Exhibition / Symposium “A Section through Tokyo’s Labourscape”

Dear All

This weekend (28th〜30th), there will be an Exhibition / Symposium "A Section through Tokyo's Labourscape" will be held at Shibaura-House (designed by Kazuyo Sejima).
The event is about exploring multiple dimensions of Machi-koba(family owned small factories) and their significance within the neighborhood from Architectural, Urban and Ethnographical perspectives. The exhibition is mainly organized by students of Kobayashi Lab in collaboration with professors and students from multiple universities globally. The details are below as well as on the attached poster. Please stop by!

Assoc.Prof. Dr. Keigo KOBAYASHI
You can download the flyer here.

Machikoba Final Poster.pdf
Dear All

This weekend (28th〜30th), there will be an Exhibition / Symposium "A Section through Tokyo's Labourscape" will be held at Shibaura-House (designed by Kazuyo Sejima).
The event is about exploring multiple dimensions of Machi-koba(family owned small factories) and their significance within the neighborhood from Architectural, Urban and Ethnographical perspectives. The exhibition is mainly organized by students of Kobayashi Lab in collaboration with professors and students from multiple universities globally. The details are below as well as on the attached poster. Please stop by!

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Venue: Shibaura House
3-15-4 Shibaura, Minato City, Tokyo 108-0023
https://shibaurahouse.jp/
Shibaura House is a 7-minute walk from JR Tamachi Station and Toei Mita Line Mita Station.
Dates: November 28 (Fri) – 30 (Sun)
The exhibition on the Ground floor will be open continuously from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon. All presentations and performances will take place on the 5th floor of Shibaura House.

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Program
DAY 1 – FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28
16:00 – 17:00
Introduction and Tours of the Exhibition
Kobayashi Keigo (Waseda University), Yasumori Akio (Institute of Science Tokyo), Christian Dimmer (Waseda University), and Yoshida Sara (Waseda University)
17:00 – 18:00
Open Exhibition Viewing and Informal Discussion
Exhibition Description
The exhibition explores the many meanings of Machi-koba—from its literal associations with small-scale manufacturing and craftsmanship to its wider significance in shaping neighborhoods, social networks, and ways of living and working. The ground floor of Shibaura House will be transformed into a Machi-koba within the city itself, inviting visitors to encounter and interact with the tools, ideas, and inspirations that point toward new possibilities for urban life—where work, dwelling, and creation coexist and evolve together in the context of the global Anthropocene.

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DAY 2 – SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29
10:00 – 10:30
Opening Remarks
Keigo Kobayashi, Christian Dimmer, Vincent Mirza, David Slater,
10:30 – 12:00
Keynote Lecture
Henry Smith (Columbia University)
“Tokyo as a Village”
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 15:00
Panel: Machikoba and the City
• Jordan Sand (Georgetown University / Kokugakuin University): “200 Years of Working-Class Housing in Tokyo.”
• Christian Dimmer (Waseda University): “Philosophy of Work in Machikoba.”
• Vincent Mirza (University of Ottawa): “The Fragilization of Machi-Koba.”
15:00 – 15:30
Break
15:30 – 17:30
Panel: Care, Labor, and Urban Infrastructure in Tokyo
• Susan Paige Taylor (Waseda University): “Preserving Trade in Jimbocho: Care, Circulation, and Labor in Tokyo's Latin Quarter.”
• Masamichi Tamura (Institute of Science Tokyo): “Critical Choreography of Urban Childcare from a Taskscape in the World of Sub-Micro Mobility.”
• Charlotte Gagnon Lewis (University of Ottawa): “Tinkering with a Farm: The Fertile Potential of Tokyo’s Urban Farmers.”
• Keiko Nishimura (Waseda University): “Labor of Platform Urbanization: Delivery Drivers in Japan.”

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DAY 3 – SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30
10:00 – 11:00
Presentation: The Margins of Excess: The Culture of Monozukuri and the Living Histories in Downtown Tokyo
Yoshiya Makita (Hitotsubashi University), Ito Yoju (Shiseikan University), Shuichiro Higuma (University of Tokyo)
11:00 – 12:00
Performance: “The Margins of Excess – Performative Interpretation of the Life and Culture of Downtown Tokyo.”
Daisuke Takeya, Mineki Murata, and Takumi Hashimoto (Takumichan)
This site-inspired performance engages with Tokyo’s layered histories of labor and urban transformation, exploring the labor history of buraku communities along the Arakawa River while reflecting on the rapid urban renewal of Tateishi, Katsushika—an area where redevelopment risks erasing the city’s working-class memory and texture.
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 15:15
Roundtable Discussion: The Future of Machikoba and of Neighbourhood Life
Chair: Christian Dimmer (Waseda University)
Participants: Kamiya Keisuke (Ota Creative Town Center + Mitsubishi Jissho Sekkei), Ito Masaru (Shibaura House), Yasumori Akio (Institute of Science Tokyo and Chiba University), Kobayashi Keigo (Waseda University)
15:15 – 16:00
Closing Remarks and Next Steps
Keigo Kobayashi, Christian Dimmer, Vincent Mirza, David Slater
Event Ends at 16:00