From Remnants to Resonance: Reimagine Coastal Fishing Villages

Honor Award

Urban Design

Choshi, Chiba, Japan
Luoman Ouyang, Student International ASLA; Zhiyi Guo; Jiaxin Jiang;
Faculty Advisors: Victoria Marshall;
National University of Singapore

Analysis of Fukushima's Nuclear Contamination Spread

After Japan discharged nuclear wastewater, contaminants spread with ocean currents, resulting in high concentrations in eastern coastal villages.

Image Credit: Draw by Luoman Ouyang, Zhiyi Guo and Jiaxin Jiang
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The Impact of Nuclear Pollution Extends Beyond Ecology

On August 24, 2023, Japan's nuclear wastewater discharge worsened this, sparking protests and harming the economy.

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Fishing villages are remnants of their former prosperity

For fishing villages along Japan's eastern coast, like Choshi, such predicaments are common, and the past prosperity is no more.

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Densities as the driver of transformation

Fisherfolks and residents protests have generated new density, catalyzing fishing industry transformation.

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The collective power of many communities can counterbalance the government

The project requires collaboration across treatment, supply, and production.

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From Remnants to Resonance: Reimagine the Future of Coastal Fishing Villages

It transforms the coastline from remnants into a resourceful landscape for both human and non-human.

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An incremental process: Small Cooperatives

In the initial step, the project envisions the formation of small inland fishing cooperatives comprising fisherfolks and residents.

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An incremental process: Remnant-Revive Collective

The "Remnant-Revive Collective," composed of fisherfolks, residents, and the Choshi Fishery Cooperative Associations, emerges.

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An incremental process: Government + Remnant-Revive Collective

In response to the government, more resources are allocated for inland fish farming, establishing an integrated system from small to large ponds.

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Diverse fisheries Collective are emerging

Economic reforms drive social transformations, creating a network of recreational spaces.

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Hybrid of landscape aesthetics and pragmatism

A pragmatic and affordable one, adopting a simple linear model, and a fancier one, emphasizing aesthetics and a sense of belonging.

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Hybrid of different generation

Fishponds serve as multifunctional spaces for elderly residents. As fishing villages prosper, there are more diverse landscapes for next generation.

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Phytoremediation purifies soil and water

It begins with residents spontaneously planting vegetation for water and soil purification.

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The hybrid of fisheries and landscape

The functions of the fish ponds become more diverse, reusing abandoned structures to build ponds and provide recreational areas.

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Reuse of local resources

After government response, forest resources from the site are transported to supply inland fisheries in the village.

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Resonance of nature, community and practice

The soil excavated from the fishponds reshapes the terrain near sports fields, forming an amphitheater for the next generation.

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“

Rich graphics, a powerful purpose, and the plant remediation information is good.

”

- 2024 Awards Jury

Project Statement

The discharge of nuclear wastewater in Japan in 2023 has significantly impacted the country's fishing industry. This project aims to address the ecological and social impacts of the Fukushima nuclear accident's wastewater discharge, providing a possible future for coastal fishing villages like Choshi. It seeks to help residents transform the coastline from remnants into resource landscapes for both humans and non-humans.

In the future, "Density" will become the invisible force driving evolution in Japan's coastal fishing villages, resonating beyond human boundaries and deeply influencing practices, society, ecology, and landscapes in all these seaside communities.

Project Narrative

In 2011, following the earthquake and tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, a leak occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. To avoid environmental harm, Japan stored the nuclear wastewater. Recently, due to storage cost issues, they decided to discharge it into the sea, affecting regions like Choshi. Choshi reflects the challenges faced by all fishing villages along Japan's eastern coast, which are remnants of a once-thriving past, now facing aging populations, declining agricultural productivity, and reduced fish catches. Nuclear pollutants can infiltrate natural habitats and the human body through metabolism. Consequently, the discharge of nuclear wastewater has sparked public protests, including fisherfolks in Choshi. The fishing industry, once a thriving sector in Japan, is now facing decline, and many fisherfolks are gradually changing careers, becoming casualties of Japan's industrialization. They are not beneficiaries of the nuclear industry but are unfairly exposed to the risks posed by nuclear wastewater.

The project selected a 1km-by-1km site in Choshi City as a case study to envision a new sustainable model for the future development of Japanese fishing villages. The project adapts people's affective density to their home landscape and activist density to the impending pollution as a tool to drive the transformation of the fishing industry. The overall goal is to design a way for people to stay and to reconstruct the landscape structure together with them, aiming to increase the density of fish production, reduce the density of pollutants, and help residents transform the coastline from a wasteland into a resource landscape for both humans and non-humans.

The future vision involves three main developmental stages:

1. Small Cooperative

The first step involves forming small inland fishery cooperatives composed of fisherfolks and residents. They utilize land to plant new vegetation to restore the land and water sources, producing inland fish with lower radioactive content and better marketability. Their success attracts more cooperatives.

2. Remnant-Revive Collective

In the second stage, the "Remnant-Revive Collective" emerges, consisting of fisherfolks, residents, and the Choshi Fishery Cooperative Association, and concerned engineers, ecologists, and designers. They further restore resources by repurposing abandoned houses into fish ponds, increasing fishery output and economic benefits.

3. Government + Remnant-Revive Collective

In the final stage, the government responds by providing more resources for inland fish farming. The project utilizes terraced landscapes to enhance fish taste and establish an integrated fishery system from small to large ponds. The "Choshi Fish" certification enables these fish to be sold in major cities. Fish ponds also become multifunctional spaces for elderly residents. As the fishing village prospers, next-generation landscapes like sports fields and open-air theaters gradually appear.

In conclusion, the project underscores not only the economic benefits for residents but also the crucial importance of ecological enhancements along the coastal area. In the costal fishing villages in Japan, density will serve as an intangible force driving the evolution, creating a resonance among all these seaside communities in a way that is more than human. It will give rise to a new pattern of density that transcends human boundaries, delving into realms of practice, society, ecology, and landscape.

Plant List:

Alopecurus pratensis
Lycopersicon seculentum
Phragmites Australias
Glycine max
Acer palmatum akane
Prunus campanulata
Cinnamomum camphora
Camellia japonica
Pinus thunbergii
Podocarpus macrophyllus