Experts Alarmed Over Trending Mean Bench Its Soul-Eroding Impact Raises Concerns

In the world, people talk a lot about barrier-free, SDGs, and other nice-sounding words, but in fact, they are deeply exclusive.

In mid-March, an arch-shaped bench in a park in Shinjuku City was posted on social networking sites. Criticisms such as, “Is this to prevent people from lying down to sleep?”, “Is this a measure for homeless people?”, “It is dangerous for the elderly and children?

In response, Shinjuku City Mayor Kenichi Yoshizumi posted, “This is not an anti-homeless measure, but a nighttime noise prevention measure in a residential area.

In addition, he repeatedly made provocative posts, such as uploading images of various benches in Shinjuku City that appeared to be difficult to sit on .

So, what is the actual purpose of these benches? What is Shinjuku City’s response to such criticisms as “difficult to sit on,” “mean-spirited,” and “exclusionary? Mr. Takeshi Kosuga, Director of Shinjuku City’s Green Parks Division, Department of Green and Public Works, gave us his answer.

Bench shapes used in different park environments

First of all, the purpose of installing arched benches is explained as follows: “Many of the parks are small parks adjacent to residential areas and are closely connected to the daily lives of local residents.

The ward considers it important that all park visitors use the parks in a pleasant and appropriate manner, so that local residents can lead peaceful daily lives.

However, depending on the location of parks in the ward, there are some cases of inappropriate use of parks by visitors from nearby downtown areas who spend long hours in the parks from nighttime to early morning drinking and making loud noises, leaving garbage strewn about, etc. Therefore, the ward is taking measures such as devising the shape of facilities to be installed according to the actual conditions of each area. The ward has been taking measures such as changing the shape of the facilities to match the actual conditions of the local community.

The arched benches in Satsuki Children’s Park, which you pointed out, were installed in January 1996 to deter such prolonged use while allowing people to sit on them.

In addition to the Satsuki Children’s Amusement Park, a total of 10 similar benches have been installed in four Shinjuku City parks. They are not unique to Shinjuku City, and have been installed in other municipalities as well. Regarding these benches, some people say that the benches should be easy to use for everyone, while others say that the shape of the benches is very good.

The district sees it as important to create a park based on the opinions of its users, but at the same time, we believe it is important to maintain the living environment for local residents.

For these reasons, we have installed arched benches, and we have no plans at this time to change the shape of the benches from the perspective of deterring such inappropriate use in the future.

In addition, the City has installed benches with backrests and comfortable seating for parks that are large in area and not adjacent to residences, such as Shinjuku Chuo Park.

In the future, the City will consider the shape of the benches, etc., taking into consideration the use of the parks and requests from the local community, as well as various opinions.

Incidentally, the installation of the arched benches is not an anti-homeless measure, but rather a measure to help the homeless,” he adds, “We deal with the homeless in cooperation with staff from the Center for Self-Reliance and Support for the Homeless and others, making rounds and talking to them, and providing welfare counseling, admission to facilities, etc. to help them become independent.

It is a “failed bench” that is not good for anyone.

However, architectural historian Taro Igarashi, a professor at Tohoku University’s Graduate School of Architecture, has this to say.

The much-discussed benches in Shinjuku are simply difficult to sit on, regardless of their purpose.

However, the word ‘exclusion’ implies that someone is being targeted in some way, and to be honest, I can’t imagine anyone who would be more comfortable sitting on that bench.

The mayor of Shinjuku City posted images of various other benches in Shinjuku City, but all of them were images of benches that were difficult to sit on, benches that one would not want to linger on or sit on.

Rather than elimination, I think they are failed benches, benches that are not good for anyone and poorly made” (Taro Igarashi, hereafter referred to as “the benches”).

However, the literature confirms that these arched benches themselves have existed in the U.S. since the ’80s or so, and similar ones have been around in Japan for about 20 years.

The person in charge changes, and the original intent is passed on without being understood…

So when did benches and objects with some kind of intention, such as “exclusion,” begin to be installed? As a simple example, Professor Igarashi cites the time in 1996 when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government installed a moving sidewalk at Shinjuku’s West Exit.

There was a time when the Tokyo Metropolitan Government forcibly eliminated cardboard houses.

The name of the project was to install a walking sidewalk, but after the construction, an object with a cylindrical tip cut at an angle was placed where the cardboard house used to be.

Since it is slanted, no one would think of sitting on it.

Also, the earliest example that can be confirmed by newspaper articles is from the mid-’90s.

Looking at newspaper reports from that time, it can be confirmed that when the reporter first interviewed Shinjuku City, they clearly said that they wanted to eliminate homeless people, but when the same reporter inquired again about a month later, they only said that they were doing it for environmental improvement, and the explanation had changed.

