What impresses the first time Canadian visitor to Japanese waterfronts is the immense scale and diversity of planning and development both of the ports and of their surrounding waterfront areas. Japanese authorities are literally building "whole" new cities on human-made islands or land extensions into the sea consisting of hundreds of hectares, using household, industrial and construction waste and dredge spoil as the primary materials for land reclamation.
These new cities are not featureless. They are future-oriented, well-designed and constructed; and well-connected to the road, rail and mass transit systems of the surrounding city regions. Planners and builders are basing their efforts on principles that Canadian waterfront experts also depend on; a mix of uses combining opportunities to live, work and play; provision for public waterfront access including parks and green space; protection of views and vistas; attention to the environment; and an overall regard for waterfronts as special places where air, land and water meet.
Because they are so new, still under construction, still have vacant building sites and are situated on engineered reclaimed land a full sense of place and of character has yet to fully emerge. But in each case a start has been made and a distinctive identity is developing.
It is shaped by the powerful influences of geography, design and functional specialization. Where history and culture can be brought into play designers and decision makers are taking advantage.
So in Kobe the waterfront visitor remains conscious of the mountains hemming in the city from behind; in Kitakyushu the craggy hills of the national park, the winding international waters of Kanmon Strait with Shimonoseki and Honshu looming on the opposite bank from one perspective and the open sea from another perspective powerfully reinforce the image of this city waterfront as Japan's gateway to Asia; while in Yokohama the land reclamation curving around the bay and the magnificent new landmark buildings remind us of the bay's long-time function as a sheltered harbour, its role in history as the point where Japan reconnected to the world, and as a centre for 21st century enterprise and administration.
In each major waterfront development landmark buildings distinguish and identify. A month after returning from Japan a picture of the striking Minato Mirai 21 on the cover of a new book immediately brought images of Yokohama waterfront flooding back.
Other buildings such as the Fukuoka Tower, the nearby Dome and Sea Hawk hotel, Tokyo's Big Sight Conference Centre, Telecom Centre, the Harumi Passenger Terminal and Takeshiba Terminal, and the Meriken Conference Centre and park in Kobe would have the same effect.
Wherever possible care has been taken to preserve, restore and reuse cultural and historical amenities The evocative buildings of Maji's historical district, the Nippon Maru (sailing ship) historical park in Yokohama and the retension of the Mitsubishi's ship-yard alongside Yokohama's new Landmark Tower are just three fine examples.
