For centuries, humans have settled in fertile coastal plains, harvested the ocean for sustenance and profit, and established ports for overseas commerce. This has manifested, in large part, in the re-installation of these Tetrapods (and all of their concrete kissing cousins, like seawalls) along the most vulnerable coasts. Here I want merely to highlight briefly the NSNBKs efforts (also reflected in Fudo Tetras own advertising) to define coastal armoring as critical for human life in Japan and as protectiveeven nurturingof marine life and coastal ecosystems. The ubiquity and sheer mass of these multi-ton, four-footed concrete structures forcefully assert their claim as true icons of the islands coast, even though they are invisible in the iconic images that boosters produce and tourists consume. Although there are rods, lures, hooks, and jigs specially designed and marketed for ana-zuri among tetrapods (such as the Tetora DamaTetra Ballin figure 26), a hook, line, and sinker will do. AAaaaaaaaaaaaagh . Tetrapods, nightmares coming back. Ah, tetrapods! Kerr, Alex. After my initial surprise, I took a seat on the short wall separating promenade from tetrapod pile and readied the flash on my film camera. They stand firm and upright year after year, from sunrise to sunrise, silent sentinels unmoved by summer's raging typhoons or winter's crash It looks like you're using an ad blocker. The consensus among enthusiasts is that it is popular for two reasons: first, tetrapods attract within easy reach species of marine life that usually inhabit rocks and reefs offshore, thus offering greater variety of catch near the shore; second, fishing among tetrapods is flat-out cheap and simple. A coral-bleaching event occurs when unusually warm waters drive out the algae that symbiotically inhabits the coral, turning it white. Moreover, 1950s Japan was still a time of getting by and making do, not one of adopting cutting-edge industrial innovations for coastal protection. For example: in the US, beach nourishmentwhere sand from outside locations is used to fill in eroding beacheshas long been a popular plan of attack for coastal defense schemes. After various preliminary studies the outline took shape: a sort of sea monster with four tentacles which was patented under the name tetrapod., Pierre Danel, at the Fourth Conference on Coastal Engineering, Chicago, October 1953. The sea monster that French hydraulic engineer Pierre Danel unveiled to the international community of coastal engineers in 1953 was the result of research and testing at the pioneering Laboratoire Dauphinois dHydraulique Neyrpic in Grenoble, France. In coastal engineering parlance, their function is armoring, and tetrapods are often referred to as armor units. Tetrapods were not intended to be stand-alone structures, but such installations do exist on beaches in mainland Japan and Okinawa. Teaching children that Mr. Tetrapod is a natural denizen of the sea as well as their friend and protector like a policeman or firefighter aims to produce adults who are less prone to question tetrapods in the future. [5] Figure numbers refer to image order in the accompanying photo essay, which may be accessed online at https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-30/figal. The occupation did, however, introduce to postwar Okinawa the widespread use of concrete and cement blocks for military base construction, public facilities, and commercial buildings in the early 1950s. Eroding Diversity Away: The Ogimi Seawall. Presentation at the 21st Meeting of the Japanese Coral Reef Society, November 2018. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329164306_Eroding_diversity_away_The_Ogimi_seawall. [23] The name Engan Beitai puns on the name of the Japanese jietai (land, sea, and air self-defense forces) by replacing rikuj/kaij/kk (land/sea/air) with engan (coast) and substituting the tai (force) of jietai with tai (body or object); tetrapods are the coastal defense forces. Tetrapotsa fishing fashion brand from Okinawa co-founded by fishing enthusiasts and the well-known Okinawan drummer Takazato Satsohi of the punk rock band Mongol800now sells a large line of Tetrapots-branded clothes and fishing gear featuring a classic tetrapod figure as part of its trademark (figure 36). 2017. Eleven months after Ganboken created the Shha Burokku Mania Site, Japan Times contributor Yumi Wijers-Hasegawa picked up on this quirky cultural trend and wrote about it in a short article, Tetrapodistas: Beauty Beheld in Huge Concrete Forms (Wijers-Hasegawa 2007). Hesse, Stephen. [25] yama Kens post is archived at http://s04.megalodon.jp/2009-0429-1819-50/portal.nifty.com/2008/02/15/b/. Such a critique is as legitimate as it is common, and I share in the sense of loss it implies, but stopping short at the surface of the image does little to advance insights into how tetrapods have proliferated and how they have been accommodated and exploited by life around them. Coastal . In this framing, from the viewpoint of a tetrapods function, there is no difference between the natural and the human. And when I ask