Gaikoku Mura: Japanese Architectural Theme Parks
by Sue Barr
As early as the 16th century when its doors were first opened to westerners, foreigners and their cultures have always fascinated Japan. During the economic bubble of the late 1980s as a means of revitalising regional cities and economies, Gaikoku Mura (Japanese for foreign country village) - feeding the aforementioned interest in foreign cultures and representation - began to be built throughout Japan. They boomed during Japan’s economic bubble years but are now often closed or sadly in decline.
These photographs document a variety of cultural theme parks where through rigorous attention to detail, skilled craftsmen have used traditional building materials and methods to construct a perfect replica of foreign architectural vernaculars for local consumption.
The photographs avoid lapsing into kitsch although the images undoubtedly display a hyper-reality – an extreme, brightly coloured rendition of Europeness, discernible in the neatness and cleanliness of the space, where objects are a little too closely packed to be totally familiar to the European viewer.
