I don’t really understand why Japan, which – historically and culturally – doesn’t really celebrate Christmas (as Westerners know it), yet Tokyo always somehow manages to be one of the most beautifully decorated cities for the Christmas season.
Take these Masaru Ozaki-designed projection Christmas trees, for instance. Commissioned by department store Parco to set up the festive art installation at the Shibuya Parco, internationally-known Japanese light installation artist Masaru Ozaki created these cube Christmas trees in celebration of Parco’s 40th anniversary.
The special thing about this installation is that a light show on the surface of the trees is activated when a viewer swipes their cell phone into a special scanner. The trees come alive with sound and light, changing colors and patterns, when activated.
Sounds like fun! Christmas has always been my favourite holiday, and this installation seems like a nice modern and artistic touch on an old classic Christmas staple.
Wataru Itou (伊藤航), an art student from Tokyo, has hand-made this beautiful paper craft installation titled 海の上のお城 (Umi no Ue no Oshiro) — A Castle On the Ocean. The installation is being displayed at Umihotaru – between Chiba and Tokyo – and took Itou over four years to complete.
Looks absolutely stunning. The level of detail is astounding. Some of Itou’s other work is also displayed at the exhibit. If you’re lucky enough to be in the Kanto area, check it out while you can.
The art installations will question the ‘natural’ environments created at zoos — environments untouched by man. Very thought-provoking and bound to engage young minds in the discussion of how man has affected the natural world and its effects on the animal kingdom.
Some of the brilliant installations include a car half-submerged in a rhino’s watering hole, penguins’ shelter with an oil pump in the background, and alligators sharing their faux-bayou space with a bathtub and a monster truck tire.
Seems like everyone and their mothers knew about the giant life-sized Gundam robot built in Tokyo. But check out how crazy this thing actually is at night when it’s all lit up.
In times of extreme economic hardships in Japan and threat of nuclear action from its neighbor, North Korea, it’s reassuring to know the Japanese still have priorities.
