An exhibition centred around Andy Warhol, the American artist who was at the forefront of the pop art movement, is set to roll up to the Kyocera Museum of Art in Kyoto from September 19, 2020. Around 200 pieces of art will be showcasedーover 100 of which have never been displayed in Japan beforeーas well as 15 video art pieces.

Three Marilyns (1962), Andy Warhol. The Andy Warhol Museum. *First showcasing in Japan

All of the pieces to be shown at the exhibition are the property of The Andy Warhol Museum, which is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the US, where Warhol was born.

The Last Supper (1986), Andy Warhol. *First showcasing in Japan

Tunafish Disaster (1963), Andy Warhol. *First showcasing in Japan

Peacock (1957), Andy Warhol. *First showcasing in Japan

The line-up displays Warhol’s diverse works, including his highly treasured Three Marilyns, as well as Tunafish Disaster from his Death and Disaster series, the enormous The Last Supper piece, Peacock which makes use of the Japanese style of gold leaf art, and more.

Kyoto (Kiyomizu-dera) (1956), Andy Warhol.

The exhibition will also turn its attention to Warhol’s connections to Kyoto which haven’t been discussed before. It will feature Warhol’s sketch of Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto which he drew during his trip around the world.

*All pieces are property of The Andy Warhol Museum

© The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

2019 is the year of BABYMETAL, with their latest album METAL GALAXY having dropped in October and making them the highest Japanese group/artist to place on the Billboard Top 200 in the US in 56 years. As they continue knee-deep in their ongoing world tour, you might be wondering what else they have in the pipeline.

Well, we can confirm that for you right here and now: they have teamed up with internationally-lauded Japanese fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto on his revolutionary Ground Y collection which boasts a genderless and ageless style.

Pre-sales of the collection will take place at the new Shibuya PARCO which is set to open on November 22. This will be followed by sales at GINZA SIX, Laforet Harajuku, and the online store THE SHOP YOHJI YAMAMOTO.

The collection will bring together the unique world of BABYMETALーa band which has won love the world over and has featured as guest acts on many tours of international artistsーand Yohji Yamamoto, a rebel and innovator in the fashion industry whose DNA is woven into the Ground Y line. The inspiration for this jet black collaborative collection is “galaxy,” an homage to BABYMETAL’s latest record METAL GALAXY.

There are numerous items in the collection, including a jumbo cut and sewn embroidered with both the BMD FOX APPAREL logoーBABYMETAL’s official apparel brandーand the Ground Y logo. There’s also a big hoodie featuring a 360° print and BABYMETAL’s logo, a draped silk satin long shirt, and more.

MASATOSHI YAMASHIRO snapped the photos in this photoshoot, a Tokyo-based photographer who started his career in LA and New York and works with fashion magazines, advertisements, and more.

The key visual for the upcoming “Touken Ranbu Honmaru Haku 2020” event has been released. The event will take place across Japan, including Sunshine City in Ikebukuro, Tokyo from January 5 to 19 next year in celebration of the online browser and mobile game’s 5th anniversary.

The event was first held in 2017 to celebrate two years since the game’s release where it was taken to 5 cities around Japan. This new event promises to be even bigger and better than before, with each room having its own theme. It will be a coming together of everything encompassing the franchise, including the anime, stage play, musical, film and more. After Ikebukuro, it will head to Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Niigawa, Ishikawa, and elsewhere. More dates and details are to be announced.

All tickets are designated to specific time slots for each day. Pre-sale tickets for Ikebukuro opened on October 25 will close on October 31, so don’t miss out.

Kurogi Chacha, a restaurant in GINZA SIX, is serving up an all-new ochazuke (green tea poured over rice) dish made with gyokuro, a high-quality green tea, and caviar. It will be served for a limited time for the whole month of November.

Gyokuro Caviar Chazuke – ¥20,000 (Before Tax)

Kurogi Chacha is a restaurant made in collaboration with Kyoto’s long-standing tea company Fukujuen and Kurogi which has been called the hardest restaurant in Japan to reserve a table at due to the sheer number of reservations.

The new Gyokuro Caviar Chazuke is made with rich caviar and fine quality gyokuro tea which adds a refreshing taste to the dish. One bowl is served with an entire 30g can of caviar so you can enjoy its full flavour.

If you find yourself in the Tokyo’s high-end district of Ginza then don’t pass up this opportunity to wine and dine at Kurogi Chacha.

Ginza’s biggest shopping complex GINZA SIX is celebrating Christmas this year with an upcoming event entitled “Celebration of Life: Hoshi no Umi no Shukusai” (A Festival Under a Sea of Stars) which will take place from November 5, 2019 to December 25, 2019.