about the Gulf Coasts current problem with erosion (a complex situation encompassing massive tasks likesediment management), Kato says that, unlike in Japan, the interior of the US seems to be working against the coast as much, if not more, than the ocean. tetrapods coastal protection advantages and disadvantages. The key phrase here is kanky no seibi (improvement of the environment). But probably the greatest cost Japan pays for its years of prodigal concrete use is the loss of priceless coastal scenery.. Also is lethally dangerous to swimmers and surfers as well as shipping and recreational boaters 14 Q What is the meaning of hold the line? Split yourselves up into nine groups and each group will be assigned to work on one coastal protection measure. Tetrapods Coastal protection measures 60 20. Figal, Gerald. The highlights of the history of wave blocks in Japan presented by the NSNBK in an illustrated pamphlet produced for its fiftieth anniversary follow a thematic arc starting in the 1960s with depictions of research and development, coastal preservation policy statements, and various coastal engineering projects and then moves on to foreground the harmonious protection and even enhancement of natural environments through wave block technologies from the 2000s. Unfortunately, the tetrapods did nothing to mitigate the slumping. The first Japanese presenters appeared at the Seventh Conference held in The Hague, Netherlands, in August 1960. Coastal areas are used for tourism, fishing, industry, trade and transport. The data given indicates that the structures were installed between 1974 and 1983 using tetrapods and another type of wave block known as a dorosu (dolos), both from Fudo Tetra. One can only imagine, though, the hackles that would rise if a large percentage of our coasts were suddenly aesthetically shackled with concrete blockades. In his eyes, the Mississippi Rivers flow into the Gulf (largely polluted with fertilizers and contaminants) is destroying the ecosystems resilience at an annual clip. Darwin tells us, roughly, that species who best adapt to their circumstances stand a better chance of long-term survival. With the aid of your textbook and creative minds, present the coastal protection measure on the blankA4-sized paper given to you in any creative way you can think of. The Maniapparel founders passion is palpable as he speaks about the structures, getting a little misty-eyed about the time he was able to watch workers pour the concrete into the mold as a Tetrapod was be born., Just like someone had to decide to make a shark or lion something cute by making it plush, Im doing the same thing with the Tetrapod, he mused. And while breakwater barriers also can be found in places like England, Morocco, andyesthe US, Japan seems to have most readily embraced their functionality. eisenhower epic login; . Setting hundreds of tetrapods on a big scale that matches that of nature is simply art (quoted in Hesse 2007, 34). Pacific Northwest notwithstanding, the majority of the United States coastline doesnt run along any major faults. Figal, Gerald. It is an industrial product, but it is still cute. Within the year, a plush tetrapod was manufactured and marketed as a gray felt-covered cushion called Tetogurumi. I took out a panoramic pinhole film camera and my iPhone. Evidence suggests that tetrapod limbs evolved from the fins of fish, along with modifications to the surrounding muscles, allowing the animal to rise off the ground and walk efficiently. Fishing from jetties and seawalls is also not unusual, but ana-zuri (hole-fishing) among tetrapods has its own well-developed leisure-sports culture in Japan, with an ardent following in Okinawa (figure 25). The project grew out of a commission from the French Navy to secure the stability of seawalls at its naval base in Mers-el-Kbir, Algeria. I dont think those three stray cats were a fluke; there were numerous signs of life among the tetrapods. [12] The majority of sandy public-access beaches on Okinawa Island, on the other hand, have been engineered, shaped by the effects of groins, seawalls, and jetties constructed from the shoreline. [9] See, for example, McCormack (1995). In fact, Tetrapods have become such an ingrained part of the Japanese landscape that theyve even gained some footing as a pop culture touchstone. Viewed as more environmentally friendly, as this approach tries to work with natural processes to reduce, rather than prevent erosion. disadvantages and advantages of this decision, as listed onthe first page of this form. If the absence of algae is prolonged, the coral becomes overly stressed and vulnerable to dying. Upscale hotel beach resorts not already blessed with natural beaches tend to minimize use of raw concrete to capture and secure their sands if they can, relying more on using natural rocks or building more refined structures in high-visibility areas. Homma and Horikawa also reminded their audience that Japans coasts are among the most battered in the world, suffering seasonal typhoons, earthquake-induced tsunami, and strong yearlong wind waves. The