Tokyo Mosaic (2) – The Face of New Japan

Finished

In autumn 1945, a monumental challenge was awaiting the desolate center of Tokyo: reconstruction. As the capital was being rebuilt on all levels, from private homes to basic infrastructures, what gave citizens hope and attracted people from outside was “a new Tokyo” – both as a concrete goal and a vague image. Having achieved reconstruction in the mere two decades leading up to the 1964 Olympic Games, Tokyo promoted the image of a modern international metropolis. However, if we meticulously retrace the constitution of such an image of new Tokyo, it becomes clear that this process was far from simple. Quite separate from the sensational news and symbolic images that make up the official narrative of postwar history, ephemeral publications on Tokyo at the time attest to a complex image of the capital. Tokyo’s visual identity (comprising maps, event flyers, tourist leaflets, guides for foreigners, souvenir postcards, commercial movie stills, newspaper articles, photographic reportage) was at times crude, at times idealized, and in all cases very much contradictory. This exhibition examines this multi-faceted and conflicting image of the capital, from its reconstruction until its rise as an international metropolis in the first half of the 1960s, in order to see how “the face of New Japan” was built.

Organizer: The University Museum, the University of Tokyo (UMUT)
Research Grant: DNP Foundation for Cultural Promotion
*Dates for Intermediatheque’s Special Exhibitions are subject to change.

Schedule

Mar 9 (Thu) 2017-Sep 3 (Sun) 2017

Opening Hours Information

Hours	11:00-18:00 Closes at 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.
Closed	Monday Open on a public holiday Monday but closed on the following day. Closed during the New Year holidays.

Fee

Free

Website

http://www.intermediatheque.jp/en/schedule/view/id/IMT0134