Celebration of Life: Hoshi no Umi no Shukusai

The visuals for “Celebration of Life: Hoshi no Umi no Shukusai” were created by Finnish artist Klaus Haapaniemi. The work is titled “Astral Sea” and Haapaniemi arranged the art specifically for the event. It features animals and living beings floating through space amongst the stars, each moving to the rhythm of the stars’ revolution. With this grand work, Haapaniemi has created a new myth that makes one think of space and how it connections to the lives of humans.

The space and time-transcending “Lightning Whales” which appear in the Astral Sea will be suspended from the shopping centre’s atrium, and tapestries of Haapaniemi will also be draped down the centre, turning GINZA SIX itself into its own Astral Sea. The 10-meter long Lightning Whales floats have been designed in such a way that it looks like they are flying through space. Additional artwork can also be found in the front entrance, show window on floor B2F, and elsewhere.

Klaus Haapaniemi x GINZA SIX Christmas Collaboration Items

Several stores inside GINZA SIX are also releasing items in collaboration with Haapaniemi.

Mimuro Sugi Junmai Daiginjo Imadeya Ginza Limited Edition Model – ¥3,000 @ Imadeya Ginza

This Junmai Daiginjo is part of the Mimuro Sugi Roman Series developed by a sake brewery in Nara. This transparent drink retains the delicate flavour of the rice and leaves a beautiful lingering aftertaste. It’s best enjoyed with some tasty food.

Available: November 5, 2019 – February 29, 2020 (While supplies last)

Lightning Whales Frozen Fruit Bar – ¥600 @ PALETAS

These new frozen fruit bars from PALETAS are inspired by Haapaniemi’s Lightning Whales. The bar’s fantastic colouring is taken from the Astral Sea, while its flavour is blueberry gelato with salt. It’s decorated with gold leaf and silver leaf.

Available: November 5, 2019 – January 31, 2020

Gloves – Whale Embroidery ¥9,000 / Swan Embroidery ¥10,000 @ Ginza Tsutaya Book Store

Gloves are a must-have during winter, and these ones come with whale and swan embroidery. You’re sure to grab people’s attention with these gorgeous fits.

Available: November 8, 2019 – December 25, 2019

*Listed prices don’t include tax. Items subject to change without notice.

Christmas Cake & Party Food

Ginza is known for its long list of gourmet restaurants, serving food from around the world. This holiday season, GINZA SIX has plenty of Christmas delights lined up.

Noel Neige – ¥4,630 @ Pavlov Pâtisserie

This gorgeous, light cake uses cream for its snowy landscape, topped with bright-red strawberries.

Panettone Babbo Natale – ¥7,407 @ Café Cova Milano

Cova’s panettone is made with a secret recipe that has been handed down since the beginning of the 19th century.

Assorted Mini Sandwiches – ¥3,704

This assortment of mini sandwiches are the perfect choice for Christmas parties, filled with a variety of delicious ingredients like smoked salmon, caviar, pastrami, and more.

*Listed prices don’t include tax.

This is just a small look at what GINZA SIX has in store for this Christmas. If you’re spending the holiday season in Tokyo, be sure to stop by.

Ginza’s luxury ice cream shop has released a new parfait flavour for the Halloween and autumn season.

They have called it the “Akiiro Murasaki coi Parfait” (Autumn Colour Purple coi Parfait). Coloured like the vivid sumire plant―a species of violet―this mouth-watering parfait contains a jam made in-house with whole natsuhaze, a wild type of blueberry that has been used in Japan since ancient times. It’s topped with a dollop of rich and milky ice cream, a puree made from in-season purple sweet potatoes, and assorted nuts for added crunch.

Natsuhaze blueberries contain a lot of polyphenols, giving them an elegant sour flavour which goes unbelievably well with the taste of the milky ice cream and sweet potato. The parfait is served with a liqueur made from sumire extract.

For the Halloween period between October 16 to 31, the parfait can also be topped with various spooky decorations at no extra cost, like chocolate ghosts, spiders and cobwebs.

If you’re celebrating Halloween in Japan this year, or want to treat your date to a Halloween treat, then take them to Tokyo’s high-class shopping district Ginza for a luxurious parfait.

The new fully refurbished Shibuya PARCO shopping complex is set to reopen on November 22, 2019. When Shibuya PARCO closed for renovations in 2016, GALLERYX BYPARCO was moved to Spain-zaka in the centre of Shibuya. This November, GALLERY X will return to its home on the basement floor 1 of the shopping complex. 

The first opening exhibition of GALLERY X is titled “AKIRA ART OF WALL Katsuhiro Otomo × Kosuke Kawamura AKIRA ART EXHIBITION” which will see an entire wall decorated in a collage of art by manga author and film director Katsuhiro Otomo and his legendary series AKIRA until May 2020. 

The art wall is in fact a relocation of the AKIRA art wall that has existed at the infrastructure building site in Shibuya for almost two years. Parts of it was damaged over time, and so it will resurface at PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO on the 4th floor of the new Shibuya PARCO. That’s not all: there will also be valuable original works displayed as well as posters, 3D model recreations of things seen in AKIRA, the series soundtrack by Geinoh Yamashirogumi playing, 3D attractions where you can interact with a futuristic “Neo Tokyo” and much more. 

