Since the 1970s Japanese architects have from a social, political and cultural angle proposed theories on the city in relation to its demography and future. After years of economic boom the crisis has seen architects, far from indulging in megalomaniac utopias, reacting swiftly and creatively to realities. Suffice it to look at volunteers reconstructing Tohoku, destroyed by the quake of two years ago. Organized in small action groups they managed to establish a long-term work horizon...