What the Old and New Worlds Have to Offer

 

     

As an American I could think of a many places in the world that I would like to go.  At the top of my list, I would have to say, sits Venice, Italy.  Then I would like to visit Paris, France, and London, England.  So I checked out some brochures and found one with my so called "dream" vacation and it was entitled "From Rome to London."  This vacation includes the very cliché notions that the old world is rich with culture and beauty that Europe has to offer.  Travel in this vacation would include visits to Rome, Pisa, Florence, and Venice, Italy and quick stops in Austria and Switzerland before heading to Paris, France and finally London, England.  This vacation is designed to leave American visitors in awe of the beauty of the "old world" culture.  You would be able to see mind-blowing sights from the "mighty" Colosseum, to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and a palace and many city squares (don't forget about the famously romantic canals!) in Venice.  In the brochure, Venice is said to be "more like a marvelous film set than real life" obviously playing off the rich culture of such a picturesque destination.  After enjoying the beautiful art, culture, and architecture of Italy, the American traveler would then travel to Switzerland to visit Lake Lucerne and take a cable car ride up a 10,000 foot mountain in the Swiss Alps.  A visit to Paris will enthrall the American traveler with visions of culture, whether its tasting wine and enjoying a Paris dinner or visiting remarkable sites, such as the Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, or nearby château de Versailles.  The vacation ends with London, England.  You would make arrangements for a flight home and meanwhile see what the city has to offer by perhaps seeing Parliament and Big Ben.

     European package tours are designed to leave people in awe of the beauty of the many famous places that the rich landscape of this continent has to offer, whether it's man-made or by nature.  They also let travelers get a taste of Europe figuratively and literally with visits to art museums, highly-rated restaurants, and architectural marvels and so on.  Many destinations of European tours offer a view of such a long-standing tradition and customs. These are difficult to get a feel for in America because of Europe's long and eventful history.

      European travelers to America on the other hand enjoy what our country has to offer with tours such as "New York, Niagara Falls, and Washington, DC."  This tours plays off the amazement of travelling through New York City, where tourists are urged to "explore" what the city has to offer.  This suggests that NYC is so large that one could not help but find many interesting things to do and see.  Next up is the motor coach ride through New York State where travelers can witness the beauty of New York's forests and country sides.  Niagara Falls is the destination.  It is a destination on many American tourists' lists as well.  Here one would be awe-struck by the beauty of what some consider one of the Natural Wonders of the U.S.  A tour on the Maid of the Mist would suffice in stimulating one's senses for the day.  Then it's off to Philadelphia, after witnessing miles and miles of natural and man-made landscape, to entice the visitor with a sense of the historical founding of this country.  The final destination of the trip is Washington D.C. to get a better sense of history.  One could see one of several war-memorials, the national cemetery, museums, monuments and governmental buildings.

     American-package deals as are sold to Europeans seem to play off our countries short but rich history, as well numerous architectural buildings and natural beauties that the U.S. has to offer.  Ideas of busy bustling cities and post-card worthy country sides come to mind when viewing the brochures that offer Europe an experience of America. This is somewhat of a cliché notion but it is rather true. America's short and diverse history and multi-culturist values have created an interesting landscape that is most likely appealing to all people of the world, not just Europe.

-Brochure info via Cosmos.com and pictures from Google.com/images

Urban Panoramas: Comparing NYC to Tokyo, Japan

     New York City seems to be a pretty segmented city, as if it has very extensive and pervasive zoning laws.  As you can see it has an enormous array of sky scrapers in a densely packed area in the center city.  But surrounding the central high rises are tons of crowded low rise dwellings.  They reach as far as the eye can see!  By poking around the internet and viewing various images, New York and Chicago and Philadelphia all kind of look the same.  It seems to be distinct of American cities to have such a dense concentration of high rises in one central area of the city and have surrounding neighborhoods outside of that circle.  The aspect of shiny bright sky scrapers really showcases the city in a glamorous light almost as if to say “this is what we have to offer.” This could also help to minimize focusing on the inner city slum areas. Society prospers in these districts and this is possibly why they are the most refined looking and hence better functioning parts of the city.

