This study examines Japan-ness in architecture as a discourse developed in Western theory, which is read through the representation found in the magazine articles. The focus of the study is not the mediums and methods used to produce representation, but the emphasis on representation of architecture as “product� with applied meanings. Looking at the representation in architectural periodicals, the heart of the analysis is centered on textual representations that follow and contextualize the visual material of the architectural projects. Discourse in this context is understood as the representation of design thinking, and is focused on the brood image that constitutes the Western idea for Japanese design thinking.
2.2 Eurocentrism in Architectural History This chapter is a critique of the Eurocentric approach to constructing architectural history. This issue particularly concerns Japanese architectural discourse, as the only leading nonWestern discourse. The term Eurocentrism implies a worldview based from European perspective, and is associated with decolonization and post-colonial thought. Although the bases for this chapter are post-colonial studies, in this instance it is more adequate to operate with the term eurocentrism then the word post-colonial. Japan has been subjected to colonialism and Orientalized by the West, but also has been colonizer, thus the use of the word eurocentrism eliminates the confusions that might appear with the term postcolonial. The subject of eurocentrism in architecture has been discussed as part of postcolonial approach in architecture mostly in the context of India, Indonesia and other Asian regions. But eurocentricity in architecture is an issue that affects the field in general.
23