One of places I wanted to visit in Mino was the Mino washi museum. Yet the museum is located about half an hour's drive from the town centre, and there are no buses that could get me there. After enquiring at the tourist office (inside a washi paper stationery shop), the [...]

 
Sometimes it doesn't matter how much planning you do before your trip, things would still go wrong... but miraculously, some kind strangers/ locals would appear out of nowhere to help you out. I am sure many people have had these experiences when they travel, and I think it is probably the most [...]

 
 
I have wanted to visit Japanese potter, Kawai Kanjiro's former house - now his Memorial Museum for a long time. Yet for some reason, I never made it until this trip... it was a timely visit as the museum was like a quiet sanctuary compared to hassle and bustle in the [...]

 
Undoubtedly, Paris is a city with many outstanding world-class museums and art galleries, but sometimes the sheer volume of visitors at Louvre, Musee D'Orsay and Grand Palais is simply overwhelming and off-putting. Hence, I would rather spend my time lingering at some excellent but lesser known or less popular museums. And one [...]

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
 
In July, I attended a talk on Japanese conceptual artist Jiro Takamatsu (1936-98), and the talk triggered my interest in the artist's works. The talk was an introduction to the artist's first solo exhibition outside of his home country of Japan, and it given by Takamatsu's Estate representative Yumiko [...]

 
Transcending Boundaries by teamlab
 
Is contemporary Asian art gaining more recognition in the West today? Apparently so. Interestingly, three prominent contemporary art galleries in London held exhibitions on three very different Asian artists/collective around the same period, and one of the most talked about exhibition must have been the immersive "Transcending [...]

 
Like 2016, 1968 was a turbulent year with seismic social and political change taking place across the globe. It was the year when the civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated; Apollo 8 and three US astronauts orbited the moon; 800,000 students, teachers and [...]

Yokosuka museum of art
 
Due to unforeseen circumstances, my original itinerary in Japan was altered at the last minute, and I had to go alone without my travel companion and cancelled all the pre-booked accommodations.
Fortunately, I managed to rebook my entire trip one day before my departure; and a few days [...]

Yoshitomo Nara at the Dairy Art centre

 
This autumn/winter, lucky Londoners have the opportunity to see the solo exhibitions of two internationally renowned Japanese contemporary artists Yoshitomo Nara and Shinro Ohtake. The artists were both in town to talk about their work, and I was especially interested in hearing from Yoshitomo Nara [...]

Being one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the world, it is easy to find different arts and cultural events in London including many Asian-related ones.
Since June I have attended several Japanese cultural events which offer a glimpse of the past, current and future arts scene in Japan. As someone [...]