Connecting the old and the new: cyberpunk photography in Kanazawa, Japan

In the 1970s, a subgenre of science fiction called cyberpunk was born. On the surface, the cyberpunk aesthetic includes neon lights, futuristic technology, skyscrapers, and dystopian settings. However, this art style is so much more than that; it can’t merely be described in a sentence, or even a paragraph. From cyberpunk’s inception to now, it’s become a culture, as its influence over the decades has become prevalent in films, fashion, and art forms like photography and illustrations.

Within the city of Kanazawa, Japan, there is a citizen who is using his iPhone to capture photographs of the city throughout his daily life and utilizing Adobe Lightroom to bring out a cyberpunk aesthetic into his pictures, ultimately sharing the art on Instagram. This individual goes by Rolling Mackey, and his Instagram page is @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa.

Kanazawa, is a city with rich history and districts that contain traditions dating back to the Edo period. Some of its landmarks include Kanazawa Castle and Kenroku-en, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. For Rolling Mackey, his Instagram is a look into his everyday scenery in the city. Even though he considers photography a casual hobby, his collection of photographs have become a record of the city’s changes over time.

As a result of Kanazawa not being bombed during World War II, a good number of structures have been preserved, but at the same time, there are still plenty of new structures that are being introduced into the city. Rolling Mackey has stated that these nuanced layers of old and new within the urban landscape of Kanazawa are giving the city a pattern in which he describes as a “complex chaos”.

I got to ask Rolling Mackey some questions about the art of cyberpunk, Kanazawa and its evolutions, particulars about his work, and more.

How did you get interested in Cyberpunk in the first place, and what aspects of Kanazawa do you think fit the cyberpunk aesthetic?

そもそもサイバーパンクに興味を持ったきっかけと、金沢のどのような側面がサイバーパンクの美学に合っていると思いますか?

Since I was a child, I liked special effects movies such as Godzilla and science fiction movies such as Star Wars, so I think it's an extension of that. I am interested in futuristic cities. When I was in college, I started reading science fiction novels, and learned about works such as Neuromancer.

The university I went to was in Kanazawa, and I majored in city planning, so I also researched the streets of Kanazawa. Cities depicted in the world of cyberpunk look like old towns that have grown and remodeled repeatedly, and I think that there are many images of chaos rather than sophistication. The city of Kanazawa was not destroyed in the war, so the old city structure remains. The diversity in the cityscape reflects some aspects of cyberpunk, which is surprising.

子供の頃からゴジラなどの特撮映画や、スターウォーズなどのSF映画が好きだったので、その延長だと思います。未来都市に興味がありました。大学の頃にSF小説を少し読むようになり、ニューロマンサーなどの作品を知りました。進学した大学は金沢にあり、都市計画を専攻していたので、金沢の街並を調査したりもしました。サイバーパンクの世界で描かれる都市というのは、古い街がそのまま増殖と改造を繰り返して出来上がった見た目をしていて、洗練というより、混沌としたイメージのものが多いと思います。金沢の街は戦争で破壊されていないので古い街の構造が残っています。街並みに多様性があり、意外ですが、サイバーパンクの一部の側面を反映していると思います。

A cyberpunk take on the the wooden Tsuzumimon Gate outside the east exit of Kanazawa Station (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

What is your creative process like, from taking photos to editing them? What are your biggest challenges?

写真の撮影から編集まで、クリエイティブなプロセスはどのようなものですか?あなたの最大の課題は何ですか?

I only do photography within the scope of my daily life. On my way home from work or when I go out for a drink, I shoot as inspiration strikes me. Once I have a certain amount of photos, I retouch them with the app (Lightroom).

If I had to raise a problem, I would say that I have not learned professional photography or design techniques, so I feel that I need to study a little more to improve my work. Also, since the subject is still limited, I sometimes think that it would be better to shoot more different places. Higashi Chaya District at night looks good. If the opportunity arises.

撮影はあくまでも日常生活の範囲内でやっています。仕事からの帰宅途中や、飲みに行った時とかに、インスピレーションのままに撮影します。ある程度写真が溜まったら、アプリでレタッチします。課題をもし挙げるとすれば、専門的な写真やデザインの技術を学んでいないので、さらに作品を向上させるためには、少し勉強が必要だと感じています。また、やはり被写体が限定られているので、もっと別の場所も撮影した方がいいのかなとたまに思います。夜の東茶屋街とか、良さそうですよね。機会があれば。

The grounds of Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

Cyberpunk perspective of snowfall in the city (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

How do you think Kanazawa-style chaos is expressed in your work?

金沢流の混沌は作品の中でどのように表現されていると思いますか？

It's a very difficult question. Kanazawa offers a unique streetscape that mixes the old with the new. I think that the townscapes that I find interesting and photograph have such characteristics. Even though the façade has been remodeled, the sense of scale and layout of the buildings remain the same as in the Edo period. In such a place, a building with a modern sense of scale and texture is casually inserted, making it all the more chaotic. I think most of my work fits within a square kilometer of shooting range. I only photograph a very limited area of ​​Kanazawa. There is still a great variety of places. Conversely, there are still many places to shoot, so I feel that the expression is still lacking.

