Metabolism, which emerged in Tokyo in the late 1950s, was a movement that sought to radically reshape Japan's buildings and cities. Gathered around the iconic figure of Kenzo Tange, and given coherent voice by the critic Noboru Kawazoe, the group included Masato Otaka, Fumihiko Maki, Kiyonori Kikutake, Arata Isozaki and Kisho Kurokawa
The design was for a linear city that used a series of ninekilometre modules that stretched 80 km across Tōkyō Bay from Ikebukuro in the north west to Kisarazu in the south east. The perimeter of each of the modules was organised into three levels of looping highways, as Tange was adamant that an efficient communication system would be the key to modern living.[41][42] The modules themselves were organised into building zones and transport hubs and included office, government administration and retail districts as well as a new Tōkyō train station and highway links to other parts of Tōkyō. Residential areas were to be accommodated on parallel streets that ran perpendicular to the main linear axis and like the Boston Bay project, people would build their own houses within giant A-frame