The Tokyo Contemporary Art Award (TCAA) was established by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Arts and Space (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) in 2018 as a new prize for contemporary art. The two winners of the first ever TCAA were decided in mid-March, and the Award Ceremony and Commemorative Symposium were held on April 21, 2019, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.

Le Corbusier is one of the best known architects of the 20th century. With 17 of his structures scattered throughout the world, including the National Museum of Western Art in Ueno, Tokyo, designated World Cultural Heritage sites in 2016, his work has been subject to a great deal of attention. Here, we look at Le Corbusier as an artist who reflected the spirit of the times in his architecture, painting, and multiple writings.

Yanaka. This Tokyo neighborhood brings in the new, while restoring and updating the traditional. It is here that HAGISO, a cultural complex with a café and gallery on the first floor and a salon space on the second floor, opened in 2011. We spoke with HAGI STUDIO’s Mitsuyoshi Miyazaki, who designed and operates HAGISO, about the appeal of working in this area.

Launched in 2006, the free magazine Osanpo Jimbocho boasts a circulation of 40,000 copies per issue, with 26 issues published to date. Content includes interviews with antiquarian bookshop owners and columns featuring places to dine or drink locally as well as themed walks exploring local curry houses, literary figures, architecture and more. With paid advertising covering production costs, the staff of about 15 people is all-volunteer. We spoke with chief editor Keiko Ishikawa.

For an artist, a record of received awards is an important indicator when measuring abilities and building a career. Among the numerous such challenging opportunities, the Campus Genius (CG) Contest is a student-only competition that invites aspirational works from a variety of genres ranging from animation, games, and installations to performances. In this interview, we asked two young CG Contest award winners what prompted them to enter the contest, and discussed their future prospects.

Georges Rouault was a French artist recognized as the greatest and last religious painter of the 20th century. Distinguished by the heavy contouring and glowing colors typical for stained glass art and thick layers of paint, his works were received with critical acclaim by contemporary fellow artists and art lovers, and made their way to Japan quite early. This article presents the human figures depicted in Rouault’s works that cut deeply into our inner world.

An exhibition inspired by the 2016 nationwide long-run hit animation film “In This Corner of the World” is held at the Museum of Life in the Showa Era from November 2, 2018 through May 6, 2019. A talk event with the participation of the director of the museum Kazuko Koizumi, and the film’s director Sunao Katabuchi and assistant director Chie Uratani, was also held at the Ota City Citizen Plaza on December 24, 2018.

Minami-Senju, a colorful bustling neighborhood, features a mix of traditional buildings and renewed apartment blocks along alleys bursting with old town charm. Again this year, daily life in the neighborhood was transformed into the extraordinary with the eighth annual Minami-Senju Old Town Tour & Music Festival. For this column, we spoke with NPO Senju Sumidagawa, the non-profit that sponsors the music festival.

Shibuya is known around the world as a center of fashion and culture. For the second edition of the “Next Tokyo Discovery Squad!” we will report on the “machinaka” (in the city) music event Shibuya Zunchaka! 2018. It was held on Sunday September 9, 2018 at 27 locations including street corners near Shibuya and Harajuku stations, attracting crowds of tourists and shoppers.

Gioachino Rossini was a prominent opera composer of the first half of the 19th century. His best-known operas are The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and William Tell (Guillaume Tell). Also famous as a food lover, Rossini inspired the future generations to appreciate the pleasures of fine food. In 2018, the world marks the 150th anniversary of his passing with concerts and other prominent events.

In the summer of 2018, “Mystery Rally to Solve Seven Riddles,” a tour in which participants visit seven art and history museums in Tokyo as well as subway stations to solve riddles was hold. Learn more about this new type of experience-based art entertainment, which enables genuine appreciation of fine art through solving of mysteries associated with works of art.

Known as the Music Palace, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan attracts crowds of opera aficionados, classical music fans, ballet lovers, and more. Backstage tours conducted irregularly throughout the year offer visitors a unique experience so popular that all 60 available tickets sell out quickly. Read on for a firsthand report on the exciting Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Backstage Tour.

The Maternity Concert held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on March 6 (Tue), 2018 was a unique opportunity for mothers-to-be and their unborn babies to relax to the calming sounds of beautiful vocals and gentle lute. We asked soprano singer and also as a mother, Sara Kobayashi, about her thoughts and feelings that led to this concert.

Internationally recognized artist Isamu Noguchi, born to a Japanese father and American mother, traveled between the East and the West throughout his life. “Sculpting the space” was the overarching concept at the foundation of all of his artistic endeavors, which spanned across many genres including sculpture, landscaping, garden design, furniture and lighting.

Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya had been promoting the latest new things in art culture in Shibuya for 12 or so years. In September 2017, it closed its doors in order to transform into Tokyo Shibuya Koen-dori Gallery. The closing event was held on September 17th, the last day of an exhibition, and was attended by many visitors.

The year 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of artist Chihiro Iwasaki. To this day, her picture books of endearing drawings of children remain well-known and loved by people of all generations. This is the story of Chihiro Iwasaki, a talented artist and a mother.

A Japanese painter active from late Meiji to the early Showa period (late 19th to early 20th century), Okoku Konoshima’s lyrical paintings of animals from intricate sketches were very highly regarded. Later in his life, Konoshima withdrew from the artists’ society and his existence was half-forgotten. More recent studies of his works, however, have led to a reappraisal of his work.