artscape Japan

To our readers: Every month since 2006, artscape Japan has been exploring Japan's art and architecture via this website. Thank you for sharing this journey with us. With this, our 15 December 2022 issue, we will cease publication in our current format featuring Focus, Here & There, and Picks. There are, however, plans to resume the publication of English-language content in a new format on the DNP Artscape site sometime in the spring of 2023. We will do our best to keep you apprised of future developments.
Best regards,
The editors

		Playful Encounters with Light: Tokihiro Sato at the Hachinohe Art Museum

		Susan Rogers Chikuba

Three new series by photographer Tokihiro Sato feature in his current solo show at the Hachinohe Art Museum in Aomori Prefecture through 9 January 2023. Tokihiro Sato: Hachinohe Magic Lantern presents 125 of his images, all captured in this vibrant port city where the artist lived on and off over a six-year period from 2016. more...

		Architects Questioning Architecture: TOTO Gallery Ma Asks "How Is Life?"

		James Lambiasi

I admit that when I visit an architectural exhibition, I have particular expectations regarding the way in which building design is communicated. As an architect myself, I find it a valuable reference to see how fellow practitioners answer to the task we take on, which is providing design services in response to the wants of society. In light of this expectation, I was surprised by the current exhibition at TOTO Gallery Ma, How Is Life? - Designing for Our Earth. more...

		Memento Mori: Looking Death in the Eye with Shinya Fujiwara

		Alan Gleason

When Shinya Fujiwara (b. 1944) quit art school and went vagabonding across Europe and central Asia, the result was Indo Horo (Wandering in India), a collection of photos that would have an extraordinary impact on his Japanese contemporaries. Its publication coincided with the demise of the fierce student movement of the sixties; it was a time when disaffected young activists were searching for a more personal raison d'etre, or simply wanted to get out of Japan. more...