x elements / Growth

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project © Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project © Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project View all images ↓
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  • Dates
    2017 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Location Japan, Japan

Landscapes reflect someone's hopes and desires in the past. If we can uncover the background, the causes would be counted backward. KINO Seido regards the layered sceneries of Japan between the past and today as a function and tries to make it calculable.

“The true logic of this world is in the calculus of probabilities, which takes account of the magnitude of the probability which is, or ought to be, in a reasonable man's mind.” (by James Clerk Maxwell, the late Scottish physicist)

As we might picture, growth rates are mathematically represented by derivatives, while integrals represent wealth. However, in today's highly uncertain world, does any equation exist that can lead us from the continuous past to the future? Japan's postwar economic development has been driven by manufacturing, but this has also led to an uneven distribution of the population, creating the problem of depopulation in the rural areas of the country. The Sanyo and San'in regions, divided by the Chugoku Mountains, cross western Japan. Sanyo means the sunny side of mountains, as San'in the shade of mountains does. Each region has followed the typical path since around the 1960s.

One city in Sanyo attracted one of the world's largest steel mills, and its population doubled. As it developed, the scenery has been radically changed and it isn't easy to imagine what it used to be like. On the other hand, a town in the San'in region has lost half its population as young people have been sucked out of the area. The ancient iron manufacturing method "tatara", rice cultivation culture, and Mythology have been preserved and are connected to the present day.

Landscapes reflect someone's hopes and desires in the past. If we can uncover the backgrounds, the causes would be counted backward. KINO Seido regards the layered sceneries as a continuous function and tries to make it calculable. So, based on the present, what kind of future can we prospect in the two regions?