few cases of minor damage were largely attributable to building below manufacturer recommendations because of budget shortfalls. In the modern period, ports and new industries associated with overseas import-export accelerated this development and further concentrated populations and commerce near coastlines. Elsewhere, othershuman and animalhave actively evolved their lives around them. With his invention of the tetrapod in 1949, Pierre Danel created something that has since proven itself attractive in expected and unexpected ways. This, of course, hasnt stopped some people from lamenting about the jarring nature of the visually bleak coastal additions. Yoshinori Okuyama, Director General of the Sendai Bay South Coast Office, talks Ars through breakwater barriers. In other words, tetrapods typically do not add to the length of built coastlines; rather, they add to their bulk and longevity. Various coastal management strategies are employed, each coming with a number of advantages and disadvantages. It is able to be beautiful and effective at the same time.. They are a long-lasting and durable option for water erosion control methods. Seawalls can be made of concrete, rocks or wood. Consider one of several examples from Okinawa, three breakwaters situated in Naha Port. A central T-shaped groin-jetty combination that does double duty to capture sand and break waves distinguishes many Okinawan swimming beaches, such as Nishihara Kirakira Beach (figure 6). Part of. A: view of recently planted vegetation on the foredune and sand plain, showing remnants of sand fencing, and enclosure to protect plants against foot traffic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GplKXLOUlmw, http://www.shouha.jp/case1/100/103_1/168.php, http://www.shouha.jp/case1/100/102/243.php, http://www.fudotetra.co.jp/csrreport.html, http://ganboken.blog26.fc2.com/blog-category-2.html, http://s04.megalodon.jp/2009-0429-1819-50/portal.nifty.com/2008/02/15/b/, http://gigazine.net/news/20091030_danchidanchi_dpz/, Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. BUILDING SEAWALLS Seawalls absorb the energy of waves before they can erode away loose materials. Hearing and middle ear structures appeared. For example, several species of crabsincluding eviscerated ones that had seemingly fallen prey to predatorsare easily spied above and below the waterline, joined by a variety of barnacles, limpets, snails, slugs, worms, algae, seaweeds, birds, fish, and humans. With a manga-style tetrapod as his avatar, Ganboken has been tweeting since June 2013 (figure 32). [14] The combination of creatures and their forms of interaction also distinguish the particular ecological environments that tetrapods generate. I think the attraction of tetrapods, art student Kobori Motohiro opined, lies in their contrast with nature. For example, coral reefs are some of the most effective barriers to coastal damage and erosion. A fanaticism for coastal engineering and its tetrapods is much more in otaku style. [10] An overview of Fudo Tetras Tetrapod products and price lists for leasing Tetrapod molds are available at http://www.fudotetra.co.jp/products/tetrapod.html. the average value of a sine wave is zero; The Allied occupation of Japan had just ended in 1952, and it was not until 1955 that the Japanese governments Economic White Paper announced that Japans per-capita gross national product had surpassed its prewar levels. The aim here is modest: to open up thinking in several directions about this prominent form of coastal development, one that seems to fly in the face of Okinawas public image as a place of abundant natural beauty and tropical resort beaches. Unfortunately, the tetrapods did nothing to mitigate the slumping. All fifteen major manufacturers of shha burokku and their molds are NSNBK members. A close-up of the T-shaped head at this beach reveals a line of hundreds of tetrapods piled over a submerged breakwater in front of the structure to absorb and dissipate the brunt of the wave energy directed at the jetty (figure 7). They have become an integral and impactful part of commercial, residential, and public leisure spaces, whether or not they are visible in the tourism promotion materials highlighting beach swimming and marine sports. Tetogurumi was taken off the market for over a year until public demands for its return brought it back, this time properly licensed. What is strikingbesides the early success of the tetrapodis its quick adoption worldwide. Photos of their beaches are often highlighted in tourism promotion for the entire prefecture. (Tetrapod, iPod, get it?) Instead, we want to build armor that gives people another 10 seconds to escape. James N. Sanchirico, There is great interest in the restoration and conservation of coastal habitats for protection from flooding and erosion. Introduction: Tetrapod are organisms that have four feet. [13]Taiwan-based designer Sheng-Hung Lee has recently won several awards with his TetraPOT (http://shenghunglee.wixsite.com/design/tetrapot). Advantages - Builds up a large beach which, as well as providing protection from