Takefu city center curving road to Shokaku-ji (temple)
Just around the bend this city street ends at the busy Zenkouji-dori east-west avenue. That is the also the main gate (and former city castle gate transposed here) to the 650-year-old Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhist temple, 正覚寺 (Shokaku-ji, literally 'correctly or clearly hearing' temple).. The photo shows the modern housing units stacked two high and four across at the left half of the photo. These affordable and efficient designs are purely functional and the most efficient use of an owner or renter's housing expenditure. But they lack the character of individually constructed houses of various decades along the rest of the street.
If all housing stock in the city center suddenly became modern for minimum style and maximum efficiency then the streetscape would be very dull, indeed. But even in that extreme case of erasing the architectural history, still the old network of narrow streets and narrower back lanes would still express the older way of life underneath all the modern activity.
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Takefu city center curving road to Shokaku-ji (temple)
Just around the bend this city street ends at the busy Zenkouji-dori east-west avenue. That is the also the main gate (and former city castle gate transposed here) to the 650-year-old Jodo (Pure Land) Buddhist temple, 正覚寺 (Shokaku-ji, literally 'correctly or clearly hearing' temple).. The photo shows the modern housing units stacked two high and four across at the left half of the photo. These affordable and efficient designs are purely functional and the most efficient use of an owner or renter's housing expenditure. But they lack the character of individually constructed houses of various decades along the rest of the street.
If all housing stock in the city center suddenly became modern for minimum style and maximum efficiency then the streetscape would be very dull, indeed. But even in that extreme case of erasing the architectural history, still the old network of narrow streets and narrower back lanes would still express the older way of life underneath all the modern activity.
Press L for lightbox (large) view; click the image or press Z for full image display.
Hover the mouse pointer over the image for pop-up remarks.