The object itself does not exist now, but Shinjuku City was honest about its purpose at first, but then they stopped saying it officially.”

In addition, there are also circumstances in which the person in charge of a government office is replaced.

For example, after the murder of a homeless woman sleeping on a bench in Hatagaya in November 2008, the Kobe Shimbun contacted me.

They said that there were a lot of jagged stones placed on the flat surface under the bridge, which, from the looks of it, appeared to be shaped to refuse to lie down under the bridge where they could take shelter from the rain.

There was a newspaper reporter looking into it, and when I inquired about it, he replied that it had been about 10 years since the previous owner took over, so he wasn’t sure why.

Perhaps that is true. I think there are many municipalities that, when they first introduce a new system, do so with a specific intention, but then, after a while, they don’t even know why they are using it, and they just use it in their routine.

If you are going to get complaints, you shouldn’t have put up a bench in the first place…!

Professor Igarashi is also concerned about what happens next.

If you put a bench that looks like it has a specific role, it will be criticized for that, and people may say, ‘If it’s going to cause complaints, we shouldn’t have put the bench there in the first place. Then there will be no more complaints.

In response to terrorism, trash cans have disappeared from train stations and streets. Similarly, benches that are difficult to sit on are becoming the default, and this has become a common sight in Japan,

“Recently, I went to Germany and Korea, and there were places to throw trash on trains and on platforms, and the benches were normal benches. When I saw that, I thought again, ‘That’s right,'” said Professor Igarashi.

I saw that and thought, ‘That’s right,'” said Professor Igarashi.

I was afraid that one day the benches would disappear and there would be nothing left in the park.

In fact, the park is now considered a nuisance. There are moves to remove playground equipment that children enjoy, such as slides, and water features where children gather, because of complaints about the noise of children’s voices.

There have even been moves to eliminate the parks themselves. Instead, health promotion facilities for the elderly are increasing nationwide.

As Shinjuku City explains, arched benches that are difficult to sit on have been adopted by other municipalities as well. Also, the bench at the bus stop where the incident in Hatagaya took place, if you actually visit the site, you will see that it is a very narrow depth object that is difficult for anyone to sit on if they are an adult. This is also something that can be found at every bus stop because it has been commercialized,” he said.

I think people are really a little bit discouraged by these things that are difficult to sit in or use, even though they are not conscious of it because it has become the norm.

People often say that the reason the chairs at McDonald’s are slightly uncomfortable is to increase the turnover rate, but that is capitalism, so it can’t be helped, but the question is, would you do the same thing at a public bus stop?

The people who actually use those benches in Shinjuku probably don’t feel good about it either.

But it’s not so much verbalized. It’s fine because you can sit on one, but it’s a little uncomfortable, and it must be getting to the point where your heart is being cut out to the point where you don’t want to stay there for too long.”

Other “exclusionary” intentions are said to be evident throughout the building, such as the diagonal boards passed over the coin-operated lockers so that things cannot be placed on them, and the protrusions on the railings so that skateboarding is not possible.

The “underground passage from Tokyo Station to the outskirts of Otemachi takes nearly 10 minutes, and there’s actually not a single place to sit down.

For people in good health, I don’t think it would bother them too much, but for the elderly, pregnant, or disabled people, there isn’t a single free place to sit after a 10-minute walk. Of course, if you pay for coffee at a cafe, you can sit down.

Anyone can suddenly feel sick, or even fall ill, and they don’t let you sit down for free.”

Exclusion” also applies to things that have no form…

There are “exclusions” even for things that have no form. One such example is the “mosquito sound,” which is said to prevent young people from gathering together by playing a sound with a frequency that only young people can hear. Professor Igarashi says, “Commercial facilities are private places.

But there are also parks that play this sound.

At least parks are public spaces where anyone can go, but I don’t think it’s right to make it difficult for only people of a certain age to stay there.

People talk a lot about barrier-free, SDGs, and other nice-sounding words, but they are actually very exclusionary. Many people do not share or think about the public nature or the philosophy of what a park should be, and I think this is the reason for this trend of exclusion.

I think it is important to speak out, and not just about benches in Shinjuku City.

Taro Igarashi, Professor of Tohoku University Graduate School, was born in Paris, France in 1967, graduated from the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo in 1990, and received his master’s degree from the University of Tokyo in 1992. D. in Engineering. He has been a professor at Tohoku University since 2009. He served as commissioner of the International Architecture Exhibition Venice Biennale ’08 and artistic director of the Aichi Triennale ’13. Author of many books, including “16 Chapters on Contemporary Architecture” (Kodansha Gendai Shinsho).