10 Things in Tokyo: March 2018

March 3rd is Hinamatsuri, Japan’s Girls’ Festival Day, and what better way to celebrate than with some of the country’s finest antique hina dolls? Through March 11, Hyakudan Hinamatsuri at the ceremonial Hotel Gajoen in Meguro displays 500 dolls representing the Empress and other members of Heian-era aristocracy.

The first hints of spring bring art fair season to Tokyo, and the coming week offers three major events: 3331 Art Fair (March 7 through March 11) is an alternative to the big tent shows, presenting an eclectic mix of celebrated and lesser-known artists from across Japan, handpicked by top curators and collectors. MuPon subscribers receive ¥200 off admission!

Art Fair Tokyo (March 9–March 11) is one of the most important shows on the Asian art calendar. With booths staffed by 164 international galleries selling everything from contemporary art to Asian antiques, you can easily spend an entire day at Yurakucho’s International Forum surrounded by the movers and shakers of the global art scene. (¥500 off for MuPon users). For a novel approach to the art fair venue, head to Art in Park Hotel Tokyo (AiPHT) in Shiodome for three days of contemporary art installed in guest rooms, plus events like talks by some of the creatives who have decorated the suites. March 9–March 11. ¥200 off with MuPon. Don’t miss the free shuttle running between 3331 Art Fair, Art Fair Tokyo, AiPHT, and Warehouse Terrada.

In sad news, the incomparable photography space Gallery 916 will close its doors due to the demolition of the warehouse it has called home since 2012. The gallery’s final show, Forest: Impressions and Memories, 1989–2017, presents curator Yoshihiko Ueda’s idyllic, sun-shot images of sacred woods in Washington State, Yakushima, and Kasuga Taisha Shrine. Ends March 25.

Day is Done at Watari-um exhibits Mike Kelley, a trenchant observer of postwar American youth culture. His videos, performances, and found object installations channel middle-class consumerism and pop culture with both cynicism and heart. In the ‘Day is Done’ series, he mines his memory of school experiences, filling in gaps of “repressed memories” with his own fictions. See this event eligible for ¥300 MuPon discounts through March 31.

Spend a spring day in the Japanese garden of The Nezu Museum, now exhibiting A Bouquet of Incense Containers. Fans of netsuke and other miniature objects will want to check out these intricate sculptures carved in the images of animals, musical instruments, and other delightful motifs. These objects d’art have played a decorative role in the tea ceremony for centuries. Through March 31.

Architecturally trained Madoka Furuhashi unearths the conceptual within the physical. Body Object Thing Matter at Yutaka Kikutake Gallery in Roppongi reworks her installations of quarried limestone from Italy and Indonesia, presented as thought-provoking metaphors for human labor, unspoken memories, and “the consequences of post-industrialization.” Ends March 31.

Kengo Kuma: A Lab for Materials surveys the architect and product designer’s 30 years of practice through his innovative “conversations” with materials such as bamboo, wood, paper, stone and earth. This shake-up of the conventional chronological and blue print-based approach to architecture exhibits sounds promising. March 3–May 6.

Light-years away, Hello World – For the Post-Human Age at Art Tower Mito showcases eight international artists exploring our brave new world through media art. Videos, digital displays, and installations by artists including Hito Steyerl, Rachel Maclean, and Akihiko Taniguchi consider how technological advances like artificial intelligence and the internet are transforming society. The state of mass media, cryptocurrency technologies, and disconnection from the physical world are all on their agendas. Until May 6.