Gallery owner Atsuko Ninagawa explains how to navigate Tokyo’s art scene

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This article is part of FT Globetrotter. tokyo guide

Tokyo’s art scene is vast and expanding. It encompasses a wide range of public and private institutions, commercial galleries and alternative art spaces, spread throughout the metropolitan area. Exploring it all can be daunting. We founded Art Week Tokyo to make the city’s cultural offerings more accessible to local and international audiences. At the same time, one of the city’s enduring charms is that wandering its labyrinthine streets often leads to chance encounters and unexpected discoveries.

The best way to get your bearings is by visiting Tokyo’s iconic museums. For a crash course in Japanese art history, head first to National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyolocated in front of the Imperial Palace. The collection begins in the late 19th century, when Japanese artists began to translate Western art techniques and practices into the local context. In the trendy Kiyosumi-Shirakawa neighborhood, full of small shops and food places, the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art (MOT) then picks up the thread in the 1920s, a heady time for transnational artistic experimentation, and continues into avant-garde multimedia works.

The Roppongi district may be best known for its lively nightlife, but it is also home to some excellent museums. The design of Kisho Kurokawa National Art Center, Tokyo is a striking work of architecture, with a truly wide and eccentric range of programming, while the private enterprise Mori Art Museum It crowns a 54-story tower. The soaring space is aware of current trends; In addition to hosting highly successful exhibitions by world art stars such as Yayoi Kusama and Louise Bourgeois, it hosts Roppongi Crossinga triennial survey of contemporary Japanese art.

Corporate-sponsored venues also play a vital role in Tokyo’s arts ecosystem, with two of the largest located in the bustling Ginza shopping area. Shiseido Gallery was founded in 1919 by the artistic scion of the Shiseido cosmetics brand, and is located in the basement of one of its main buildings. Showcases emerging artists through its annual edition. art egg series of exhibitions, while sophisticated delicacies are offered at several Shiseido-branded restaurants on the upper floors. A short walk away, Ginza Maison Hermès Le Forum It typically features site-specific projects made in response to Renzo Piano’s impressive glass brick building. The current show (which runs until January 13) is by Rei Naito: entire ephemeral installations are made from pieces of thread and miniature glass ornaments.

All kinds of adjacent museums and art archives provide a fascinating insight into Japan’s cultural heritage. At each end of Komaba Park you will find the Museum of Modern Japanese Literature — which also features a cozy cafe, Bundan, its menu inspired by master storytellers like Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Haruki Murakami — and the Japan Folk Crafts Museumfounded in 1936 by Soetsu Yanagi, founder of the Mingei movement, and located in a traditional Japanese building.

In the meantime, for an overdose of contemporary vernacular expression, head to broadway. This former post-war shopping center is where you can search for figurines, toys, manga, and other vintage collectibles. On its different floors are several establishments owned by artist Takashi Murakami, including the retro video game-themed cafe. Cafe Zingaro.

Further away, the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architecture Museum in Koganei Park is a fun excursion. The museum grounds are dotted with historic buildings by pioneering architects such as Sutemi Horiguchi and Kunio Maekawa, who have moved there. Meanwhile, at Keio University, the city’s built heritage is honored through recreation: the Ex-Noguchi Room is an homage overseen by Kengo Kuma to an iconic lounge space that artist Isamu Noguchi created in collaboration with architect Yoshirō Taniguchi in 1951. However, it is only open to the public occasionally.

The shopping arcade scene in Tokyo is lively. There are galleries spread throughout the city, from the top dealer SCAI The bathhouse in picturesque Yanaka to Misako and Rosen in colorful Otsuka; my own gallery, Take NinagawaIt is located in the shadow of Tokyo Tower. They are complemented by alternative artist-led spaces, which draw on local communities. One of my favorites is Lavender opener chair, a modest space in the quiet alleys of Arakawa. It draws on both the city’s vibrant squat history and an international lineage of artist-run restaurants, hosting exhibitions during the day and then becoming a restaurant at night, where chef and artist Tatsuhiko Togashi’s cuisine is inspired by his roots of northern Yamagata. . This is Tokyo at its best: when it allows informal exchanges, motivated by a spirit of hospitality and care.

Tokyo Art Week, November 7-10, artweektokyo.com. Atsuko Ninagawa is the owner and director of Take Ninagawa Gallery in Tokyo.

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