10 Things in Tokyo: December 2019

Japanese craft and tea ceremony enthusiasts will want to see Dressed with the Best – Precious Textiles for Tea Utensils, an exhibition of rare and refined tea ware encasings. Highlights include National Treasure tea bowls and their textile coverings dating back to the 12th century, plus priceless lacquer boxes and other items designated as Important Cultural Properties. At Seikado Bunko Art Museum in Setagaya through December 15.

Yukinori Yanagi’s recent project has been excavating hidden histories of war in the Pacific Ocean. A cast-iron replica of a sunken ship that belonged to the Imperial Japanese Navy and watercolors and photos from his diving trips mark a new approach but continue the artist’s long practice of considering national symbols. At Blum & Poe through December 21.

Tsuyoshi Ozawa, also interested in representations of history, presents J-Alert at Misa Shin Gallery. The title comes from Japan’s national alert system for emergencies. Japanese soldiers are painted in mirror images so that their guns point back on themselves; Children’s art for a government contest promoting nuclear power is reproduced in Ozawa’s hand. “Artwork may continue to exist long after the death of the artist, enabling it to continue alerting humanity across multiple generations,” he states. Until December 21.

Donge Kobayashi (b. 1926) is a Japanese printmaker whose artist name comes from a mythical flower said to bloom once every three thousand years. Her fanciful, sometimes menacing copperplate etchings were used as cover illustrations for Showa-era novels, and she later focused on mysterious female characters in literary works. “Donge Kobayashi Retrospective: Femme Fatales” runs at Sakura City Museum of Art in Chiba through December 22.

In Surface and Custom at Shiseido Gallery, five artists reexamine the cosmetic brand’s imagery fusing Western culture with Japanese aesthetics. Ends December 22.

Musee Hamaguchi Yozo is an elegant museum dedicated to the work of mezzotint innovator Yozo Hamaguchi. The Yamasa Collection winter show features three contemporary artists: 3D printing artist Koseki Ono, nature-focused printmaker Tetsuya Takizawa, and plastics sculptor Michiko Nakatani. Their works all relate to the Little Prince adage “What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Ends December 22. This exhibition is eligible for admission discounts with the MuPon and TAB apps.

Well off the beaten path, Museum Haus Kasuya in Yokosuka is a one of the more intriguing art spaces in Kanto. Home to a sculpture garden, café, and an impressive collection of Joseph Beuys works, through December 22 it shows the neon humanoid sculptures of artist and professor Kyotaro Hakamata in Non-Circulating Lemon Yellow.

Eiko Yamazawa: What I Am Doing spotlights one of Japan’s first women photographers, who in the 1930s embarked on a career that spanned two continents and five decades. TOP Museum presents selections of her work in the U.S. and Japan during the prewar, WWII, and postwar eras, up through her abstract images from the 1980s. Ends January 26.

Looking for a fresh point of view? The Window: A Journey of Art and Architecture through Windows at the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo explores “windowology.” In works ranging from Matisse paintings to contemporary installations, it contemplates windows as motifs and metaphors. Through February 2.

Actions + Reflections at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo looks at the work of the media artist collective Dumb Type, known for their performances, installations and post-Bubble era satire. Ends February 16. This exhibition is eligible for admission discounts with the MuPon and TAB apps.