There was a Yoshida Hiroshi exhibition in the Sonpo museum in Shinjuku. I had no idea who the painter was, but I saw the ads during my commute and I liked the style of the art, so I decided to go. I must admit that this all was the last weekend of July, I was just too lazy to write about it so far.

It’s been a while since I last went to see an exhibit (years, even). Recently I rather spend my free days more actively – in the sense of doing creative stuff (or wasting my day playing games). I don’t regret braking that habit though.

The Yoshida exhibition was just plain fabulous. The different styles of art, from Japanese-style woodblock paintings and hanging scrolls and expressionism to a more realistic depiction of war and suffering were an exciting trip. It’s interesting to see the quiet scenery of a snow-covered farm next to the sight from the cockpit of a dive-bomber.

I’ve had a thing for abstract modern art ever since I read Vonnegut’s Bluebeard back in high school. When we went on a field trip with my university study group, and visited a museum, I was getting weird looks from my fellow students for spending hours looking at nonfigurative beauties.

Going to exhibitions is nice, and it makes me feel like I might even count as slightly cultured in the eyes of ignorant people. “Classical” art (eg up to the 20th century and the collapse of all classical concepts of beauty and art in general) is definitely worth seeing every time, but I felt that I was ignoring something important. After all I’m living in Japan, and while it’s natural that western art exhibitions would be advertised much more, there should be plenty of great local stuff too. That’s how I found the exhibition in memory of Tessai’s death’s 90th anniversary.

I’ve seen ads on the train promoting a (somewhat) impressionist exhibition in the Setagaya Museum of Arts. The collection from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts can be seen in Tokyo in the summer, then it’s gonna be put on exhibit in Osaka for the fall and Nagoya during the winter.

Yesterday I went downtown Tokyo to see an impressionist exhibition from the Orsay in the National Art Center.

Despite waking up earlier than yesterday, at 2pm I was forced to realize that staying at home, my productivity drops drastically. I was so pretty determined to go outside, anywhere, for any reason, just for some change of air to set my mind in motion. However, I didn’t feel enthusiastic enough to go downtown again, and I don’t know any suitable cafes in the area either. I ended up with just walking (instead of cycling) to buy groceries.

It was worth it in more ways than one: first of all, I got to wear my new kilt again (I’d rather not ride my bicycle with that) and I found a pottery exhibition on the way.