (What supermarket is planned? Don-Qui?)
It still remains though. In Osaka dendentown there is a shop that exclusively sells screws.
I remember when living there of the marvel of teenagers having GPS in their own cars circa 1999. Or the incredibly advanced cell phones miles ahead of their western counterparts. That's no longer the case.
Now you can find everything, much cheaper, and more conveniently, right here in the US.
Akihabara was over when Amazon and Alibaba opened the floodgates of distribution to Chinese and American electronic manufacturers.
If you want kirkland brand, you have to go to Costco. There's no equivalent for japanese electronics anymore.
Sure, they might be economically less wealthy than they used to 30 years ago, but in practice you see them being bold in their projects and developments 24/7. Their cities are forward looking, more efficient, developing higher so less people need to commute it's a necessity that eventually will kill many of these older districts, but so be it if it spares tens of thousands from commuting every day.