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Saving the Authentic: Nihonbashi

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Abstract

This chapter investigates the political-economic dynamics of shaping place authenticity in a central urban district in Tokyo, Nihonbashi, where an ambitious municipal authority joined with Mitsui to bring its urban vision of Nihonbashi to life. They collaboratively positioned conservation of the Mitsui Main Building and its block redevelopment at the heart of the process of engineering the authenticity of Nihonbashi, using various urban planning tools and techniques that became the prototype for heritage-led urban regeneration. The balance of power between the public and private sectors in the Nihonbashi regeneration began with a form of public–private partnership but shifted towards Mitsui. The process has contributed to increasing the visibility of the legacies of the Mitsui family and Mitsui zaibatsu, and more importantly, the great power of the nation-state.

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  1. Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jiewon Song

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Song, J. (2020). Saving the Authentic: Nihonbashi. In: Global Tokyo. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3495-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3495-9_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3494-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-3495-9

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