Mitaka - Street Photos, Street Performance and Japan's Worst Art Store [ Panasonic GX7 ]

What. The hell. Is. That?!?

That's the thought I guarantee goes through your head the first time you enter Japan's Worst Art Store (日本一へたな芸術のお店) and this and other odd objects stare you in the face.

Today's post is about an interesting excursion I took to a rather unique place on the west side of Tokyo.




Head north from Mitaka Station (三鷹駅, the map is here), and the first thing you notice besides an odd statue in the center of the roundabout, is that is seems just a bit different from most of the bed towns (so called because they're home to lots of people who leave every morning to work elsewhere) you find tucked in and around Tokyo.




After a short walk I found this cute dog patiently waiting for its master on the snow. When an old woman walked up and saw me taking a picture of her dog she thanked me, and we talked a bit about her dog - not the kind of experience you get in many areas of Japan's No 1 metropolis.




The area has an odd feel, like it was old and new, cheap but not trashy - like you hosed down a section of Shibuya and found out there was a patch of Asakusa underneath.




Back on the main street north of the station, I found this cool old barber shop pole with a neat clock and spinning pinwheel on top.

***

Now for the art...




The reason I was here was to see the live art and little exhibits that are a part of Civic Pride, which ran this weekend only, Feb 22 and 23rd. Right outside of the station was a setup for one of the main events - a live painting exhibition by artist Yoshio Nakajima (中島由夫).




Here Nakajima is, tossing snow and ice around on the street art he'd literally prepared on the street below.




He also had a huge canvas and painted on it from below and above.




Here's a better view of his whole canvas there and the painting on it. To be completely honest I've never really been a fan of (or got) live art like this, but in this case seeing it form before your eyes showed just what it was all about. The transformation is as much of it as the finished product.

All in all there were 8 exhibits up in small buildings and shops around the area, plus a picnic area in a park but I came too late to attend that. You could also sign up to get emails from the artists taking part in it, and many were on hand to talk about their work. It was all very cool, and very fresh.




I was lucky enough to stop by most of the exhibits, including a display in this coffee shop (?) called Japan's Worst Art Store (日本一へたな芸術のお店)... I think. The owner/voice of the shop, Keiko Iwatoko (上床敬子) was very friendly and interested in the people visiting, and was herself a part of the exhibit.




The shop had several pieces of art on display by the self proclaimed "worst singer in Japan", Tomohiro Nagahata (永畑智大), who also does carving, sculptures, painting, and a lot of other stuff. I didn't get a chance to meet him or see his live performance, unfortunately, but I did see a bunch of his work, including the figure at the top of this post. He also has a ton of stuff if you do a search for him in Japanese online, or if you want to watch a video check out this one: 奥多摩のおとこたち (The Men of Okutama).

You can see the Iwatoko holding a torch in front of the stature in the center of town in this picture (above). The shop was very cool, and I really recommend a visit if you're in the area, especially since I think they'll still have stuff on display.

There was a lot of cool, odd and unusual stuff on display in this neat section of the city, and the people involved and walking around were friendly in a way you don't see too often in this area of Japan. Makes me want to go back again and again.

If you'd like to learn more about this art exhibit, check out the homepage: Civic Pride 〜わたしたちのマチ わたしたちのアート, or the main page TERATOTERA, where you can find tons of stuff about exhibits and events in the Suginami Ward on the west side of Tokyo.




All pictures here were taken with my Panasonic GX7 micro four thirds camera. This trip I took a mix of lenses, and used the Olympus 45mm F1.8 (which is quickly becoming one of my favorite lenses), the Panasonic 14mm F2.5 for wide angle shots, and as always the excellent Panasonic 20mm F1.7 II.

For more of my work, check out my Flickr Photostream, or if you like this post check out my other posts Shibuya From Behind, Abiko Back Streets or Back and Behind in Yokohama.