摘要
1 Introduction:community heritage in Tokyo The neighbourhood in Tokyo where I lived while a student in the 1980s was a fire trap.Wood rowhouses clad with thin,untreated clapboards fronted directly on streets less than four meters across-many too narrow for a fire truck to enter.In winter,people used free-standing kerosene heaters.Houses were dilapidated,and a few displayed a worrying lean.Local authorities had plans for clearance and redevelopment but lacked the powers of eminent domain to remove long-time residents and propertyowners.
