A doctor, his camera and the transformation of Shanghai
Print Edition
Fujita Kosuke has accompanied Shanghai on the city’s dynamic journey to becoming a modern global metropolis. He has chronicled it all.
In the transition from a young Japanese student to a respected doctor of traditional Chinese medicine, he has taken some 200,000 photographs documenting the then and now of urban transformation.
“Shanghai’s development is unlike anything I’ve seen before,” he said in fluent Mandarin. “The city is always changing, always moving forward. Living here, you are part of that growth. It’s not just witnessing it from the outside; you’re woven into the fabric.”
As a doctor, he now serves locals and the expatriate community in both Changning and Pudong, offering a blend of traditional Chinese and modern Western medical practices, mainly to Japanese expats and even to patients from abroad.
When Fujita first set foot in Shanghai in 1996, the city was a far cry from the urban center it is today. Amid sweltering September heat, he arrived at an antiquated Hongqiao Airport and a city teeming with crowds of people and black-market taxis.
It was “chaotic and overwhelming,” he told Shanghai Daily. “But there was an undeniable energy — a sense of life pulsing through the streets that I found intriguing, even if it was a bit daunting at first.”
Back then, Shanghai’s modern infrastructure was still in its infancy. The city’s subway system comprised just one short line, and the streets were crowded with buses so packed that they were nearly impossible to board.
Fujita initially lived in a dormitory at Shanghai Normal University in Xuhui District, where he studied Chinese. He said the area at the time felt like it was on the outskirts of the urban enter.
“I remember living in a small, run-down apartment, and buying groceries was a challenge because I didn’t speak Chinese,” he said.
Fujita’s decision to come to Shanghai was driven by his fascination with traditional Chinese medicine, a passion ignited by his grandfather’s experience with Chinese herbal remedies.
He eventually enrolled at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he studied herbal medicine, acupuncture and the intricate philosophy behind traditional remedies.
“Shanghai was the perfect place for my journey,” Fujita explained. “A city where the old and the new coexist, much like how traditional medicine combines ancient wisdom with modern practices.”
In the early 2000s, he moved from Xuhui to Pudong’s Huamu area. Despite the prevailing saying that it “was better to have a bed in Puxi than a house in Pudong” in the underdeveloped east side of the river, he bought a home in the Lianyang International Community in Pudong in 2003. He lived there with his wife, a Shanghai native and a classmate.
“Back then, Pudong was still largely undeveloped,” he said. “I remember the vast empty spaces, with just a few new apartment buildings and the fledgling Century Park nearby. It was hard to imagine that it would grow into the vibrant district it is today.”
He started using a camera to document his life in Shanghai in 1996, snapping pictures on the city’s streets, which, at the time, was an uncommon sight.
“I was afraid my camera might cause offense, so I was very discreet,” he said.
As digital cameras became popular, Fujita embraced the newer technology to continue hi photo chronicles, which tell the story of a city in constant flux. He captured how skyscrapers began to dominate the skyline of Lujiazui and how, in more recent times, progress turned the outlying area of Lingang in a modern technology hub.
“I’ve always been drawn to places that are just beginning to grow,” he said. “There’s something special about being in a place before it becomes fully developed, watching it evolve and mature.”
Fujita has only to hop on his bicycle today and pedal along the Huangpu River embankment and the waterfront of Suzhou Creek to evoke cherished memories of how both were transformed from drab, old industrial sites into stunning greenways.
“The greenways are a gift to the people of Shanghai,” he said. “They have been turned into beautiful public areas everyone can enjoy.”
In 2013, after obtaining permanent residency in China, Fujita began more intense study of traditional medicine and the promotion of international academic exchanges.
In 2019, he moved to Blue Bay in Lingang, the then newly declared next frontier in Shanghai’s development.
“Lingang reminds me of Pudong in the early 2000s; there’s so much potential here,” Fujita noted. “It’s exciting to be part of something new, to witness and contribute to the growth of a community.”
Lingang is also closer to Pudong International Airport than downtown Shanghai — an advantage for a man who divides his time between treating patients in Shanghai and doing research at Osaka University.”
To share his documentation of Lingang’s growth, Fujita has opened an account on Xiaohongshu, or Red social media platform, where he posts stories and photos that range from sunrises over Dishui Lake to the construction of new landmarks.
“Shanghai has changed so much, but it has always retained its energy, its vibrancy,” he said. “I’m proud to have been a part of its journey, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds — not just for the city, but also for my own life within it.”
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