Oct 30, 2015 Tokyo Midtown
In Tokyo for the first POW! WOW! Japan for the last two weeks, I was lucky enough to tag along with Jeff Hamada, Mark Kushimi, and Brandon Shigeta for a quick visit to Tokyo Midtown in Akasaka – a relatively new destination for shopping, dining, and culture. First stop was an impressive photo exhibition at Fujifilm Square, on pioneering photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White. She broke all sorts of barriers, including the Iron Curtain and Apartheid, and her work was on the cover of the first ever issue of LIFE magazine too. Needless to say it was nothing short of impressive – a great reminder of the capabilities of film, in this digital era. Next, we admired the current architectural installation in the garden – つみきのひろば (wooden blocks square) by award-winning architect Kengo Kuma. It was great to see tons of kids playing all around the installation and crawling through the structures!
And last but not least, we checked out the mind-blowingly good Frank Gehry exhibition I Have an Idea at the impressive 21_21 Design Sight museum. Considering Gehry is currently working on plans for the LA River, all the way down to Long Beach, this was a very special treat. If you’re in Tokyo, this is an absolute must-see.
