"Manazuru Machinare" - Experience the charm of a town that holds "standards of beauty" through art and interaction

"Standards of beauty" alive in the lives of townspeople

--Please tell us about the origins of Manazuru Machinare.

Hirai : Manazuru has a unique urban development rule called "standards of beauty." For example, there are color standards for buildings in Kyoto and other places, but in Manazuru, there is only one word: "appropriate color." In addition to the color and shape of buildings, there are also community standards such as the mix of households. For apartment complexes, they should be able to meet a variety of needs, such as being able to accommodate not only the child-rearing generation, but also the elderly and single people.

Director Hironori Hirai and Executive Committee Chairperson Mihoko Urabe

Urabe : However, this was not something the town had planned from the beginning; it is an ordinance to protect the history of Manazuru and the way of life of the people that existed there from the beginning. There are many people who moved here because they fell in love with the standards of beauty, but for people who have lived here for a long time, it is just a verbalization of the natural things that have always been part of their lives. What we mean is that the scenery as it is, the lives of the townspeople, and the people themselves are wonderful.

Hirai : On the 20th anniversary of the enactment of this ordinance, which is the foundation of our activities, in 2014, people who love this town gathered together to form an executive committee and hold the first event. The original members were joined by current university students and a married couple of architects who moved to Manazuru when the event was held last year, and now we have a wide range of people gathering, from their 20s to their 50s.

Community Manazuru is also a model house for the "standard of beauty." Komatsu stone from Manazuru and fishing ropes are used throughout the building.

--The town and art seem to go well together.

Hirai : Manazuru is a port town, but it also has a lot of greenery, and while there are people who live in villas, there are also people who live with their roots firmly planted in the land, and there is a very distinctive local industry called stonework. There are also standards of beauty, and there are so many different things, so I think it is meaningful not only to convey the goodness of Manazuru, but also as a thought experiment. When people from Tokyo walk through places like this, they may find something they can't feel in Tokyo, and conversely, when people who are tired of the countryside go around the town with a new perspective through art, they may find good things they have never noticed before.

If people come on a regular tourist bus, eat delicious fish, go to the peninsula to see Mitsuishi, or simply walk around the town after coming to Manazuru with an understanding of the standards of beauty, I don't think they will be able to fully appreciate the true beauty of Manazuru. What will people feel when they go with a guide through narrow alleys that aren't on tourist maps, go around the back of town, open shutters and secret doors, look at the art works, and take home with them? I think that's the meaning behind this urban development and art project.

Yasuhito Suzuki's work illuminates items once used in a fish shop