of buildings move in the same direction that people’s do, they will surely encounter change and eventually their end.’7 He qualifies this culturally by saying: ‘In the Orient there is an easier attitude towards deterioration and destruction, particularly in Japan.’8 Why make something to last, when it simply will not. And, moreover, when a more powerful means of expression can be obtained from its impermanence? Makeshift 3 Kenji Ekuan, eminent product designer and author of The Aesthetics of the Japanese Lunchbox, points out that ‘the average lunchbox is a makeshift device, a resource in emergency situations, a temporary stopgap measure. This requisite application in accordance with circumstance is an “invisible system” pervading all levels of form-creation sensitivity in Japan. This brisk meeting of conditions such as deadline, place, difficulty of obtaining materials, cost adjustment, and timing – all contingent in terms of time, quality and quantity – might justly be termed an Applied Technology of Circumstance. The lunchbox (or makunouchi bento, literally “intermission lunch”) was originally a meal to be consumed at the theatre. Thus it was born out of just such a technology.’9 Ekuan is at pains to point out that the designer of the contemporary lunchbox, such as can be bought at every railway station in Japan, is actually the merchant who improvises a meal from what is available and tries to make it as attractive and appetising as possible, to as many people as possible, with few basic ingredients. Ekuan notes ‘the makunouchi lunchbox did not begin as a makeshift measure merely to satisfy hunger in a work situation where no other food was available, but rather as a picnic cuisine for outings and celebrations. Typical occasions were related to the annual calendar of Japan’s agrarian society. The most popular is still cherry-blossom viewing (hanami).’10 Thus, like the haiku, the lunchbox marks a moment in time; its makeshift quality has to do with observing and celebrating a seasonal event.
Frei Otto and Shigeru Ban, Japan Pavilion, Hanover Expo, 2000 In keeping with the 'Environment' theme of the expo, Frei Otto and Shigeru Ban’s concept for the Japan Pavilion was to create a structure where the materials used could be recycled once it was dismantled. Ban wanted to make the construction as low-tech as possible, and its makeshift qualities are beautifully revealed in the joints, which were foxed together with tape.
Japanese cities during the Edo period anticipated the fires, and built in fire breaks which were swathes of unbuilt land that frequently became the site of makeshift parties. The Low City was particularly prone to fires, and the lower classes living there kept emergency fire baskets hung at the ready in conspicuous places. These were described by Tanizaki as ‘oblong and woven of bamboo, about the size of a small trunk, and they were kept where everyone could see them, awaiting an emergency’. 81