erosion, can attract tourists. Direct consequences of coastal erosion consist of the hardening of many coastal areas, increasing use of coastal defense systems, producing negative impacts on natural beach landscape, and. I discuss this long-standing trade associations work later. Benefits of tetrapods. His photos were accompanied with text describing quasi-erotic attraction for the objects, proclaiming that after that [writing an article on appreciating out-of-water tetrapods] my passion for tetrapods hasnt cooled. [21] Fudo Tetra and the NSNBK are well aware of this criticism and have acted to blunt and preempt it by researching more ecological and aesthetically appealing approaches to coastal armoring and showcasing what they frame as natural symbiosis between nature and concrete. He plops a big packet in front of me written in dueling English and Japanese about the challenge and benefits of various breakwater barrierssea walls, concrete headlands, Tetrapods, and the like. Instead, were building a good number of [underwater] artificial reefs that break the waves in order to preserve the view while still preventing things like erosion, Kato explains. If you look closely at tourist guides to beaches in Okinawa, however, tetrapods are sometimes visible in the background, especially of public-access beaches, because most of those photos have been artificially enhanced. I intend to explore the full impact and sustainability of such formations in future research. Naturally, the document was published by the US Government in the mid-2000s. In this video we will discuss about tetrapods. The dispersal of backflow water pressure was precisely one of the aims of Danels tetrapod design; his experiments indicated that a semi-open structure of heavy, interlocked, rough rounded forms was superior to surfaces of flat concrete slabs and square concrete blocks in dispersing wave energy while standing up to water pressure. Approaches, aims, advantages and disadvantages: Managed retreat Sometimes seen as the 'do nothing' approach. There are, in fact, indications of a trend in Japanese coastal engineering to think more about shoreline aesthetics by submerging breakwaters further offshore and camouflaging seawalls with native vegetation (Baird 2016).[13]. [3] A major French naval base, Mers-el-Kbir gained notoriety for the British Royal Navys attack on it July 36, 1940, to liquidate the French fleet before it fell into German hands after the fall of France the previous month. 2010. Put another way, the development of coastlines is largely predetermined by natural circumstances, even though that development is challenging to sustain because of natural circumstances. This example does double duty: it demonstrates that coral can naturally take to wave blocks placed in their midst and that wave blocks can serve as a substratum for the recovery of coral in places where it has weakened or died. Urban access points to the seaeven those used for leisure activitiesforego attempts to minimize or camouflage use of tetrapods given the density of surrounding seaside development in need of protection from storm surges. He did not blame yama for passing the publicly posted pattern to others (yama posted an apology for presenting the pattern as his own creation), but he did hold the makers of Tetogurumi responsible for seeking proper licensing from its true inventor. The tetrapod's shape is designed to dissipate the force of incoming waves by allowing water to flow around rather than against it, and to reduce displacement by allowing a random distribution of tetrapods to mutually interlock. A stones throw off the coastline, dozens of gigantic, 10-ton concrete structures known as Tetrapods form a long row and lookif were being honestas if a giant dumped a behemoth box of jacks into the sea. Even the camera flash didnt scatter them. (I have yet to hole-fish among tetrapods, but intend to do so during my next research trip to Okinawa.) Dozens of photos from longitudinal studies of the ecological effects of block installations serve to demonstrate empirically that sea life thrives with them as they foster an ecosystem with an outstanding natural symbiosis function and preserve the marine environment, thus contributing to a safe and secure society (Nihon Shha Nagatame Burokku Kykai 2007, 2). [7] Fudo Tetra is one of fifteen major companies in Japan that manufacture some form of shha burokku (wave-dissipating block; or, shha negatame burokku , wave-dissipating foundation block), the trademark-neutral term for any block designed for armoring coastal structures against wave action. Hard engineering approaches to coastal management tend to be expensive, last only a short amount of time, are visually unattractive and unsustainable. With a euphemistic resonance, it suggests the mutual benefits of development for human society and natural environment. Key cost components A marker for the Grave of Amamichu (a female deity credited, along with her partner, Shirumichu, with creating the first inhabitants of the Ryukyu Islands) on one of the outcroppings drew my interest, but I ended