{Inter} Cultural Japan

This summer, two interesting temporary events in the field of Japanese art are held in Tokyo, both fitting in the category “restored art.”

The first concerns a rediscovered mural by 20th century avant-garde painter Okamoto Taro called The Myth of Tomorrow. This work measuring 5.5 by 30 meters was created in 1968/1969 for the walls of a hotel in Mexico City. It disappeared when the hotel never opened due to financial problems, but was rediscovered in a shack for building materials in 2003. Since then, it has undergone a year-long restoration to revive its faded colors. The mural depicts the moment of an atomic explosion. A skeleton burns under a mushroom cloud while others take flight. The painting has now been displayed in the square in front of the NTV headquarters in Shiodome. Unfortunately, it will only be shown until the end of August, after which it will go into storage until 2011, the centennial of Okamoto’s birth. At the same time, the Okamoto Taro Museum in Kawasaki hosts an exhibition about the genesis of the mural, called Road the the complete “Tomorrow’s Myth.” (News from the Japan Times. A more detailed article about the rediscovery of the mural can be found on Mark Vallen’s weblog Art for a Change).

(Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo - photo Ad Blankestijn)

The second event is the opening of the house of Yanagi Soetsu (also named Muneyoshi, 1889-1961), the founder of the mingei movement in Japan and also of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo. The two-story wooden house was designed by Yanagi himself in 1936 to fuse Japanese and Western styles. It stands opposite the museum and served as a storeroom, but has now been restored to former glory. The restored living room features a table by carpenter Kuroda Tatsuaki, who was a living national treasure, mixed with antique British furniture. Another instance of the fusion of East and West are the paper screens set in Western-style bay windows. The house will be open on Wednesdays until September 26. (News from the Daily Yomiuri).

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