Rainy Season Days and ‘Hostile Benches’ in Japan

Taro Igarashi is the author of “Kabobi Toshi” or “Overprotective city” published 20 years ago and in a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun Igarashi warns how phenomena such as ‘hostile benches’ –  benches, often installed in public parks that are uncomfortable to sit on – are designed in way to discourage people from using them, that they have an “exclusionary purpose” which “has long been forgotten.”

Episode Notes:

‘As Public Spaces Become Limited in Japan, Architectural History Professor Warns of Threat to Vulnerable Groups’:

https://barrierfreejapan.com/2024/06/23/as-public-spaces-become-limited-in-japan-architectural-history-professor-warns-of-threat-to-vulnerable-groups/

‘INTERVIEW/ Taro Igarashi: Take a stand on ‘hostile benches’ that exclude disabled people’ (The Asahi Shimbun, June 20th 2024)’:

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15284631