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 Modernology Walk: Exploring the Hidden Layers of Edo

EVENTS

Modernology Walk: Exploring the Hidden Layers of Edo

Upcoming
Type

Sanpo

Venue

Nihonbashi/Bakurocho Area

Fukutoku Jinja Shrine (meeting point)

2-4-14 Nihonbashi Muromachi, Chuo-ku

[Map]

Date

12/06/2025 Sat.

14:00–16:00 (Meeting Time: 13:45)
Meeting Point: Fukutoku Shrine (in front of the torii gate)
Scheduled Dismissal Location: Manpukusen Nori Benzaiten

Ticket

¥2,000

Everyday city walks often overlook the “ordinary” details—yet it is precisely within these ordinary scenes that important clues are hidden.
As we walk through the area from the Old Nikkō Kaidō to the Nihonbashi River, we will observe subtle traces of Edo’s techniques and beliefs that are woven into the cityscape: small changes in elevation, the way stone walls are joined, and the orientation of shrines.

Together with Professor Izumi Kuroishi, we will look closely at these details embedded in daily life.
By accumulating small discoveries, this stroll invites us to feel the breath, imagination, and excitement of the people of Edo！

Application

Artists

Born in Akita Prefecture, he graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and completed both the Master’s and Doctoral programs in the Department of Architecture at the Graduate School of Engineering at the same university. He also completed the Ph.D. program in Architecture at the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.). His research focuses broadly on the history of modern and contemporary Japanese cities, architectural culture, and design, with a particular emphasis on the meaning and transformation of everyday living environments, especially through the work of Wajiro Kon. After serving as a Professor in the School of Cultural and Creative Studies at Aoyama Gakuin University, he is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Management at Fukushima Gakuin University. For the Tokyo Biennale 2025, he is leading the “Sanpo Art Map Project.” His major publications include Thinking Outside Architecture: A Study on Wajiro Kon (Domesu Publishing); the edited volume Constructing the Colonized Land (Ashgate); and the co-authored book Urban Development in Time: Reconsidering the Meaning of Historical Environments (Kajima Institute Publishing).

Izumi Kuroishi

Map

4-minute walk from Ex. 3 of JR Sobu Rapid Line – Shin-Nihombashi Sta.
1-minute walk from Ex. A6 of Tokyo Metro Ginza Line / Hanzomon Line – Mitsukoshimae Sta.

Related exhibition

  • Exhibition
  • Participatory-project

Modernology Map Project

Within the Nihonbashi/Bakurocho and Yaesu/Kyobashi areas, this project reads the traces of everyday life from Edo to the present through the perspective of Modernology. In contrast to archaeology, Modernology (Kogengaku) is the study and research of people’s current lifestyles and culture. It was proposed by architect and folklorist Wajiro Kon (1888–1973). Kogengaku investigates and analyzes subjects through observation, writing, sketching, photography, and other methods, and also contributed to the later development of lifestyle studies, folklore studies, and sociology. It also further influenced the activities of the “Street Observation Society” led by artist Genpei Akasegawa. This project, led by Modernology researcher Izumi Kuroishi (Professor at Fukushima Gakuin University) together with the local community, produced multiple digital Modernology maps. These will reveal how observing the city’s details and people’s movements can bring out new layers of urban life.   Progress Presentation by the Bakurocho Area Team of the “Modernology Map Project,” May 2025   » “A Map Tells Stories of the Places = Sanpo Art Map” by Izumi Kuroishi     Bakurocho Modernology Map (JP)   Kyobashi–Kayabacho Modernology Map (JP)   Nikko Kaido Area Modernology Map: A Road Connecting Edo and Tokyo (JP)
Ongoing 10/17/2025 - 12.14 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg. / Online (website)

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Izumi Kuroishi

Born in Akita Prefecture, he graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, and completed both the Master’s and Doctoral programs in the Department of Architecture at the Graduate School of Engineering at the same university. He also completed the Ph.D. program in Architecture at the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.). His research focuses broadly on the history of modern and contemporary Japanese cities, architectural culture, and design, with a particular emphasis on the meaning and transformation of everyday living environments, especially through the work of Wajiro Kon.

After serving as a Professor in the School of Cultural and Creative Studies at Aoyama Gakuin University, he is currently a Professor in the Faculty of Management at Fukushima Gakuin University. For the Tokyo Biennale 2025, he is leading the “Sanpo Art Map Project.” His major publications include Thinking Outside Architecture: A Study on Wajiro Kon (Domesu Publishing); the edited volume Constructing the Colonized Land (Ashgate); and the co-authored book Urban Development in Time: Reconsidering the Meaning of Historical Environments (Kajima Institute Publishing).

Participating Exhibition

Modernology Map

Participating Event

Modernology Walk: Exploring the Hidden Layers of Edo

Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.

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