Quiet Resistance

The cultural behaviors of people, particularly in Tokyo, where space for such behaviors runs at exhorbitant premiums, have often found some peculiar outlets. This results in some unusual spatial situations, as it would appear, based on the habit of building on extremely small and oddly-shaped lots or designations, that the placement of shrines to either deity or markers to commemorate the loss of a natural feature now built over, often occur in similarly small and awkward lots. We might find such shrines squeezed between comparatively large, tall, or plainly collosal structures. And based on external sources, we learned that the placement of the shrines is of the utmost importance, and often, when a developer has successfully acquired a piece of land that a shrine exists upon, the shrine might be displaced to the top of the newly built structure to preserve the placement, as that location may be a marker of filial or earthly significance. These little inklings of tranditional architecture and performance have found for themselves a meager, but stable existence among a jungle of steel and concrete. They offer a peculiar refuge and contrast from their rapidly expanding urban contexts, which provide an almost comical sense of juxtaposition.