Mori Art Museum

I had written off the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi a while ago. It was pricey to get in, and it included admission to the panoramic 53rd floor of the Roppongi Hills building. So I assumed the museum was just kinda a gimmick to go along with the observatory.

I was totally wrong.

This was one amazing modern art museum. Sorry, no photos inside...



I think the whole place revolves around temporary exhibitions. So maybe it was just this one that was really good. The first part examined the use of smiles in Japanese art. It had 3000 year old excavated clay figures with goofy smiles. Then was smiles in religious imagery. Then funny lookin' animals.

The 2nd exhibit was all about humor in contemporary art. Different from the previous one which focused more on traditional type art. So this next one was all kinds of modern art. From photography to video installations to fake trees. There was a lot of "where's the punchline" art. This is the kind where you watch a video and keep waiting for something to happen, or for some sort of point to it to materialize. Most often there isn't a punchline. If you find yourself annoyed by this kind of art form, stop looking at the piece and look at the other people watching! It's god damn hilarious sometimes. You got your "art" people who are really into it. Your "seriously confused 80% of the population" people. Most children just think it's stupid. By watching them, instead of the art, perhaps they become the art. Duuude, thats deep....

The sheer amount of stuf to see was great. It took like 3 hours just to walk around and see the art. And maybe because it was all focussed on smiles and humor, it was really fucking positive!

After the museum, check out the view! It's pretty damn good. Lot's of Tokyo landmarks.



Rainbow Bridge and Fuji TV



The National Art Center Tokyo



I dunno, but this place just looks cool. I remember walking to the base of it one night.



Tokyo Midtown, an upscale department store type place.



The shadow from Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Tower.



Famous fucking omiyage! This is what omiyage is people. 90% of it is just sugar cookies or something based on red beans. Notice how they have the top 3 omiyage ranked. This is so you can determine if you want to rebel against Japanese society and buy the 2nd most famous gift, as opposed to the most famous. Don't even bother getting the 3rd most famous. People get fired, divorced, and murdered over that shit.





My friend Noriko and I made origami kites. You write your wish in them and then it will come true. Mine I wrote in Japanese. But my Japanese isn't too good, so it ended up saying "I go to beautiful." Noriko wished that all her future wishes will come true. Maybe we boh should have wished for some better wish-making skills.