Tomohito Ushiro’s design features billions of shifting lighting patterns and encourages people to use the restroom without “feeling stress.”
Tokyo
Tokyo’s World-Renowned Capsule Tower Will Be Demolished
After years of disrepair, architect Kisho Kurokawa’s iconic building will be disassembled one capsule at a time.
Giant Balloon Face Floats Over Tokyo
The eerie aerial piece was created by the artist collective 目 (“Mé”) and features an anonymous face chosen from over 1,000 submissions.
Tom of Finland Comes to Japan
Out, proud, and unabashedly homoerotic, the gay artist’s iconic imagery has become an international symbol of freedom.
A Tokyo Exhibition Invited Visitors to Steal the Art
The unconventional show at Same Gallery, which encouraged attendees to run off with the art, was emptied in a matter of minutes.
Hauntingly Beautiful Photos for an Anxious Moment
On Instagram, Kana Hashimoto’s images of nocturnal Tokyo unwittingly capture the odd feeling of time itself as the coronavirus pandemic drags on.
Chris Ofili and Naoki Urasawa Among Artists to Create Posters for 2020 Olympics
Twenty posters to commemorate the upcoming Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics have premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
The “Small-Time Crook” Whose Visions Defied Apartheid
An amateur photographer’s images of louche Cape Town nightlife in the 1960s capture a daring, booze-fueled, melting-pot spirit in the face of apartheid.
Long-Lost Chapter of the World’s First Novel Found in a Tokyo Home
Before now, only four of 54 chapters from the Tale of Genji had been confirmed as original transcriptions.
A German Artist’s Notes From Underground
Mischa Leinkauf’s images of subterranean urban worlds are formally arresting and packed with metaphorical meaning.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medals Will Be Made from Recycled Gadgets
The Medal Project will mine gold, silver, and bronze from nearly 50,000 tons of donated e-waste.
Poetry at the Root: Yoshimasu Gozo’s Art, Writing, and Music
TOKYO — It’s not often that a major art museum hosts an exhibition for a poet.