ABSTRACT
The Pont des Arts controversy and the other fields of contention analysed in the following chapters unfold in a rather unique setting, and the purpose of this chapter is to describe its most significant features. Some acquaintance with Kyoto’s history and how it is perceived and presented today, the peculiar social constellation it has bequeathed to the present-day city, and the townscape conflicts that preceded my field stay is necessary to make sense of what I observed.
