Places to Visit in Tokyo: Gundam Cafe in Akihabara

If you're a fan of the Gundam franchise, then this cafe is a must visit. But even if you're not, it is still worth seeing what a themed cafe in japan looks like.

Coffe art

there's a large screen playing the opening and ending themes of different gundam series

Yoko Ono: From my Window Exhibit

The works of Yoko One were exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo from November 8, 2015 to February 14, 2015. The exhibit was curated by Naoko Seki.

Entrance to the exhibit

Excerpt from the exhibit information kit:

For sixty years, Yoko Ono (1933-) has freely worked across numerous fields, connecting disparate nodes and producing new creative circuits among people and media. Although Ono has usually been discussed in the context of post-war American art, this exhibition will place her art in the context of her native Tokyo. Through materials documenting her early pieces, artworks she created in Tokyo in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s, and recent works and installations, it show will reveal how Ono’s activities link the modern and contemporary; Europe, Japan, and the United States; art, music and literature; avant-garde and popular culture; society and the individual. As a pioneer of conceptual art that took her distinctive approach to words and language as its nucleus, Ono at times turned people's attention to serious issues using humor and other strategies. This exhibition will offer an excellent opportunity to look back from our perspective today at Yoko Ono’s development in a remarkably international environment in Tokyo.

Souvenir postcard of Yoko Ono's work

The exhibit is divided in four parts as described below:

One. In the 1990s, Ono resumed her activities in art with violence and the memories it creates as her new themes. She drew inspiration from her personal life as well as in wars and conflicts that were prevailing in the world that time. Her work Crickets, she created insect cages with names of cities and the dates when a violent incident happened in that place.

Two. It was not until 1969 that Ono returned her attention to Tokyo after concentrating her activities in New York and London. In collaboration with John Lennon, whom she married that year, she organized a billboard campaign called War is Over! in 12 cities worldwide including Tokyo. A group of people gathered at the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall and marched to Tokyo Station holding posters with the slogan. During this period, she not only focused on anti-war protests but also campaigned for women's issues. She composed songs to promote women's rights. She also performed with the Plastic Ono Band at the One-Step Concert, an event advocating for the environment.

Three. Ono returned to Japan in 1962 long after she began her concerts and exhibits in New York. She held Works of Ono at the Sogetsu Art Center where Instructions for Painting was exhibited in its lobby and several events where conducted at the center's hall. These instructions are also exhibited in the current installation.

Four. Born in 1933, Yoko Ono crossed the Pacific Ocean twice as a young child due to her father's work. Her family returned to Tokyo shortly before Japan declared war against the Allied nations. She spent the following ten years in Tokyo and departed for the US in 1952. She received music education at Jiyu Gakuen where she learned to appreciate everyday sounds as much as those of musical instruments.

*Source: Yoko One: From my Window information kit