Things Lost and Passing

The Fate of Modernization Heritage

Modernization heritage refers to buildings and related assets—such as those in industry, transportation, and civil engineering—that were created using modern methods between the end of the Edo period and the end of World War II, and which contributed to Japan's modernization. They are historical assets that tell the story of the process of modernization itself.
Tracing the history of modern finance in Hikone reveals that from the early Meiji period, various financial institutions were born, merged, disappeared, and were reorganized anew. The Hikone Yuzutsu Company, Hikone Bussan Company, the 64th National Bank, the 133rd National Bank, Omi Savings Bank, Hikone Commercial Bank, and the Hikone Credit Union were all entities that supported the local economy and society. However, many of them changed their form through mergers and institutional reforms, and their buildings were not spared from repurposing or demolition.

This is precisely the fate that modernization heritage faces. Before their value as cultural properties is recognized, they disappear, and once they have finished their role as active facilities, they are easily demolished according to the circumstances of the land. Perhaps the reason for preservation lies in the inheritance of memory.

The Day Haiyukan Disappeared

In early June, on a day when a thin rain mixed with the signs of the rainy season was falling, I was walking through the town of Hikone when I saw that the Haiyukan (1-3-24 Honmachi, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture) was being demolished.
Part of the wall was still standing, and I stopped in my tracks, unable to say anything. It had become a landscape that suited the rain of that day. Things that are about to disappear are more fleeting than those that have completely vanished...

The Haiyukan was the building of the Hikone Credit Union head office, which was completed in 1923. It was a two-story wooden-frame concrete building with an asbestos board roof. It is surprising to learn that it was wooden, as it looks like reinforced concrete at first glance.
The design of the exterior wall was in the Secession style (a decorative style that was popular in Europe from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century), and the curved surfaces used in the mullions of the second-floor windows and the upper hanging walls had a sophistication that foreshadowed the Art Deco style that would become popular in the late 1920s. The building preserved the square room thought to be the office of the credit union president and a large 36-mat hall just as they were at the time. The Hikone Credit Union was reorganized into the Hikone Shinkin Bank under the Shinkin Bank Act in 1951, and in 2004, it merged with the Omihachiman Shinkin Bank to become the Shiga Chuo Shinkin Bank.

From 1996, it was used as the Haiyukan, a museum introducing Hikone as a town associated with haiku poets, including Matsuo Basho. It was a place that conveyed the pride of Hikone, which produced Morikawa Kyoriku, one of the Ten Disciples of Basho, and it was also the base of operations for the Hikone Volunteer Guide Association.

The illustration of the pot-breaking on the roof

A little while ago, while walking through a town in the lake country, I found a mysterious design on a roof. It was a small figure and a pot made of roof tiles. I stared at it for a while, but I didn't know what it was, so I took a picture and went home. When I looked it up, I found out it was the 'Sima Guang Breaking the Pot' illustration.

This design is based on a historical anecdote.
The young Sima Guang, while playing, broke a water pot to save a friend who had fallen into it and was drowning. Sima Guang's father praised him for his quick thinking in saving his friend's life, even though they had lost precious water and a valuable water pot.

Sima Guang is famous as a scholar of the Northern Song Dynasty in China and was a man of great popularity. His father, who praised Sima Guang, is also cool.
Why was this design placed on the roof? Not long ago in this country, everyone knew this story. Of course, it may have also had the meaning of fire prevention, but it must have been a wish to raise children to be like Sima Guang, or to be a parent who raises a child like Sima Guang's father. They must have lived their lives by reflecting their own way of living against the story.

AI and Full Dive

Technology is advancing. A time may come when buildings are precisely recorded with 3D scans, missing parts are supplemented by AI, and we can 'experience' them in VR. If a full-dive system is realized, it might even be possible to experience being 'there' with your whole body.
However, at the same time, that is a 'reproduction,' not a 'memory'.

One day in the future, even if AI perfectly reproduces the Haiyukan, when there is no one left who feels 'nostalgic' for it, what will that reproduction be for...?

For AI and full-dive to truly have meaning, it would probably be necessary to 'tell' the memories as much as possible, but whose memories are they now?
They are the memories of the AI, and the AI is the one feeling nostalgic.

The Meaning of Being Lost

On the day the Haiyukan was demolished, I simply knew that something had ended.
It was a day when even the fact that it was lost was being lost. A day will come when no one remembers.
We are bystanders.
Rather than lamenting what we have lost, I want to remember that we lost it.
What would an AI do?

References
"80-Year History of Hikone Shinkin Bank," edited by the 80th Anniversary History Compilation Committee (1995)
"Modern Heritage Sites Associated with Hikone: Text III," Hikone City Board of Education (2000)
"Modern Heritage Sites of Shiga Prefecture: Comprehensive Survey Report on Modern Heritage Sites (Buildings, etc.) in Shiga Prefecture," Shiga Prefectural Board of Education / 2000