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In praise of iron grandeur: the sensibility of kōjō moe and the reinvention of urban technoscape

In praise of iron grandeur: the sensibility of kōjō moe and the reinvention of urban technoscape AbstractSince the late 1980s, sci-fi fans and machinery aficionados in Japan have expressed their fascination with factories, projecting an imagination that sites of industrial facilities are simulacra of futuristic urban technoscape portrayed in Hollywood films. Although factory watching used to be an activity for a limited population, in the past decade organized factory night tours are becoming increasingly popular in Japan. This type of tour has expanded public interest in factories located on coastal industrial zones as a form of popular leisure-time activity. Widely known as kōjō moe (‘factory infatuation’), fans have elevated plants to objects for aesthetic appreciation. This mutation of value corresponds to an emergence of metaphysical durability of social objects as theorized by Michael Thompson’s (1979) Rubbish Theory. In the context of postwar Japan, those industrial factories have become, in Marilyn Ivy’s (1995) term, a significant form of cultural industry that complements the absence of local identity. A second driving force of kōjō moe is the contemporary digital technology that has altered the viewer’s experience of industrial factories. The circulation of digitally manipulated images provokes nostalgic sentiments and attracts the viewer to factory night tours. In the context of economic demise and gradual transition to postindustrial society, industrial factories represent the previous age of material grandeur. Alongside, kōjō moe has set forth long-lasting artistic values of them as cultural capital. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Contemporary Japan Taylor & Francis

In praise of iron grandeur: the sensibility of kōjō moe and the reinvention of urban technoscape

Contemporary Japan , Volume 28 (2): 20 – Sep 1, 2016

In praise of iron grandeur: the sensibility of kōjō moe and the reinvention of urban technoscape

Contemporary Japan , Volume 28 (2): 20 – Sep 1, 2016

Abstract

AbstractSince the late 1980s, sci-fi fans and machinery aficionados in Japan have expressed their fascination with factories, projecting an imagination that sites of industrial facilities are simulacra of futuristic urban technoscape portrayed in Hollywood films. Although factory watching used to be an activity for a limited population, in the past decade organized factory night tours are becoming increasingly popular in Japan. This type of tour has expanded public interest in factories located on coastal industrial zones as a form of popular leisure-time activity. Widely known as kōjō moe (‘factory infatuation’), fans have elevated plants to objects for aesthetic appreciation. This mutation of value corresponds to an emergence of metaphysical durability of social objects as theorized by Michael Thompson’s (1979) Rubbish Theory. In the context of postwar Japan, those industrial factories have become, in Marilyn Ivy’s (1995) term, a significant form of cultural industry that complements the absence of local identity. A second driving force of kōjō moe is the contemporary digital technology that has altered the viewer’s experience of industrial factories. The circulation of digitally manipulated images provokes nostalgic sentiments and attracts the viewer to factory night tours. In the context of economic demise and gradual transition to postindustrial society, industrial factories represent the previous age of material grandeur. Alongside, kōjō moe has set forth long-lasting artistic values of them as cultural capital.

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References (34)

Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2016 The Author(s)
ISSN
1869-2737
eISSN
1869-2729
DOI
10.1515/cj-2016-0008
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractSince the late 1980s, sci-fi fans and machinery aficionados in Japan have expressed their fascination with factories, projecting an imagination that sites of industrial facilities are simulacra of futuristic urban technoscape portrayed in Hollywood films. Although factory watching used to be an activity for a limited population, in the past decade organized factory night tours are becoming increasingly popular in Japan. This type of tour has expanded public interest in factories located on coastal industrial zones as a form of popular leisure-time activity. Widely known as kōjō moe (‘factory infatuation’), fans have elevated plants to objects for aesthetic appreciation. This mutation of value corresponds to an emergence of metaphysical durability of social objects as theorized by Michael Thompson’s (1979) Rubbish Theory. In the context of postwar Japan, those industrial factories have become, in Marilyn Ivy’s (1995) term, a significant form of cultural industry that complements the absence of local identity. A second driving force of kōjō moe is the contemporary digital technology that has altered the viewer’s experience of industrial factories. The circulation of digitally manipulated images provokes nostalgic sentiments and attracts the viewer to factory night tours. In the context of economic demise and gradual transition to postindustrial society, industrial factories represent the previous age of material grandeur. Alongside, kōjō moe has set forth long-lasting artistic values of them as cultural capital.

Journal

Contemporary JapanTaylor & Francis

Published: Sep 1, 2016

Keywords: kōjō moe; urban landscape; factory tourism; rubbish theory; photography

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