Common term: Philadelphia

This poster, put up at a metro station, announces the gig of "Philadelphia Soul", which will be held as the promotion for the exhibition "Masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art" at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Yeah, I love both. I love the fine art. And also I love Philly Soul. The Stylistics, Barry White, the Three Degrees... I used to listen to their songs on the radio.

But...

Isn't it a bit far-fetched, huh?

Art workshop in the National Art Center / Roppongi

Last Saturday morning, my daughter joined the art workshop for kids at "the National Art Center, Tokyo" in Roppongi. This museum just opened its doors in this past January. Several years ago, there had been the Institutes of Industrial Science of the University of Tokyo. When I was a highschool student(a quarter of a century ago), I often walked around there, because my grandmother had lived near Roppongi. That was my first visit in a while, and I was supprised the landscape was completely changed.

The theme of the workshop was "Let's design your own simbol". The lecturer was the artist, Mr. Kashiwa Sato, the art director of this museum. This is the symbol of this museum, which was designed by Kashiwa-san.

Around 20 kids gathered to have the workshop.

During the working, all parents were withdrawn. We could not enter the working space until the presentation time. It was just around 1.5hrs, a little bit short to see the gallery (ticket fee was 1500yen), So I walked around the museum building.

There were some cafes(1F and 2F and basement),,,

and cozy restaurant(3F),,,

,,,Paul Bocuse?!!

According to the museum website, this is Mr.Bocuse's first brasserie outside France. It was over 30minites early to opening, but many peaople made a line to get their tables.

There was a musum shop in basement. I'd never seen such large space for a museum shop. I could enjoy there, although I didn't intend to buy anything. There were not only really artistic items but also many kitsch souvenirs. Sorry I forgot taking photos.

I spent most of my time at Art Library(3F).You can read various art books in open stacks freely.

Now the time for presentation!

Kids presented their thought, changes of ideas and final design. She made her symbol mark by fusing a Kanji from her name and her favorit animal, dog.

Wrap-up by Kashiwa-san. (To tell the truth, first time I saw him, I couldn't recognize him as Kashiwa-san, because he was not look like "the art director". I'm sorry, Kashiwa-san!)

Well done, everybody!

The National Art Center, Tokyo: The closest station is Nogizaka of Tokyo Metro. Exit #6 is connected to the museum directly. You can go there from Roppongi station. It takes about 5min on foot.

The National Museum of Japanese History -- Kokuritu Rekishi Minzoku Hakubutsukan (Rekihaku) / Sakura city Chiba pref.

In this Golden Week, spring consecutive holidays, my daughter (Lee’s “sis”) and I(Shige) went to Chiba prefecture to visit my cousin who belongs to the National Museum of Japanese History as a researcher.
To tell the truth, I had not expected that museum so much until I went in. I had thought of it as a one of a local historical museum.

As soon as we went in, I realized that I was wrong. It was amazing. It was worth seeing. It included plenty of valuable exhibits and that displays were marvelous. I was excited and enjoyed it very much.
While I was glued to the exhibits, my cousin, a reseacher of here, had been kindly guiding my daughter for 3hrs! Thank you very much!

According to the website, the audio explanation equipment for foreigners seems to be borrowed at the information desk.
The National Museum of Japanese History is located close to the Keisei-Sakura station of Keisei line, or the Sakura station of JR Sobu line. You can get the museum by bus from both stations. (English official site)