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Picks is a monthly sampling of Japan's art scene, offering commentary by a variety of reviewers about exhibitions at museums and galleries in recent weeks, with an emphasis on contemporary art by young artists.
1 April 2014
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Ginko, Ryusei and Reiko Kishida: Genealogy of Innovative Spirit
8 February - 6 April 2014
Setagaya Art Museum
(Tokyo)
This show examines the achievements of three generations of Kishida spanning the Meiji, Taisho, and Showa eras. Best known is the artist Ryusei (1891-1929), who painted numerous portraits of his daughter Reiko (1914-1962), who herself went on to work in the theater and the arts. Less well known is that Ryusei's father Ginko (1833-1905) was a journalist who played a significant role in Japan's westernization process. Though the links between father and son seem tenuous (as evidenced by the separateness of their parts of this exhibition), the interwoven elements of the sections on Ryusei and Reiko speak to the closeness of their relationship.

The Power of Images: The National Museum of Ethnology Collection
19 February - 9 June 2014
The National Art Center, Tokyo
(Tokyo)
Osaka's marvelous National Museum of Ethnology (a.k.a. Minpaku) comes to Tokyo. Though the show features a mere 600 items culled from the museum's astonishing collection of some 340,000 ethnological materials from around the world, it is still pretty overwhelming. The opening section -- "Prologue: The Experience of the Gaze" -- sets the tone with a wallful of masks from everywhere. From there the show proceeds through "Images of the Invisible," "The Dynamics of Images," "Playing with Images," "The Translation of Images," and finally (if you make it that far) "Epilogue: Found Images."
Natsunosuke Mise: Kaze Tsuchi no Ki
9 March - 11 May 2014
Nara Prefecture Complex of Man'yo Culture
(Nara)
The title translates literally as "Record of Wind and Soil," but it is written with the characters for fudo-ki, ancient records of provincial cultures. Innovative Nihonga artist Mise (b. 1973) currently lives in northeastern Japan but hails from Nara Prefecture, where he returns for this major solo exhibition. In these works one senses a keen eye for the culture and ambience of the land where he makes his home, expressed through his own personal filter. His paintings relentlessly scrutinize Japan and challenge preconceptions about Nihonga.
Future Beauty: The Tradition of Reinvention in Japanese Fashion

21 March - 11 May 2014

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto
(Kyoto)
Celebrating Japanese fashion's creativity and originality over the past half-century, as well as its solid underpinnings in the artistry of traditional Kyoto dyers and weavers, this show assembles over 100 items designed by such luminaries as Hanae Mori, Kenzo Takada, Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo, and Yohji Yamamoto. Film footage and other supplementary materials round out the presentation.
Shinjuku in the Showa Forties: Scenes from a "Hot" Era

8 February - 13 April 2014
Shinjuku Historical Museum
(Tokyo)
A few miles west of Tokyo's old downtown district, Shinjuku has become the new center of the metropolis. This photo exhibition looks back on Shinjuku's explosive growth during the fifth decade of the Showa era, which ran from 1965 to 1974. The 1964 Olympics set the stage for a period of massive development throughout the capital, and one of the most ambitious projects was the conversion of the vast Yodobashi Water Purification Plant on Shinjuku's west side into an expanse of skyscrapers. In many ways this decade created the template for the Tokyo of today.
Akarui Hansen

26 March - 1 April 2014
PULP
(Osaka)
Part happening, part group exhibition, Akarui Hansen ("bright anti-war") is the expanded, Osaka edition of the street-art show Tanoshii Hansen ("happy anti-war") held in Tokyo a few months ago. Some 40 artists in various media present works on the theme of "opposing wars of all kinds." Notables include Hiroyuki Ohashi, Hitoshi Odajima, Akira Nishitake, Tetsuya Yamamoto (POTTO), Kawahiro Yurikov, BOM, fancomi, King Joe, Inori Kito, Hiroyuki Nisogi, and Eriko Yoshikawa.
Arata Isozaki: Solaris

15 January - 8 February 2014
NTT InterCommunication Center (ICC)
(Tokyo)
This was the second installment of architect Isozaki's City Solaris exhibition. Augmenting a huge model of the Zhengdong New District Long Hu Area project in China were a video by Norimichi Hirakawa and something called the Zhengdong New District Street Network. The show kept shape-shifting in the course of its run, as was the case with The Mirage City: Another Utopia, the Isozaki presentation that opened the ICC in 1997.
Hiraki Sawa: Under the Box, Beyond the Bounds

18 January - 30 March 2014
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
(Tokyo)
In Sawa's video works, miniature airliners quietly criss-cross an empty room, and tiny animals or inanimate objects are seen walking across the floor. Much of his work is about memory; phonograph records are a recurring motif. An installation of videos and mirrors was particularly memorable. For some reason this exhibition, a rare Tokyo event for the London-based artist, attracted a high percentage of female visitors.
Torafu Architects: Please Staple Here.
17 January - 13 February 2014
Creation Gallery G8
(Tokyo)
Since founding Torafu in 2004, Koichi Suzuno and Shinya Kamuro have engaged in a wide range of endeavors, from architecture to product design to stage art. This show displays the full gamut of their oeuvre. Though occupying a small space, it manages to entertainingly engage the visitor who, by following the posted instructions, can actively participate in Torafu's exploits.
17th Japan Media Arts Festival
5 - 16 February 2014
The National Art Center, Tokyo
(Tokyo)
The gargantuan annual media arts event held its 17th Exhibition of Award Winning Works accompanied by a hefty menu of screenings, performances, and talks at various venues in the surrounding Roppongi neighborhood. As in previous years, entries were categorized as Art, Animation, Entertainment, or Manga, but this reviewer believes it's time the organizers dispensed with such rigid demarcations, which place increasingly meaningless constraints on the modes of expression introduced here.
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