Japanese mountain landscape with the villa and hotel architecture inspired by the Swiss chalet and half-timber style

• Ewa Kawamura ^[1]
  1. [1] Atomi University

     Atomi University

     Minuma-ku, Japón

     
• Localización: TOURISCAPE2 - Transversal Tourism and Landscape International Scientific Conference: Barcelona, 5th-6th November 2020 / coord. por Ricard Pié Ninot, Carlos Jesús Rosa Jiménez, Josep María Vilanova Claret, Joaquim Sabaté Bel, Enrico Porfido, 2020, ISBN 978-84-9880-855-1, págs. 285-298
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto Completo Libro
• Resumen

  • The strong influence of the Swiss chalet and the English half-timber style inJapanese houses and hotel architecture in mountain resorts is a significantphenomenon, especially after the Second World War, between the economicmiracle and the asset bubble until 1990s. This phenomenon is also relatedto some mountain sports events like the first Manaslu ascent by a Japaneseexpedition in 1956 and the Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics, which provoked themountain climb and ski fever in Japan. So, several mountain or highland resortswere developed with the hotels and pensions inspired by the Swiss chalet andthe European half-timbered house, but most of them offer the traditional tatamiroom and sometimes its exterior is made of cheap prefabricated materials.After the Japanese animation series Heidi on the air in 1974, several lodginghouses were built as an authentic wooden Swiss chalet, above all in NaganoPrefecture, and its architecture became more real chalet than ever in the1990s. In this bubble period, many Japanese visited the Swiss Alps. To feel theSwiss travel remembrance, several Swiss-themed amusement parks opened inJapanese mountain areas, which resemble vaguely the Swiss Alps landscape.Besides, at that time, many public bathhouses (sento) begun to offer the mosaicwall depicted the Swiss landscape, instead of the view of Mount Fuji, the mostpopular subject. Actually, many sento murals based on the Swiss reminiscenceare inexact and kitsch, however, it is a Japan-specific unique phenomenon.Probably, the reason the Japanese are fond of the rustic Swiss chalet and Englishhalf-timber style based on the resemblance of the Japanese traditional housesin mountainous areas and the effect of the popular Heidi TV animation. Thispaper examines the Japanese preference for the Swiss landscape and chalet, bycollecting and categorizing its examples in chronological order.