Kyou wa Totemo II Tenki Deshita*

Written by Spencer Harrington

I arrived back in the Land of the Rising Sun about three weeks too late to fully enjoy the Sakura (cherry blossom) season and the Ohanami (seasonal-drinking-with-friends-under-the-beautiful-foliage) day.  However, I was lucky enough to see the last fading days of it, which was actually beautiful in itself, the pink petals looking like snow as they fell from the trees and covered the ground.   But today, which coincidentally is Showa No-hi (a public holiday celebrating the previous Emperor, Showa), I decided to venture back out into Tokyo to soak up the craziness I had come to miss after a three month break in New Zealand.

To my delight, blue skies were on my side and the sun was out…what day could be better suited to gallery hopping?

In Japan, the word 'gallery' is used often. Nine times out of ten it is used to describe furniture arrangements or displays of clothing. This can eventually make a walk around town in search of an exhibition very frustrating'. The internet is your best bet at finding out what’s new, what’s hot, what’s causing a stir and what’s the latest talk of the town in the Tokyo art scene. 

Tokyo has some amazing galleries hidden amongst the millions...no, zillions of clothing stores, especially in the more trendy areas like Harajuku, Omotesando, Shibuya, Ebisu and Ginza. Worth mentioning is the 'Design Fiesta Gallery' in Harajuku (see picture below) and the 'Le Deco Gallery' in downtown Shibuya, both of which have multiple gallery spaces ranging in size, price and artistic genres.

But it seems to be museums that most artists aspire to here. Upon picking up a simple English map of Tokyo and seeing that it lists over 22 museums specifically focused on art, I began to understand why. These museums range from 'The National Museum of Modern Art and Crafts' to 'The National Museum of Western Art' all the way to the 'Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography'.

They house the work of artists of varying notoriety; from Julian Opie (famous for his portraits of numerous celebrities such as Kate Moss and Bryan Adams as well as creating the album art for Blur's 'Best Of' album) to Mexican artist Frieda Kahlo. In fact, Tokyo has seen travelling exhibits from some of the arts historic heavy weights, the likes of which New Zealand can only dream of housing. Just in the last six months these names included Van Gogh, Monet, Kahlo, Manet, and even a pre-cubism Picasso exhibition! Not to mention the scores of Japanese artists, past and present, who have helped to shape the future of art here in Japan, and around the world.

Random fact: Did you know that the first major Impressionists, including Claude Monet and Edgar Degas, were directly influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, which had originally come into France as wrapping paper for imported goods? The art of these prints contributed significantly to the "snapshot" angles and unconventional compositions which would later become characteristic of the Impressionist movement.

A week later, during the ‘Golden Week’ three day holiday (yes, another holiday...looks like I arrived at just the right time), I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a Japanese T.V. programme advertising a Katsushika Hokusai exhibition being held at a small art museum in Nihonbashi. Most people will be familiar with Hokusai's work if I were to mention his famous ‘36 views of Mt Fuji’ exhibition held in 1831 (surprisingly it actually had 46 works of the famous Japanese mountain displayed), which includes the iconic and internationally recognized print, 'The Great Wave of Kanagawa', created during the 1820s. I was very excited; he is my all-time favourite artist.

After turning up on the very last day of the exhibition, I learnt that the originals of most of Hokusai's famous works are owned by a single wealthy Western art collector and the artworks on display were just replicas. However, this show was being put on by the 'Tokyo Traditional Woodblock Prints Association' and they had asked the collector for permission to examine the originals to find out exactly what methods were used to create them, what exact inks and dyes were used, and every detail in between. The works shown were as  close to the originals as humanly possible. 

The first thing that struck me about the exhibition was the size of the artworks. They were all A3 or smaller! I had always imagined that these famous Japanese woodblock prints I had studied in books and publications for years were large scale art pieces and huge installations. This did not take away from how amazing they were and even highlighted the skill it must have taken to create such intricate pieces.

In the middle of the gallery floor was an old, hunched man in traditional clothing, surrounded by painting pots and wooden blocks, recreating Hokusai’s 'A Mild Breeze on a Fine Day' work (see picture right) with what turned out to be the original woodblocks. He was one of the Master traditional printers of this association and had helped create the works gracing the walls around him. I watched him throughout the whole process, until he finally produced the finished artwork, a spitting image of the framed, roped off version at the front of the room.

Near the end of the exhibition, when everyone was gone, I asked what was going to happen to the examples of art this Master artist had created during the live art feature of the exhibitition, and if any of them would be for sale. The reply was a huge belly laugh by the Master and some of the organisers who were within earshot, followed by "Gomenasai, Kore wa CHOO TAKAI desu yo"**, which I understood straight away.

Even though I didn’t leave with ‘A Mild Breeze on a Fine Day’ tucked under my arm, I felt privileged to witness the ancient methods and equipment used to create these iconic pieces of art. It is a tradition most people have not experienced and I know I will never forget it.

Yes, I’m definitely glad to be back in The Land of the Rising Sun.

*  Today was a Beautiful Day