Nihon Sun » Museum

Views Even a Fish Could Love

Shane Sakata — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 06:00:06 +0000

Sitting 52 floors above Tokyo, you will find Tokyo City View in the Roppongi Hills’ Mori Tower where you will share great views of the city with the fish of “Sky Aquarium III” from July 17th – October 4th.

The Sky Aquarium intersperses art among fish tanks and utilizes fish tanks and their occupants as art – it is more like a living museum of modern art than a traditional aquarium. The views of the city aren’t bad either!

Last year, the fish cavorted about within a folding screen with superimposed shadows and colors that changed. I was mesmerized!

This year the fish swim in Japanese lanterns with similar lighting and shadow effects and can be seen in an aquatic staircase in the Japonism Gallery.

In Go swim with fishes high in the sky, The Japan Times reviewed the event and describes the six zones of illusion in this years exhibit as follows:

The Caribbean Blue Hole is a large transparent fish tank that can be viewed from the top, around its circumference, or even the bottom.
The Art Aquarium Gallery where fish tanks are transformed into art by ten artists using materials from the sea.
The Fantasia zone features jellyfish and colored lasers
The Japonism Gallery, described above
In Kaleidorium you can view the tanks as if through a kaleidoscope
The Prisrium features fish swimming about in a tank shaped like a multifaceted diamond.

If you are visiting the city and are looking for a great view of the skyline, an aquarium and an art gallery all rolled into one then Tokyo City View is the place to be. If you miss Sky Aquarium III, Mori Tower still worth a visit, just make a sojourn to the Mori Art Museum located in the same complex to get your fill of contemporary art.

Sky Aquarium III Event Details

Event Dates: July 17th – October 4th, 2009

Times: 11AM – Midnight weedays & Sundays (last admission 11:30PM) – Fridays & Saturdays 11AM – 1AM (last admission midnight)

Admission: Y2,300 (Includes admission to Tokyo City View Observations Deck & Mori Art Museum)

Access: A short walk from Tokyo Metro Roppongi Station. (Mori Tower Access Map)

Image Credit: Flickr, Mori Tower View 2 & Personal Collection

Kyoto International Manga Museum

Shane Sakata — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:00:55 +0000

Since the latter half of the 1980s, Japanese manga and animation have been increasing popular around the world. More and more works are translated into other languages, manga is used in advertising materials and in the creation of public relations campaigns and has even made it’s way into Japanese textbooks. Manga is even being used by many students trying to improve their Japanese reading comprehension.

Since 2006, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, in cooperation with Kyoto City and Kyoto Seika University, has taken on the role as conservator and archivist for the vast amount of manga material created every year as well as historical works of the genre.

In 2009, the museum is holding two special

Sugiura Manga Festa

Active in the world of children’s manga from the 1930s through until the 1950s, Sugiura Shigeru was an influential manga artist. To celebrate 100 yeasrs since his birth the Kyoto International Manga Museum will hold a commemorative exhibition from March 20th – May 24, 2009.

“His well rounded works were known for a cheerful painting style and original fantastic ideas as well as contrary elements such as the depiction of an otherwise classical world through the use of puns and comic stories, and a surreal literary style reminiscent of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali.”

The exhibit includes original artwork, publications, supplementary volumes and books introducing the works of Shigeru Sugiura and you can even become on of his characters in “Photography Corner” where disguises and faceless cardboard cutouts can be tried on for size.

Kyoto Manga Festa 2009

Running simultaneously with the Sugiura Manga Festa, the Kyoto Manga Festa 2009 offers visitors a number of different events that bring the art of manga together with caligraphy and music through a number of special events.

Manga concerts

On Saturday April 11, 2009 from 2-4PM, experience the music of Nodame Cantabile from the animated television series performed on the piano by Iku Miwa. (Nodame Video – YouTube Link)

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On Sunday, May 3, 2009 hear anime songs perfromed by the Kyoto Northern Hills Wind Instrument Orchestra at 2 & 4PM.

Manga Club

Monday, May 4, 2009 finds the Kyoto International Manga Museum transformed into a club space when a painter and a DJ collaborate to create a fusion of art and sound inspired by manga.

For more information on these events, admission and access information, visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum website.

Image Credit: Flickr, Kyoto Manga Museum

ShiShi the Guardian Lion

Shane Sakata — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:07 +0000

ShiShi, Guardian Lions, are often found guarding either side of a Shinto Shrine but they are commonly used a decorative elements for homes and businesses as they are believed to protect against or ward of evil. The Guardian Lions are just one way of determining the difference between a temple and a shrine – do you know the others?

This beautiful copper shishi is is one of a pair guarding the entrance to the art-deco mansion that was once home to Japan’s Prince Asaka and is now home to the the Tokyo Metropolitan Tien Art Museum in Meguro.

The grounds of the museum are home to modern sculptures in a lovely garden setting and a Japanese Tea House with a wandering path around a small but picturesque pond.

Visit the museum simply to see the house whose art deco charm is worth a visit in of itself, take in one of the scheduled exhibitions, or stop for a leisurely lunch at the cafe after a stroll through the garden.

This and other great images of Japan can be found in The Nihon Sun Japan Photo Gallery.

Astro Boy at the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum

Shane Sakata — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:00:41 +0000

Osamu Tezuku created one of the world’s best know manga and anime characters in Astro Boy during the 1950′s. In Japan Astro Boy is better know as Tetsuwan Atomu, or Mighty Atom in English. Astro Boy was serialized in Japan from 1952-1968 and was the first domestically-produced animated program on Japanese television when it debuted in 1963. Astro Boy also became the first Japanese animation to be shown on US television with 104 of the 193 episodes shown between 1963 and 1966 on NBC.

Today you can visit the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture (about an hour by train from Kyoto – Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum Access Map ) to learn more about Osamu Tezuku, the artist, and his creations including Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion Princess Night and Phoenix, his life’s work.

Known as the “Father of Anime” or “Japan’s Walt Disney”, Osamu Tezuku lived and worked in Takarazuka for 20 years – he was born in 1926 in Osaka and died at the age of 1989 in Tokyo. The museum was inaugurated in 1994 to honor his life and work.

The Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum is open Thursday through Tuesday from 9:30AM to 5PM (last admission at 4:30PM). Admission is Y500 for adults, Y300 for Junior and senior high school students and Y100 for elementary school students. Those over the age of 60 or with disabilities are admitted free.

For those of you that love Astro Boy who can’t get to the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Japan you will be sure to look forward to an animated feature film titled Astro Boy that is slated for release by Imagi Studios in October of 2009 starring Academy Award®-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy and Donald Sutherland, with Freddie Highmore in the title role.

Enjoy the Astro Boy move trailer below and learn more about companion Astro Boy video games slated for release around the same time.

Image Credit: Flickr, Astro Boy, Kyoto Video: YouTube, Astro Boy (2009) HD Teaser Trailer