Memories of the Complex – Walk in the Green –

Thank you for visiting.

This exhibition focuses on photographs taken before and after the demolition of the terrace houses at the Hibari-ga-Oka housing complex. Built in 1959, the Hibari-ga-Oka housing complex was a large development spanning 2,714 units across Nishitokyo City and Higashikurume City in Tokyo.

In 2012, the northern part of the complex underwent reconstruction. I first encountered the complex in June 2012. For the following year, I photographed the remaining mid-rise flat buildings and terrace houses (two-story row houses with gardens) on the southwestern side. As residents continued to vacate, the lush growth of plants and trees stood in stark contrast to the decreasing human activity.

Before the complex was built, the area was a wilderness with mixed forests, including pine trees. In 2001, Mr. Kobayashi, the chairman of the residents’ association, reminisced, “When we moved in, there were no buses, no trains, and the roads turned muddy when it rained. This complex, once called an ‘isolated island,’ has grown into a place rich in flowers and greenery, cherished by many as a second home.”

Historically, there were no mixed forests in Musashino. With the construction of the Tamagawa Josui canal, new farmland development accelerated, and forests were created on the Musashino Plateau to secure fuel and fertilizer for the residents. Efforts were made to preserve this natural environment when the housing complex was developed.

During wartime, the eastern side of the site housed the Nakajima Aircraft Metalworks Tanashi Plant, which started operations in 1938. This plant produced engine parts for the Nakajima Aircraft Musashi Plant. Young boys who had just graduated from elementary school, Koreans, and women’s volunteer labor corps were mobilized to work there. The use of chlorine gas caused the surrounding pine forests to wither. A railway spur line laid from the Tanashi Plant to Higashikurume Station curved through what would later become the Hibari-ga-Oka housing complex. Today, part of this line is the “Tateno Ryokuchi” walkway.

I hope you enjoy this exhibition as if you were taking a stroll through the various green landscapes.