     In contrast Tokyo, Japan looks as if high rises and low rises are all jumbled together in a super-tightly packed metropolis.  I read an interesting article about the planning of Tokyo and found out that Tokyo’s design is basically a redevelopment. Since Tokyo was heavily destroyed in WWII, it was built essentially on top of those ruins. I also learned, and after looking at the picture it is clear, that Tokyo has a mixed-use zoning pattern that allows it to look like an urban mess but function like a continually changing and adaptive city. In a place that boasts the title of the world’s most populated metropolitan area, Tokyo needs this adaptability to take on the demands of so many people. Tokyo utilizes this mixed-use zoning to keep in place the culturally important family businesses and small-scale industry. Because of this, Tokyo keeps its important sense of culture and avoids the social segregation that is SO apparent in American cities. Tokyo maintains social cohesion by “mixing” upper and lower classes fairly seamlessly in the same areas whereas in America these classes are separated by different segments of the city making it harder for different classes to mesh together.

-Article where I got info about Tokyo and its urban planning--http://www.urbanology.org/dharavi/The_Tokyo_Model_of_Urban_Development_Echanove_1.7.07.pdf

Photos are from wikipedia.org

How Ethnicity Shapes Landscapes: Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, California

For this particular assignment I chose to discuss Little Tokyo in Los Angeles, California. Although not many Japanese people live here and it is not primarily a residential area, this part of Los Angeles thrives on tourism of Japanese and non-Japanese people from all over.

This part of town is part of a redevelopment of Japanese culture in an attempt to restore the area to its original Japanese heritage. Little Tokyo would fall under the 3^rd type of ethnic landscape patterns in America as its development-- re-development, rather, is a little after the fact. Not many Japanese people live here in the present because they were forced into internment camps during WWII. After Japan’s infamous attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent racial tensions that followed many Japanese people were forced out of this and other public areas of the United States.  Many Japanese people have since settled elsewhere, predominantly into surrounding suburbs. Little Tokyo was later threatened in the late 1960s by the rapid growth of the surrounding aspects of the city. Left to historical neglect and dismay, Little Tokyo was helped out by the mayor and became part of a project known as the Little Tokyo Redevelopment Project. Under this project there was funding for many buildings which would symbolize the Japanese’s ability to overcome obstacles to find their place in American Society (Michael Several, Little Tokyo).

Some of the buildings that are part of this redevelopment project have a very distinct Japanese styling to them. Like this fire lookout tower known to the Japanese homeland as yaguras; this is Japanese for tower or turret. Picture below.

(Photo from <http://media.discovernikkei.org/articles/3497/little-tokyo-yagura-2007.jpg>)

Other very typical pieces of Japanese architecture are this Buddhist temple and this Torii gate (respectively pictured below). These structures both embody Japanese religious values and have great importance in the redevelopment project in order to revamp the area of Little Tokyo and provide historical significance.

(Photo from <http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityprojectca/855386366/sizes/o/in/photostream/>)

(Photo from <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ8O8Qdm0L3b9M3ZP1NEAiCFPym_Crxpgvzu6Gi-f_G03IkRi4DLLYziqi75wRHLjxoiPu3-HBRQrutWMTUGInf61S_j04i0TQmUwhZQJmHfJE-DaCeQzVs73B3b4JczzeRvjWbX3PtAEq/s1600-h/little-tokyo-facade.jpg>)

There also tons of pieces of Japanese art that are publicly displayed throughout Little Tokyo.

For example, this is a sculpture of an origami horse in front of a bank in Little Tokyo. Although not created by a Japanese person this sculpture is based distinctly on the Japanese folk-art style of origami.

(Photo from <http://www.publicartinla.com/Downtown/Little_Tokyo/origami_horse.html>)

Want to find an authentic Japanese restaurant? Look no further than Takumi Restaurant. This authentic Japanese restaurant lies within Little Tokyo in LA and serves up sushi with a side of traditional Japanese atmosphere.

Little Tokyo is full of Japanese influences such as Japanese style art and architecture, building names, bilingual atmosphere, and many restaurants that try to bring in tourists and let them get a glimpse of how Japanese influences, through recent redevelopment, have shaped this section of the city of Los Angeles.

References-

Little Tokyo Historical Background: <http://www.publicartinla.com/Downtown/Little_Tokyo/little_tokyo.html>