とても難しい質問です。金沢では、新しいものと古いものが混ざり合う個性的な通りの景観を見ることができます。私が面白いと思って撮影する街並みも、そのような特徴があるのではないかと考えています。ファサードが作り替えられていても、建物の規模感や並び方は、江戸時代のままだったりします。そういう場所の中に、無造作に現代的な規模感、素材感の建物が挿入されたりするので、なおさら混沌とします。私の作品のほとんどは、撮影範囲としては1キロメートル四方に収まると思います。金沢のごく限られた範囲しか撮影していません。それでも多様な場所があります。逆にいうと、もっと撮影すべき場所がたくさんあるので、まだまだ表現不足だと感じています。

Alleyway in Kanazawa that shows traditional architecture (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

You said that the everyday landscape of Kanazawa is changing. How do you think the city has changed since you started taking pictures?

金沢の日常の風景が変わりつつあるとおっしゃいました。写真を撮り始めてから、街はどう変わったと思いますか？

A city is always in a state of renewal, but the major change in Kanazawa has been the completion of a number of large-scale apartments and hotels. This in itself should not be denied. However, as a quiet change after corona, these hotels are replacing the management body.

Some tenants of recently redeveloped buildings in the downtown area have also withdrawn, and the situation seems to be difficult. I feel that once a large-scale investment in clean development is made, it is difficult to create chaotic small challenges, and it is difficult to create new things. Such issues were already being discussed in America in the 1960s.

街というものはいつも新陳代謝するものですが、金沢の大きな変化はやはり大型のマンションやホテルがいくつも完成したことです。これ自体は否定されるべきものではないです。しかしコロナ後の静かな変化として、こうしたホテルは経営主体が入れ替わったりしています。繁華街で近年再開発された建物のいくつかのテナントも撤退しており、難しい状況のようです。一度大規模に資本投下されたクリーンな開発をしてしまうと、そこではもう混沌とした小さなチャレンジがしにくく、新しいものが生まれづらいことがネックだと感じます。そうした問題は1960年代のアメリカで既に議論されています。

What inspired you to compile some of your early work into a zine, and what motivated you to eventually create a zine for sale?

初期の作品のいくつかを ZINE にまとめようと思ったきっかけは何ですか? また、最終的に販売用の ZINE を作成するようになった動機は何ですか?

I've always liked zines, which are made of paper and have a texture, so it was inevitable that I would make them. I want to make more. There were several bookstores selling zines and zine events, so I had to decide the price when exhibiting there. It's a small area, but I'm happy that the work has reached not only Instagram followers but also other people through sales.

もともとzineという紙でできた手触りのあるものが好きだったので、作るのは必然的な流れでした。これからも作りたいです。zineの販売をしている本屋さんやzineのイベントなどがいくつかあったので、そこに出展する時に、値段を決める必要がありました。小さな範囲ですが、販売を通じてインスタグラムのフォロワーはもちろん、それ以外の人々にも作品が届いているのが嬉しいです。

Here is a look at Mackey’s two zine’s for sale. A zine is a small-scale booklet comprised of self-published work that contains original or appropriated text and images. These zine’s include his cyberpunk photography and writings about starting his Instagram page and his miscellaneous impressions about the city at the given time. (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

How did Ishibashi Public find out about you and your work?

石橋パブリックはどのようにしてあなたとあなたの作品を知りましたか?

Ishibiki Public also does on-demand printing, which I used when I made the first zine prototype. At that time, I was able to talk to the store staff, and I was able to put the completed zine. Thank you very much. Risograph can also be used for beautiful printing, so I would like to make a zine work with it someday. This bookstore is recommended for those who come to Kanazawa.

石引パブリックさんでは、オンデマンド印刷もやっていて、最初のzineのプロトタイプを作るときに利用しました。そのときにお店の方とお話しすることができ、完成したzineを置かせていただくことができました。非常に感謝しています。リソグラフという美しい印刷もできるので、いつかそれでzine作品をつくりたいです。金沢に来る人にはおすすめの本屋さんです。

This is the photo that Ishibashi Public featured. Mackey took it from the window of a bus on a rainy day; the raindrops on the window distorted the view out the window, making the photograph look like a painting. He stated that “the limited color tone and rough texture of lithograph printing gave it a more retro-futuristic feel, creating something I’ve never seen before.” (via @cyber_punk_city_kanazawa Instagram page)

How has your view of Kanazawa changed through your work since you started using Instagram?

インスタグラムを始めてから、仕事を通じて金沢に対する見方はどう変わりましたか？

As I briefly touched on in the first question, I have come to realize that the city of the future, especially for Kanazawa, is not something that is completely different from the present, but a gradual existence that always drags on from the past. Sometimes when I think about that, I get the feeling that I'm looking at the city from the perspective of a human from the future. So, I think, ah, things have changed here and there, but they haven't changed that much (laughs). And I feel that such gradual development is what makes a unique city.

最初の質問でも少し触れましたが、未来の都市というのは、特に金沢にとっては、今と全く別のものというよりも、常に過去を引きずっている、漸進的な存在だと実感するようになりました。そうすると時々ですが、私は未来からやってきた人間の視点で街を見ているような感覚を得ます。それで、ああ、ところどころ変わってるけど、そんなに変わってないなあ、とか思うのです。(笑)そして、そんな漸進的な発展こそが、ユニークな都市を作るのだと感じます。

As time goes on, Rolling Mackey will continue to document the everchanging fusion of old and new taking place in Kanazawa through his own take on cyberpunk photography. To keep up with Kanazawa through his daily lens, you can find him on Instagram and check out his website.