Random Thoughts About Karakura
www almost wrote "Kamakura," the very real historic CITY, one ward of which I set my sprawling fic project.
Anyway, you know, Karakura is constantly under construction. This is big enough that it's given a couple seconds' spotlight in one of the openings (the one that also shows Gin's death)
Gentrification in real life first really hit Japan around '80. Toukyou mostly. It was because of the factory boom PLUS the American dollar's plummet against the relatively stable yen, when US inflation gave Nixon the brilliant (/sarcasm) idea of exacerbating it by axing the Gold Standard.
So, suddenly, Japan found itself wealthier, and the factory boom gave many average Joes the ability to live in luxury. And of course, moving to Toukyou is even called 上京する, because it's supposed to be trading up because Toukyou is really full of itself :( (Another reason I moved them--most every piece of media is set there unless it *has to be* somewhere else)
Now, of course, here in the US, these things always become racialised, be it small-scale chopping away at Asian neighbourhoods, or full-tilt NYC/SF/LA is being torn up.
The thing about Karakura is that most of its residents already seem to be middle-class. Now, we never see Chad's home, because he really gets shunted by the narrative, but even Orihime in her precarious situation where her aunt is just some distant figure who supports her "as long as her grades are up," which another bad thing about the timeskip is that her grades would have crashed for her not being there, and it's a shame there wasn't a chance for the gang to come through for her, just like Ichigo's bottling up the depression was another missed plot opportunity. But even Orihime's apartment, well, it's clearly not a 1R without even bathroom separated. We don't see it much, but there's at least three rooms--a nice bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom big enough that she can have a small table there. It looks like the bathroom opens out into the kitchen. I also think there might be inconsistencies about the exterior, but whatever. It's not exactly a 3LDK, but definitely not shabby, either. Not to say she's not suffering, but her home is fairly nice.
We don't really see Uryu's, either, but he's undoubtedly living in a pretty nice place. Ryuken clearly has the money for it, and is clearly dismayed he hasn't been able to raise Uryu in a way where Uryu feels affection toward him, so he's definitely not letting Uryu rot in a 1R the size of a coat closet.
The only time the streets look shabby is the derelict, likely intentionally so, exterior of the Vizards' warehouse (not that the interior looks great, either), the shabby exterior (but upscale interior, funded by Yukio) of Xcution's hideout, and the surrounding of Moe's school, which says Commercial, but reads like a Second Chance. But at least the latter two are supposed to be a distance away.
Well, anyway, Karakura generally looks middle-class, and there's my argument.
I mean, the constant construction might just be a "destruction and rebirth" metaphor, but having experienced gentrification,as that level of construction would imply, around me in NY and CA, I really do think about that.
If an RPer reading this thinks I'm onto something, absolutely let me know! I'm not exploring this in my project because as I said, I moved them to real Kamakura, mostly Hase Ward. Gentrification in Japan is not touched.
I think it's supposed to be an aesthetic or metaphor, but since I'm posting this in English, knowing what we know in 2019, it would be interesting to tackle.
Fun fact: In Japanese, the word for "gentrification" is 階級浄化, "class-based cleansing," because no feelings are being danced around, which is beautiful.
So, yes, Karakura: Gentrifying Town or No?
