At 88, Yayoi Kusama shows no signs of slowing down. Her new museum in Tokyo is the latest testament to her long and storied life creating what she calls "psychosomatic art" that's been fueled by hallucinations since childhood, a disciplined and obsessive art practice doubling as therapy, and savvy self-promotion. Opened in October, the five-story Yayoi Kusama Museum, with its clean white exterior and large windows, is a startling standout in the bland residential neighborhood located not far from her studio and the psychiatric hospital she has called home since 1977. more...
Tadao Ando: An Architect's Search for New Discoveries
James Lambiasi
One of the most prolific Japanese architects today, Tadao Ando has designed numerous buildings, each with a uniqueness befitting his very unconventional career. Born in Osaka and originally a professional boxer, Ando was exposed to none of the influences that form the intellectual foundation of so many of his contemporaries in Japan. He trained himself as an architect, and subsequently established Tadao Ando Architect & Associates in 1969. Today he is globally recognized as one of the most influential architects of his time. more...
Remembering the Sixties: Rekihaku Takes You There
Alan Gleason
It's a standard joke among old hippies that "if you remember the Sixties, you weren't really there." So if you were living in Japan in the 1960s but need a little refresher course, this show's for you. Even if you weren't here, or were and remember every detail like it was yesterday, there is much food for thought to be found at 1968: A Time Filled with Countless Questions, an exhaustive study of the era's social and political turmoil that is currently on exhibit at the National Museum of Japanese History (Rekihaku) in Sakura, not far from Narita Airport. more...