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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In the mountainous areas of the San'in region, young people have been pouring out to the cities since the period of rapid economic growth. In Okuizumo Town, Shimane Prefecture, the population peaked around 1955 and is now about half the size it was in 1955. Several of the town's elementary schools will be reorganized this year after celebrating their 150th anniversary. (Old photo by Hiromu SAEKI)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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The rapid economic growth in the coastal areas of the Sanyo region attracted large factories to the coastal areas and workers from all over Japan. The population doubled. To secure housing, mountains were cut down and apartment complexes were built. Later, as Japan became more affluent, urban areas shifted from housing complexes to single-family homes. (Old photo by Isegaoka Primary School)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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The Hii River, which flows through Shimane Prefecture, is a raging river that is compared to the mythical eight-forked serpent, and its middle and lower reaches are overhead rivers. Once the river overflows, the damage is so great that dams have been constructed upstream for flood control and water utilization. (Old photo by Hiroshi HASHIMOTO)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Fukuyama City of Hiroshima Prefecture was chosen by Nippon Kokan Corporation as the construction site for a new steelwork. In those years, it was trendy for provincial cities to invite corporations to come and set up their plants. Some of the big plants were designed to be built by Seto Inland Sea which was advantageous for shipping. (Old photo by Takayoshi NAGAI)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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The lower reaches of the Hii River are covered by the Izumo Plain, an alluvial plain. It is also known as the breadbasket of the San'in region for its rice and other agricultural products. Tatara, an iron manufacturing method that flourished upstream in modern times, the sediment generated during the process was discharged into the river. (Old photo by Shoichi TSUNEMATSU)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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The Isegaoka district of Fukuyama City was developed as a residential area during the high-growth period of the Japanese economy. The landowners of the mountain on which the housing complex was built and nearby residents planted many cherry trees in the area. (Old photo by Minoru KUBO)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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In Shimane Prefecture, the ancient iron manufacturing industry known as "tatara" has created corporate castle towns even in mountainous areas. In the Edo period, the Tabe family, who served as the head of the Matsue domain's iron masters, is said to have even had people hired just to put chopsticks on the floor. (Old photo by Yoshida Exchange Center)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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In Hiroshima Prefecture in the Sanyo region, a modern steel mill, the largest of its kind in the world, was set in motion in the 1960s. Equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, the engineers used their wisdom to improve productivity and safety. It became Japan's largest steel mill in terms of crude steel production. (Old photo by JFE Steel Corporation)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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In order to extract the iron sand required for Tatara iron manufacturing, "iron pit sinking," in which a mountain is excavated and the ore is sorted by the difference in specific gravity between the soil and sand by the flow of water, was practiced everywhere. (Old photo by Mizawa community center)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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As a consequence of the major change from agriculture to industry, as the rapid economic growth advanced, agricultural villages no longer had enough workers and farmland decreased. Making way for the expansion of residential areas and business land. The scenery of the town changed forever. The people were forced to rebuild their lives from nothing. (Old photo by Daimon local history study group)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Mountains were once a part of everyday life. Elementary school children often played in the mountains on their way to and from school. They were also a place to enjoy resources such as food, firewood, and coal, but with the import of lumber, oil, and meat, most of Japanese are no longer connected to the mountains. (Old photo by Takeshi WAKURI)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Iron products support everything in modern life. Due to mass production, household appliances became accessible to most of the Japanese population. In the 1960s, the color TV, the Car, and the air conditioner were admired as ‘The Three Cs’; the new sacred treasure. (Old photo by Makoto YOKOMIZO)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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The Hirose Railway opened in Shimane Prefecture in the 1920s. The line was planned by residents in the Hirose district, which prospered as the castle town of Gassan Toda Castle, and the entire line was electrified. Due to the development of motorization during the rapid economic growth and depopulation along the line. (Old photo by Iwao YAMAMOTO)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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During the period of rapid economic growth, trains carrying the growing number of people to the urban areas of Sanyo were also overflowing with passengers. The rate of train ridership far exceeded that of today's packed trains in Tokyo, showing a record of Japan as a developing country. (Old photo by Kaneyuki FUJIMOTO)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Prior to the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo, a torch relay was held throughout Japan. The torch passed through the mountainous areas of Shimane Prefecture and was passed from Hiroshima Prefecture to Izumo City in Shimane Prefecture. Many local residents crowded along the roadside to watch the runners. (Old photo by Kumominosato Iishi Awadani Branch)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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In Fukuyama city, 80% of the urban area was bombed and destroyed during the war. One of the national treasures called Fukuyama Castle was also destroyed. After the war, the high economic growth of Japan dramatically changed the appearance of the city. The city was planned to double its population. (Old photo by Tetsuo NAGASAWA)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Kagura, a traditional Japanese song and dance, has been dedicated to the gods since ancient times. Originally, kagura in various parts was started in the Middle Ages by Shugenja (mountain ascetics), but in the Edo period, the Ujiko (shrine parishioners) of Odochi-Ko-Jinja built near Izumo-Taisha Shrine actively performed the dance. (Old photo by Izumo City Cultural Properties Division)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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A summer tradition in Fukuyama, a city in the Sanyo region, is the "Niagari Odori dance," a Bon dance that is said to have continued since the Edo period. The origin of the festival isn't known, The dancers parade through the streets wearing yukata (light cotton kimono), orikasa (straw hats), and hachimaki (a headband), holding yotsudake (bamboo poles) in their hands. (Old photo by Yukio YASUHARA)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Travelers and local residents gather to drink at a brand-newly decorated inn. Matsubaya is a long-established Japanese confectionery originally founded in the 1930s in Okuizumo Town (formerly Yokota Village), Shimane Prefecture. When the business moved to another location in town to expand. (Old photo by Sakiko UCHIDA)

© Seido KINO - Image from the x elements / Growth photography project
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Singing cafes were popular in urban areas during the high-growth period. Young people sang folk songs, labor songs, and other songs together in the restaurant, sometimes to drown out the loneliness of those who had come from faraway hometowns for employment. (Old photo by Hikaru SOGABE)

x elements / Growth by Seido KINO

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