Acknowledgments
The initial ideas for this book were being explored in the conversations with colleagues, friends, and prospective publishers held as early as 2019. Not surprisingly, progress slowed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the project underwent renewed vigor and momentum, especially following face-to-face meetings with a number of contributors in early 2024 in Japan.
This edited volume involved the efforts of many, and I am indebted to Satoh Shigeru, Jinnai Hidenobu, and Fujimori Terunobu for their generous acceptance to work on the interviews with me and for their invaluable insight. The patience and precision with which they reviewed the âtranscriptionsâ and translations into English is greatly appreciated. In particular, I would like to thank Professor Satoh for his assistance in tracing sources for the photographs taken at the DÅjunkai Apartments before their demolition and for facilitating contact with the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR). Professor Fujimori Terunobu hosted me for tea at his Tanpopo House (1995) in Kokubunji, Tokyo, which has been a memorable experience as it gave me the opportunity to experience firsthand one of Fujimoriâs most original works. I am much indebted to professor Jinnai Hidenobu, a long-standing mentor and friend, for his encouragement, optimism, and help in reaching out to various colleagues involved in the scholarship on the DÅjunkai, Japanese public housing, and the history of architecture. The sharing of his enormous knowledge of Tokyo and his aiding my grasp of this global city often entailed meals and sake at restaurants in tucked-away alleyways. Thanks are equally extended to Yamamoto Riken, the recipient of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2024, who kindly accepted to write the foreword to this volume and who took the time to meet with me in his Yokohama office. His thoughts about housing and the challenges that this complex field of architecture faces have always inspired me in my research as well as in my own design work. I am also indebted to Imai Shino of the office of Yamamoto Riken for generously liaising with me. I wish to express sincere gratitude to Elise K. Tipton, Carola Hein, Ken Tadashi Oshima, Otsuki Toshio, and John Leisure for their contributions to this volume, which offer insight not only into many aspects of the DÅjunkai but also of the city of Tokyo and the TaishÅ era. Otsuki Toshio deserves special thanks for his expert advice, his guidance regarding primary sources, and his review of select essays. Thank you all for your generosity and effort in realizing this project.
I would like to acknowledge the Metropolitan Centre for Far Eastern Art Studies for their support, which enabled my research trip to Japan in January and February 2024. This book would not have come to fruition without the financial support obtained through a crowdfunding campaign launched at the end of 2022. This three-month long initiative attracted family, friends, as well as colleagues and businesses. The crowdfunding proved to be a positive experience due to professional assistance of the staff of Wemakeit, Zurich, who managed the campaign. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the following people for the trust they have put both in me and in the project and for their generosity: Adachi KÅhei, Asaka Hiroshi, Laura Cafaro, Silvia Cafaro, John Clark, Emiliano Corapi, Silvana De Maio, Thao Duong, Karin and Rudolph Fässler, Erika Forzy, Guido Giordano, Marco Herreros Pompili, Nora Herreros Pompili, Silvia Herreros Pompili, Wolfgang Humbert-Droz, Christine Hunziker, Iwaki Kazuya, Kakinuma Marie, Martin Keller, Brendan Kennedy, Tomoko and Eduard Klopfenstein, Maddie and Don Knodt, Komada Takeshi, Andrea and Reto Kuprecht, Gabriele and Albert Lutz, Liliana Mamerti, Marco Marin, Catherine Nguyen, Mai Nguyen, Massimo Pastena, Sue Pedley, Cristina Perone, Alessandra and Claudio Pompili, Luca Pompili, Nunzia and Carlo Pompili, Mano Ponnambalam, David Pradana, Ann and Andrew Proctor, Barbara Quagliarini, Jasmin Schwitter, Marina Siroit, Natalie Seiz, Kathrin Trinh, Khanh Trinh, Khoa Trinh, Ueda Kana, Gabriele Volontè, Stefania Zanardo, and Patrizia Zindel.
Many assisted in securing illustrations for this volume. I would like to thank the Tokyo Metropolitan Archives (TÅkyÅ-to KÅbunshokan) for granting permission to publish material from the private archive of Uchida Yoshikazu, the âFather of the DÅjunkai Apartments,â photographer Kanehira YÅ«ki for his poignant photographs taken of the DÅjunkai Apartments before demolition, photographer Sugiyama Kei for his consent to use his photograph of the DÅjunkai Åtsuka Women Apartments and Toranomon Apartments, Tanehashi Tsuneo for liaising on behalf of Sugiyama Kei, Matsumoto Shigeru of the Uzo Nishiyama Memorial Library, Shinkenchikusha, and the Urban Renaissance Agency (UR). A special thank-you goes to Sawada Seiji for facilitating contact with Nihei Yukiko, who kindly consented to the use of the image of Nihei Hiroatsuâs painting Where My Thoughts Go When I Think about the Architecture of the DÅjunkai (DÅjunkai kenchiku ni omoi o haseru, 2015).
Among the many people who contributed their ideas, advice, and material help in the initial stage of the project I would like to thank Marc Bourdier, Elena Del Carlo, Christian Karrer, Chiba Manabu, Nicholas Risteen, Annette Spiro, and Gennifer Weisenfeld. I am grateful to Moritz Gleich of GTA Verlag (ETH, Zurich), Inge Klompmakers of Amsterdam University Press, Stephanie Chun, Xing Ruang, and Ron Knapp of University of Hawaiâi Press for providing direction regarding the process of producing an edited volume and publication protocols. And, last but not least, I would like to thank my colleague Olivier De Perrot for his understanding during my long hours of concentration in our shared office.
The efficient and professional assistance of the staff at the Tokyo Metropolitan Archives eased the process of viewing archival materials. A very special thanks must go to editor consultant Amy Reigle Newland for her patient and painstakingly expert work on improving the texts and ensuring the consistency of the volume. Thanks are also extended to Chiaki Ajioka for her assistance with the translation of Japanese texts.
Finally, heartfelt thanks go to my parents Elisabetta Cafaro and Aldo Pompili for both their tangible and intangible support. My deepest gratitude, however, is to my wife Khanh Trinh, who kept me grounded with her faith in the project and who offered continual motivation and support, navigating my at times convoluted thoughts in the manuscriptâs numerous draftsâthank you for being there.
Marco Pompili
Zurich, June 2025