Mapping the politics of demolition and displacement exposes the physical effects of the Olympics on the urban landscape of Tokyo and the displacement of vulnerable and precarious persons. Understanding the Olympics as a cyclical ‘practice of subtraction,’ where the city is not only rebuilt but unbuilt, we will uncover the intertwined layers of the urban development history of the 3 Tokyo Olympics and the imperial (1940), high-growth (1964) and post-growth (2020) periods they represent. How is land reclaimed and what do we learn from following the debris?
About the Speaker:
Sharon Hayashi is Associate Professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the Department of Cinema and Media Arts at York University, Toronto. Hayashi’s recent work has focused on visualizing and archiving spatial practices of artistic and social collectives in Tokyo. Her current research projects include the digital mapping archive project Mapping Tokyo Olympics 3.0: The Politics of Demolition and Displacement, and the collaborative gaming project Awa Money/Our Money: Currency, Community, and Sustainability in Rural Japan.
