Rambling mindlessly around Tokyo to random directions took me to Ueno Park where I stumbled upon an interesting looking brick-faced building. Upon closer inspection, I learned that it is the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Despite my novice knowledge in art, I welcomed the serendipitous chance for some artsy-fartsy exploration and hurriedly walked in.
Prior to stepping inside, I already noticed the arresting architectural details of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. I later learned that the building was designed by the firm of Mayekawa Kunio—Japan's renowned modern architect—and was completed in 1975.
Commenting on the design elements of the museum, literature and cultural critic Shuichi Kato wrote about Kunio's design “Tokyo streets have no order. Kunio Maekawa has consistently tried to produce small urban spaces in this chaotic context, through his arrangement of plural building volumes on the site.
The courtyards and voids within the building’s walls perform not only as passageways but as open spaces to breath, relax, meet people, and talk. His buildings, this is to say, contain harmonious urban spaces on a reduced scale.”
Calling itself as the "doorway to art", Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum features not only art pieces from Japan but also showcases world-renowned masterpieces.
From room to room, I lavished my eyes with a visual feast of popping artworks ranging from almost all painting methods from realism, painterly, impressionism, abstract, surrealism and pop art. There is something about the myriad of brush stokes depicting imagery with a variety of colors that is soothing to the mind.
If it weren’t for the hunger I was feeling, I would have stayed inside the museum a little longer. Deciding I should start searching for a place to have my late lunch, I walked out the door of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum craving for food but with a mind and soul completely nourished by art.
