About Us

In 1963, mayor Ichio Asukata proposed a new policy to “revitalize the city environment to make it a city in which anyone would want to live”, to regenerate the urban center devastated by the war and the landing of the Allied Army and subsequent requisition of a vast area, and to control the suburban housing development where disorderly development was progressing organically. At a time there was neither a planning authority nor financial strength in Yokohama, they gathered wisdom and creativity and became independent. In 1965 they announced the plan for “Six Spine Projects”, and started comprehensive urban development. The framework for Yokohama municipal projects such as Minato Mirai 21, Kohoku New Town, etc., was based on this plan.
 
In the process of town planning, Akira Tamura, an eminent urban planner and newly appointed head of city planning by mayor Asukata, fomented lively debate among city government bureaus, national government ministries, public corporations affiliated to ministries, private companies, consultants, and citizens. Tamura finally succeeded in creating a new mechanism for the area of local town planning. Against that background, the NPO has come to hear various stories about Tamura weaved together with those people who were involved in city development. Moreover, there is a wealth of useful materials that may be utilized to research town planning, but which are not well organized, verified, and studied from an empirical point of view. Therefore, in December 2013, we aimed to contribute to town planning for the coming year, and a voluntary group named “Integration of town planning Yokohama and Akira Tamura - research group” was established.
 
To date, there have been several seminars, for example “Tamura and his family members”, “The process behind the city government decision to change the elevated motorway underground in the central area in 1968”, “Adaption and abolition of Yokohama’s special zoning code restricting volume of residential use”, and “Takashi Asada of the environmental development centre as an avant-garde planner and Akira Tamura”. The common goal” (among participants) was to discover research materials and hear from the people concerned, and create an archive for town planning history. In addition, we have started to assemble 300,000 unnamed slides of domestic and foreign cities left by Akira Tamura. His innovative theory and practice progressed from the city planning of Yokohama towards a “citizen’s government”.
 
What has been visible through our past activities is the dynamic interaction of the many people promoting town planning. Beyond the plans recorded on paper, a vivid picture of people who struggled through collisions of various values and interests but who sought optimal solutions can be seen. We wanted to pass the baton from the present runners to future citizens and planners considering how to conduct town planning by creating a vision that is sympathetic in both headwinds and doldrums, and that will be a catalyst for progress.
 
On that basis, we decided to establish a dedicated study group of people who share a passion for the city planning history of Yokohama and the work of Akira Tamura. From the mid-1960s until the late 1970s the local government of Yokohama was a pioneer of independent and integrated city planning approaches. These were initiated by the then mayor, Ichio Asukata, and directed by his visionary planning advisor Akira Tamura. Although the leaders of the city and its surrounding environment have changed substantially, the rationales and visions that may be gleaned from studying Yokohama’s city planning history will be useful for future generations. Young people will need courageous attitudes and a sound knowledge base to approach the challenges they face in an unpredictable future. For this purpose, we will continue research activities and maintain our website as a source of knowledge and expertise for people in Japan and around the world.
 
While the content of our research is subject to empirical analysis, objective data collection on the town planning process during the term of mayor Asukata and planner Tamura is required. Based on the results of our research so far, some members are enthusiastically pursuing the innovative application of our research results in other countries or regions. In addition, the uniqueness of Akira Tamura’s organizational management lies in human resource development and utilization, therefore a sociological research initiative focused on this aspect has already been launched by a young member. Future developments in this field are expected to continue apace .

Since the inauguration of the NPO, many members have addressed our meetings, left us with records of their research, and we have also opened the website of NPO. Valuable material and data obtained through cooperation with related organizations at the time of research has been published on the website.

Objectives of the NPO

1.  Empirical research on Akira Tamura and his work in a global context

2.  Dissemination of research materials and results to the public

3.  Utilization of research results for the next generation and overseas countries

4.  Progressive interaction among people concerned with Akira Tamura

We hope that all people concerned with town planning will consistently and kindly support the research activities of our NPO.