What we’re about
"Art Is What You Can Get Away with" -Marshall McLuhan (Propagated by Andy Warhol)
WHY?
Because there are numbers of interesting art shows and cultural events in the Greater Tokyo Area.
WHAT?
We will check out all types of cultural events. The main focus of the meet up group will be checking out art exhibitions, but we are not art snobs. We will check out anything as long as they are entertaining to us.
WHO?
Anyone who likes to explore art + culture in the Greater Tokyo Area should join.
HOW?
Just click "yes" for the RSVP response and show up to the meeting place.
HOW MUCH?
The price of an admission ticket.
HOW OFTEN?
Once a week hopefully.
WHY NOT JOIN US?
Upcoming events (3)
See all- Afternoon at the Tokyo National MuseumTokyo National Museum, Tokyo
For this meetup, we will spend an afternoon at the Tokyo National Museum to see the following two exhibitions
- Ōoku: Women of Power in Edo Castle
- Expressing Prayer, Capturing Form Buddhist Sculptures by UNKEI from the Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji Temple
Meeting Time: 2:00PM (14:00)
Meeting Spot: Around the Park Exit of JR Ueno Station++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First Exhibition
Ōoku: Women of Power in Edo CastleVenue
Tokyo National Museum
(https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=113)Admission Fee
￥2,100Information about the Exhibition
"The ōoku refers to the living quarters of the wives and ladies-in-waiting of the Tokugawa shoguns during the Edo period (1603–1868). It was sequestered within the shogunate’s fortress Edo Castle, which was historically located where the Imperial Palace now stands. The castle’s main compound was divided into sections called the omote and nakaoku. Beyond these, copper-plated walls marked the boundary of the strictly controlled ōoku, accessible via only two passageways known as the “bell corridors” (osuzu-rōka). As part of the shogun’s private quarters, the world of the ōoku was hidden from outsiders. Its secrecy made it an object of public curiosity until its dissolution in the late 19th century. Stories, rumors, and speculation gave rise to a wealth of narratives, dramatic works, Kabuki plays, and ukiyo-e prints set in the ōoku. Today, interest remains high in this secretive institution, and countless movies, TV shows, manga, and novels feature women of the ōoku as their main characters. Virtually all of these, however, are works of fiction and fail to portray the ōoku as it truly was.This exhibition attempts to uncover a more truthful picture of the ōoku through the stories told by some 180 objects. These range from historical records and architectural drawings to the personal belongings of the wives, daughters, and ladies-in-waiting of the ōoku, including principal wives and senior-ranking ladies-in-waiting known as elders."[from the Museum Website]
Official Website (Japanese)
https://ooku2025.jp/++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Second Exhibition
Expressing Prayer, Capturing Form
Buddhist Sculptures by UNKEI from the Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji TempleVenue
Tokyo National Museum
(https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=113)Admission Fee
¥1,700Information about the exhibition
"The Northern Round Hall of Kohfukuji temple in Nara is widely known for its principal icon, the National Treasure Seated Miroku Nyorai and its flanking standing figures of Mujaku and Seshin Bosatsu, which are considered later-life masterpieces by Unkei, the central figure of Buddhist sculpture in the Kamakura period.
The Northern Round Hall, a rare example of a space that preserves the original configuration of Unkei’s figures, is typically not open to the public. However, to commemorate the completion of its restoration, special arrangements have been made for the Seated Miroku Nyorai to be exhibited outside the temple for the first time in approximately sixty years.
This truly exceptional project to recreate the interior of the Northern Round Hall as it would have been during its revival in the Kamakura period brings together seven National Treasure Buddhist statues—the Seated Miroku Nyorai figure, the Standing Mujaku and Seshin Bosatsu figures, as well as the Four Deva King figures, which were likely enshrined in the Northern Round Hall in the past." [from The Museum Website]Official Website (Japanese)
https://tsumugu.yomiuri.co.jp/unkei2025/english.html++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chat session
We will take a coffee break between the first and second show to have a chat session. - Afternoon of Meditation on Contemporary ArchitectureTOTO GALLERY·MA, Minato
For this meetup, we will spend an afternoon to check out following two architecture exhibitions.
