a love affair with industrial sites

工場燃

這幾周 都有機會快車經過"台北-苗栗"鐵道旁的建築物和景觀
似乎還不至於"看到"工廠蕭條 (據說苗栗很慘 玻璃場關門 八百戶受創...)

尤其是近十來年新竹附近興起的工廠大樓 簡直有些不可思議

上周 特別注意竹北的飛利浦舊址 由於人去廠空至少6-7年 據說地皮約賣了近200億 不過請日本公司處理土地污染 現在簡直可以用"鬼預"形容

20幾年前我知道東京-橫濱等的石化產業都威脅到"名園"
現在應該更糟糕 不過種總是有人在歌誦"工廠文明"

看不見的問題呢

6年前讀村上的"日出國工場記" 相當有意思

我走過台大景觀系的水池之群錦魚
一生中最美的回憶在內壢某工場
它從60年代歷經 Timex/Motorola/日月光等公司.....

For some, a love affair with industrial sites

09/13/2007

BY HIKARI MARUYAMA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

CHIBA--Yasuo Kitada finds "nothing romantic" in the familiar view of industrial complexes, so it came as a shock to hear that many others do.

Tetsu Ishii at a petrochemical factory in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture Hikari Maruyama/ The Asahi Shimbun

"As I see it every day, the scenery is nothing romantic, is it?" says Kitada, 52, a senior official of Idemitsu Kosan Co.'s Chiba Refinery in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture.

Recently he discovered, to his amazement, that a growing number of people find the harsh urban setting "thrilling."

His refinery, along with neighborhood steel and other plants, is part of a new tour attraction for those interested not in what goes on inside, but how the facilities look outside.

Such people find irresistible charm in the jagged townscape--the drab factories with their tangle of pipes and forest of stacks. They also admire the way they appear under lights at night.

In short, they have fallen in "love" with factories, or their scenery.

Illustrator Tetsu Ishii is one.

As he gazes down over a petrochemical complex on Tokyo Bay from the 125-meter Chiba Port Tower, Ishii cannot hide his admiration.

"Some may call it an ugly view, but nothing is more thrilling to us who love it," says Ishii, 40, as he takes a picture with his SLR camera.

This spring, Ishii had a collection of his factory photos published by Tokyo Shoseki Co., with text by writer Ken Oyama.

Its title is "Kojo Moe" (In love with factories), the word moe coming from a recent faddish term meaning a deep, at times inexplicable, attachment to something--manga and anime, for example.

Ishii's love for factory-scape started more than 20 years ago when he saw a factory in a science-fiction film as a high school student.

He was instantly inspired, and has since visited one industrial area after another, from Keiyo (Tokyo-Chiba) and Keihin (Tokyo-Yokohama) to Hanshin (Osaka-Kobe) and Setouchi.

"I was moved by the fact that these factories supported our life," Ishii says. "I see functional beauty in them and feel a sense of awe at those huge structures."

Ishii writes about his love of the plants in his blog. An editor with Tokyo Shoseki who read it suggested he publish a book on the subject.

The editor did not expect it to sell. "I thought it was just a hobby for a few people. I wasn't even sure that the book idea would get in-house approval," said the editor, who expected it would sell 10,000 copies at best.

The book, which features photos and tips on how to appreciate factories, had run to 30,000 copies by mid-August.

"Many buyers happen to pick it up from a shelf and decide to buy it on the spot," said an official at a Maruzen bookstore.

In fact, Ishii's love of factories is shared by thousands, and possibly many more.

On the Internet, social networking service Mixi, "Kojo, Konbinato ni Moeru Kai" (club of those in love with factories and industrial complexes) has more than 8,000 members.

Some stay at a hotel just to enjoy a view of factories silhouetted against the night sky, and some take their girlfriends or boyfriends on factory tours.

The Chiba prefectural government jumped on the "factory love" bandwagon.

Its Tourism Division organized a trial one-night, two-day tour of industrial sights in the prefecture this fall. It also created model courses to attract the attention of tourist agencies.

"It may be time we should change from routine tours to ones that show (factory) facilities themselves," said Shigeru Uchida, a senior official in charge of tourism development.

What awakened the prefecture to its untapped tourism resource was a forum in April for corporate, administrative and university officials.

The theme was "Enjoying the night view of factories from a ship."

Satoshi Hachima, 37, an assistant professor of view design at Chiba University, told the participants that many people have increasingly come to enjoy views of factories themselves.

A prefectural official who was listening decided it could add a new angle to industrial tourism.

"By re-appreciating the scenery, we can regard industrial areas as part of a local culture," Hachima says.

Moves like this surprise people like Kitada, who is on the other side of the divide.

Even though he can find nothing thrilling in such views, now so familiar to him, Kitada welcomes the move.

"I think it best if more young people appreciate views of petrochemical complexes in their hometown and choose to work here," he says.(IHT/Asahi: September 13,2007)