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MULTIPLE IDENTITIES VIA THE GLOBALIZATION OF ART, MEDIA AND PERFORMANCE 109Mapping Kyoto: An Artist’s PerspectiveM. Ichsan Harja NugrahaIntroductiona. Project’s ContextIn 2005, as a reaction to the continuous displacementof his hometown’s numerous historic buildings due to—rather ironically— the rapidly-increasing tourismindustry, the author embarked on a self-commissionedproject involving several relevant communities, to mapmost of those buildings and publish the result in abook illustrated with hundreds of watercolor sketchesdone during the mapping activities. Since then, thebook has evolved into a series, each one representing amajor city in Indonesia.The result, however, is a limited success since thedisplacement process has continued since then: of 180historic buildings featured in the first book, eightprivately-owned buildings have since been demolished,largely due to the perception that business in oldbuildings is usually not profitable. It seems that thepublic needs more samples of financially sustainableprivately-endorsed preservation efforts, and we need topublish a more diverse range of materials in order toreach a wider audience. This is an omnipresent issuecommon to all historic building preservation effortsthroughout the world and, thus, we need to learn fromthe best examples.Listed among the world’s best heritage cities, Kyotoclearly offers a wealth of samples of this kind. It is anexcellent example (showcase? Exemplar? Model?) ofhow numerous world-scale cultural heritages sit sideby-sidewith the most advanced modernization iconsof today. More importantly, it also offers a range ofexcellent examples of how a vast number of establishedbusiness owners (shinise) capitalize on the preservationof their historic buildings as an important aspect oftheir business.Another reason for choosing Kyoto is that Japan isbasically a cartographically-conscious society. Thecountry’s earliest map was drawn in the 7 th centuryCE. Numerous Kyoto maps from the Edo period (17 thcentury CE) that accurately portray the city’s features—even individual land parcels — are extant to thisday. Japan is also familiar with illustrated popularpublications: the most obvious and contemporaryexample, of course, being the omnipresent industry ofJapanese comics, whose aesthetics has permeated allkinds of media. Even the most detailed map ispresented in an irresistible kawaii (cute) fashion. Thus,a visitor to present-time Kyoto will immediately findthat —compared to other tourist-destination cities inother countries — Kyoto offers a lot more of tourismorientednavigational publications customized to fit allkinds of interests and different seasons.b. ObjectivesThe objectives of this study are twofold: (1) to studyand categorize various mapping objects and methodsemployed in numerous thematic maps of Kyoto; and(2) to produce a copy-ready script for an illustratedsketchbook of Kyoto City, 1 similar to a previous bookseries by the author.c. SignificanceBy accomplishing the first objective, the author wishesto identify various potential city resources that shouldbe incorporated in any historic preservation-relatedmaps and to present them in a structured andinteresting way. Accomplishing the second objectivewill enable the author to learn about Kyoto’s variousrealistic, workable solutions for the classic conflictbetween a city’s persistent nature to modernize and theurge to maintain its established urban scape andcharacter.d. MethodologyThe project will mainly consist of two activities:1. A map-making activity, with sub-activities suchas:• A literature study on Kyoto’s history todetermine the scope and method of the fieldsurvey, as well as its analysis method• Field surveys focused on collecting data onprivately-endorsed preservation efforts, as wellas map samples. It is crucial to get map samplesthat are as diverse as possible.The Work of the 2010/2011 API Fellows