- Imaging and Influencing Society— National Policy Propaganda in Posters
- The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future Forest
Meeting Time: 1:30PM (13:30)
Meeting Spot: Around the entrance of Gallery Ma
(https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/about/map_e.htm)++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First Exhibition
Emerging Architecture, Own WaysVenue
Gallery Ma
(https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/about/map_e.htm)Admission Fee
FreeInformation about the Exhibition
"The exhibition is a documentary that traces the struggles of the twenty teams who posed questions and realized their ideas while confronting complex situations, through drawings, models, and other materials displayed throughout the venue. Furthermore, it is also an attempt to highlight the key players in new architecture through their practices." [from the Museum Website]Official Website (Japanese)
https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/ex250724/index_e.htm++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Second Exhibition
The Architecture of Sou Fujimoto: Primordial Future ForestVenue
Mori Art Museum
(https://art-view.roppongihills.com/en/info/)Admission Fee
¥2,300Information about the exhibition
"With offices in Tokyo, Paris, and Shenzhen, Sou Fujimoto (born 1971 in Hokkaido, Japan) is engaged in projects all over the world, ranging from private homes to universities, retail premises, hotels, and multi-purpose complexes. Since his high-profile debut with The Aomori Museum of Art Design Competition Proposal in 2000, he has completed a series of celebrated projects, including the Musashino Art University Museum & Library (2010, Tokyo) and the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 (London), and recently the housing complex L’Arbre Blanc (The White Tree, 2019, Montpellier, France) and the music-focused cultural complex House of Music, Hungary (2021, Budapest). One of Japan’s leading architects at the center of public attention, he was appointed as the Site Design Producer for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
This exhibition is the first major survey of Fujimoto’s work. It provides a comprehensive overview in eight sections, covering everything from work in his early years to projects currently underway, and following his architectural journey over the past around thirty years, the features of his architecture, and the philosophy behind it. It takes advantage of the venue’s expertise as a contemporary art museum, allowing anyone, not just people working involved in architecture, to physically experience the essence of Fujimoto’s oeuvre by including exhibits such as installations and large-scale models that provide a spatial experience, as well as a mock-up. These complement conventional exhibits like scale models, plans, and photos of completed projects. The exhibition also reviews the role and potential of architecture through Fujimoto’s vision of the future city." [from the Exhibition Website]Official Website
https://jp.toto.com/gallerma/ex250724/index_e.htm++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chat session
We will take a coffee break between the first and second show to have a chat session. - Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosa at the End of the Edo Periodsuntory museum of art, Tokyo
For this meetup, we will check out an exhibition of Ekin.
"Kinzō, a painter of Tosa, worked on many paintings such as folding screens of Kabuki play, Ema lanterns, May festival banners, etc., from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji era. He has been familiar with his hometown of Kōchi for many years under the nickname “Ekin-san.” The custom of displaying folding screens of Ekin for several days during the summer festival has not changed. Scenes from frightening Kabuki stories are lit up by lanterns and candles in the precincts of shrines and under the eaves of shopping streets in various places in Kōchi. They leave a vivid impression on those who see them in the darkness of a midsummer night.
Ekin’s folding screens were such a part of everyday life that there was an old saying, “When a rain shower came at a summer festival, I put away the paper lanterns before the folding screens.” Ekingura was opened in Akaoka-chō, Kōnan City, Kōchi Prefecture in 2005. Also, the Ekin School Art Gallery was established at Creative Park ACTLAND (currently ACT Museum), which opened in Noichi-chō, Kōnan City in 2015. As a result, Ekin’s achievements have been reevaluated, and the environment for preserving, researching and exhibiting his works has improved in recent years. The Museum of Art, Kōchi held large-scale exhibitions of Ekin in 1996 and 2012, but most of the approximately 200 existing folding screens are owned by shrines, residents’ associations, neighborhood associations, community centers, etc. For that reason, it is a rare opportunity to see Ekin’s work in one place.
Ekin was featured in the magazine Taiyō in 1966, and Ekin became a temporary boom, including novels, stage performances and movies. Exhibitions of Ekin were held at department stores in Tokyo and Osaka around 1970. This large-scale exhibition of Ekin’s masterpieces is the first in Tokyo in half a century and the first such undertaking at any art museum." [from the exhibition website]Location
Suntory Museum of Art
(https://www.suntory.com/sma/map/)Exhibition to see
Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosa at the End of the Edo PeriodMeeting Time
04:00 PM (16:00)Meeting Spot
Around the entrance of the Suntory Museum of ArtAdmission Fee
¥1,800Description of the exhibition
https://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/2025_4/index.htmlChat session after the show
As usual, let's have a chat session at the end of the event. When we meet up before the exhibition, let's decide where we go after the show.