up spending far more time on the other outcropping where the lifeforms among the tetrapods stacked along the outer wall of a wide concrete extension captured my attention (figure 20). A tetrapod is a form of wave-dissipating concrete block used to prevent erosion caused by weather and longshore drift, primarily to enforce coastal structures such as seawalls and breakwaters. Fudo Tetra sponsors educational events to familiarize children with tetrapods, including the opportunity to make your own miniature concrete specimens (figure 31). Tetrapods being used for protection of the Chellanam coast will be in the 2.5 and 3.5-tonne categories and their deployment will be on the lines followed in Mumbai Marine Drive, where the concrete . [1] For the best quick English-language overview of tetrapods in Japan and a profile of their supporters and detractors, see Hesse (2007). [27] The brands catchphrase is Save the Ocean, Love the Ocean, and its identity is formed around fishing, street fashion, ocean conservation, and coastal beautification. In Japan, where tetrapods have evolved as orthodoxy, and in Okinawa, where they share coastlines with beach resorts and coral reefs, they appearcontrary to Koboris echoes of Christonaturalized, or at least pragmatically accepted within an understanding of nature that accommodates, rather than excludes by definition, humans and their built environments. Chinen Yoshiyuki and Shiba Masami. I always liked shapes, but that feeling was different from any other time. Another man also professed his attraction to the shape of tetrapods, buying a railway model kit only for the tiny plastic tetrapods that were included in it: I was just fascinated by their shapes. The bulk of the article is an interview with freelance photographer, writer, and industrial-form aficionado yama Ken, coauthor of Kj Moe (Factory affection), a photo book catering to factory and industrial-site otaku. https://cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issue-30/figal. When their seaside structures have faced the erosive effects of ceaseless waves and damage from periodic storms, people have acted to protect their expanding economic and territorial interests, typically by hardening harbors and coastal settlements with breakwaters and seawalls of wood, stone, concrete, and steel. With increasing capital and government-directed initiatives for port development, all that was needed was a company to exploit this opening. Japan was not among Danels examples, but by the late 1950s the sort of sea monster with four tentacles could be spotted here and there in Japanese waters, where they would later proliferate to a globally unprecedented extent along Japans approximately 30,000-kilometer coastline. The seawall, as you might imagine, is a tall, sloped structure intended to keep the sea and the land somewhat apart. [26] Tetogurumi Official Web Store is at https://tetogurumi.thebase.in/. After the earthquake and tsunami hit [in 2011], weve been rebuilding everything, but a lot hasnt come back yet, Yoshinori Okuyama, Director General of the Sendai Bay South Coast Office, noted. Wijers-Hasegawa, Yumi. 1961. Tetrapods and other types of [concrete] armoring can cause more damage than they prevent, because they alter ocean currents and disrupt the natural cycles of erosion and deposition that form and reshape coasts, Stephen Hesse argues in a 2007 Japan Times article. [18] The dolos, which is shaped like an H twisted 90 degrees at the center of the crossbar, has South African origins. Life with Tetrapods: The Nature of Concrete in Okinawa. Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review(e-journal) 30: 150170. My Gold Coast is the tetrapod group on the southern tip of the Miura Peninsula.[25] His paper tetrapod pattern caught the eye of a designer who approached him for the rights to use it as a model for a nuigurumi (plush toy), which he freely granted. She is currently serving as a US-Japan Fellow with the International Center for Journalists. [17] Links to a PDF for Shizen to tomoni and to the NSNBKs fiftieth-anniversary materials are available from its homepage at http://www.shouha.jp/. He is working on a third book-length project, Multiple Exposure: Photography in Postwar Okinawa, 19451975, which aims to bring into conversation for the first time the business, production, and product of Okinawan, mainland Japanese, and American photography of Okinawa and its people. Follow along with her on Twitter: @scbaird. In their examples of then-recent coastal protection measures, Homma and Horikawa mentioned a last-ditch effort to reinforce and raise the height of a slumping breakwater in Niigata with the use of 4-ton tetrapod blocks. yama extends this sense of moe to industrial forms, including tetrapods. 1. [7] Japanese Registered Trademark 1184901. The efforts by the industry to cast wave blocks as environment-friendly and even environment-enhancing correlate with growing general public awareness of the environmental impact of coastal development. Hom-ma, Masashi, and Kiyoshi Horikawa.
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