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Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

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592 points wyclif | 1 comments | 23 Jun 25 14:37 UTC | HN request time: 0.276s | source
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anon-3988 ◴[23 Jun 25 15:10 UTC] No.44356616[source]▶
Man, I know it is a meme but Japan simply have mastered "aesthetics". It is especially incredible given that they achieved this in an urban area.

For example, consider the vines that are growing on that shed. Is that dirty? Should we clean them to get a pristine shed? Yes, you have to sweep the floor everyday to clean the dust, but should you cut down that small plant growing between the cracks of your building? Or the vines overtaking the roof? I think if you answers no to this, then you understand that sense of aesthetics.

For some people tho, they think its a bad thing (1), which I simply don't understand? I don't understand how people can willingly spend every couple of hours every week to trim their lawn to a pristine, perfect cube of grass. Is this beautiful? I think not. In my apartment, I have trees growing from the cracks of the building, and I think that's beautiful.

I don't know how they do it, it is not simply just being clean. I think parts of it is "allowing nature to take its course" which gives a typical structure depth and age.

1. https://www.reddit.com/r/landscaping/comments/vs1n0n/help_wh...

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latexr ◴[23 Jun 25 15:20 UTC] No.44356706[source]▶
> Is that dirty?

That’s not what you should be worrying about.

> I have trees growing from the cracks of the building, and I think that's beautiful.

It probably is beautiful. It may also be inconvenient or outright dangerous. As the trees continue to grow and expand the cracks, the building’s structure becomes ever more compromised. Maybe the cracks will expand and more rain will come in, causing mold and making your home less effective at keeping its temperature. Or maybe they’ll expand in a way that a whole wall will fall off.

Seeing plants sprouting from the ground in cities is fun and aesthetically pleasing, I agree. But it is not always safe to let them keep growing.

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Chris2048 ◴[23 Jun 25 15:45 UTC] No.44356939[source]▶
> the building’s structure becomes ever more compromised

on what timescale though? and in an invisible way?

I believe buildings are seen as more temporary in japan than in the west; maybe point at which the damage is excessive would outlive the building?

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1. potatolicious ◴[23 Jun 25 16:10 UTC] No.44357220[source]▶
> "on what timescale though?"

Depends on how extensive the growth is and how structurally stable the thing is in the first place. But expect major problems on the decades-timescale.

> "and in an invisible way?"

Yes. This is the main problem with allowing unconstrained plant growth near/in/under structures - the degree of structural compromise is hard to assess (especially without spending a lot of $$$), and failure can be sudden. You're not gonna get as much warning as you'd want.

In the US it's a popular look to have vines growing against brick walls. They're beautiful but often hazardous for structural safety, especially if not proactively maintained and constantly monitored (which is $$$!)

[edit] I think overall the focus on the "pleasantly ramshackle" aesthetics of the shack misses the forest for the trees. There's a lot of daylight between "permit small businesses in possibly unsafe structures" and "western status quo norms for business licensure".

I think something Japan gets done really well is making it easy and inexpensive to run businesses, especially hobby businesses. There are a ton of policies that encourage this outcome, and we can and should adopt entire rafts of them without changing existing regs about the physical structural stability of said businesses ;)