Landscape Design [Cultural Landscape Design of Sakitsu and Imatomi]

Outline* The shown information is the one as of the awarded date and might has been changed.

Outline: Design and management of a series of public works projects in Sakitsu (a fishing village as World Heritage site) and Imatomi (a mountain village) in Kumamoto Prefecture. At least 15 public works projects of various sizes designed from the perspective of purpose to protect and nurture the landscape and the residents were carried out for more than a decade, and created a lively atmosphere.
Producer: Amakusa City
Director: Osamu Shinohara, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo + Toshitaro Minomo, Professor Emeritus, Tokyo University of Agriculture + Naoto Tanaka, Kumamoto University + Yuji Hoshino, Kumamoto University
Designer: Yuji Hoshino, Associate Professor, Kumamoto University + Shibue Akiko, Kazuya Matsumoto, Sunao Inokuchi, S&T Institute of Environmental Planning and Design Co., Ltd.+ Yuji Hashimoto, YUSEKKEIJIMUSHO; 星野裕司／澁江章子／松本和也／井口直／橋本雄二
More information: https://www.city.amakusa.kumamoto.jp/kiji0031451/index.html
Already in service/use: 2021/6

Evaluation

In order to protect and foster the scenery of the fishing village and mountain village that is registered as a national important cultural landscape and a World Heritage site, this scenery has been maintained upon an extension of the repeated discussions over 12 years by residents, local governments, experts, designers, etc. Among the outcomes discussed and put into practice by the committee, there are initiatives that the country should take in the future in the settlement with the aging population, including planning a future concept in view of the balance between local industries and tourism, and identifying public work projects and landscape designs to protect residents’ lives from storm surge damage in coastal areas and sediment disaster risks in mountainous areas. Inexperienced people do nothing but bow their heads in the face of the imposing presence of experts who continue to stay close to the workings of nature, which Japan must not lose.