AUTO MOAI (December 2019)

Kazuki Iio (Zun) (December 2019)

Misaki Tanaka (February ー March 2020)

JUN INAGAWA (April 2020)

The first exhibition will be followed by a strong lineup of exhibitions. The exhibition areas will be filled with a wide range of attractions, making it appealing for a wide range of people with different tastes. 

* The above information and dates are subject to change at any moment without prior notification.

GALLERY X is full of originality and is a source of the latest entertainment culture so please check it out. 

Japanese confectionery brand Minamoto Kitchoan will open a new cafe and restaurant called “K. MINAMOTO” on October 19.

K. MINAMOTO will be located on floors 2-5 at THE HOUSE, Minamoto Kitchoan’s new company building which it just moved to on October 3. The cafe-restaurant’s menu concept is dubbed “Ginza Sunny Fruits.” It takes into consideration how daily fruit consumption has greatly decreased today by serving up a luxurious fresh fruit-packed line-up.

Minamoto Kitchoan is a company that has made full use of fruits since its establishment, including the suikanshuku, a Japanese wagashi confection made of whole dried domestic persimmons. We can trust then that K. MINAMOTO will provide us with our 5-a-day.

Roast Beef Sandwich w/ Fruit Soup – ¥2,420 (Tax Included)

Seafood Lemon Cream Fedelini w/ Fruit Soup – ¥1,650 (Tax Included)

Each and every dish on the menu has fruit, all grown in Japan to ensure the a high level of quality. Since the dishes have fruity flavours, prepping them is simple, and they enjoy the colours and textures of each fruit.

Drinks haven’t been left out either. They are made with fruit purees and syrup, or are tossed in as they are, allowing for maximum fruity goodness.

Smoked Salmon, Fruit Salad & Potato Galette w/ Fruit Soup – ¥1,980 (Tax Included)

Autumn Fruit Almond Pudding – ¥1,760 (Tax Included)

All the staff at K. MINAMOTO have a wealth of knowledge about the menu and the fruits used in each dish. Their service creates a comfortable atmosphere, and though they are polite they are incredibly friendly, so you can call out to them without worry.

Get your fill of fruit from the all-new K. MINAMOTO, opening October 19.

SHARI is a restaurant located on the second floor of Mitsui Garden Hotel Ginza-gochome, a new hotel that opened on September 26 located within walking distance from Ginza Station and Higashi-Ginza Station. This restaurant serves authentic and fancy Japanese-style food as well as luxurious Kobe beef, gozen set meals, and much more.

Ginza is known as the expensive, upmarket part of Tokyo, and when talking about small local restaurants there the pricing threshold tends to be rather high, but at SHARI customers can enjoy proper Japanese cuisine in a more casual manner and at a much more affordable price, with the typical set lunches starting at just ¥1,200.

Sophisticated is the word that springs to mind upon entering this restaurant, as your eyes meet the gorgeous mix of wood on black. As well as table seats, they also have counter seats too, allowing for you to enjoy a little luxury on your own if you so wish.

There is an additional restaurant inside the main restaurant itself that goes by the name Teppanyaki Mitaki, a tiny six-seater restaurant that serves Kobe beef, a type of wagyu beef and one of the top three beefs in Japan.

SHARI Gozen – ¥3,000 (Before Tax)

I ordered the SHARI Gozen which is served during lunchtime. This set comes with six small bowls, each filled with different colourful foods. It’s a cute-looking set♡

There’s lots of meat and fish included in the set. For meat, they have steak made with domestic beef. It’s succulent and drizzled in a rich sauce that fills your mouth deliciously with a single bite. With the sashimi, the restaurant makes sure to serve fish that’s in reason. There were 3 types of fish so it was a very satisfying meal.

The set can also be served with a variety of deep-fried foods, stewed foods, and cold fishes, as well as rice, miso soup, desserts and more. No matter what you order you can rest assured you’ll be full afterwards.

SHARI is a chic and stylish restaurant with great food, plus it’s located in Ginza. And you can enjoy all of this at a super low price!

Lady’s Gozen – ¥2,600 (Before Tax)

I have to recommend the Lady’s Gozen if you’re looking to enjoy fish and vegetables. It comes with two varieties of sashimi and one fried fish, all in season, as well as an assortment of fried food, savoury egg custard, and four side dishes.

It also comes with rice and sushi rolls as well as a dessert like the SHARI Gozen.

The whole dinner menu is lined with Japanese food, including sashimi, tempura, fried food and more. There’s also various courses, including the Teppanyaki Mitaki course which is priced from ¥12,000. It comes with Kobe beef of course in addition to various other high quality ingredients.

Shu – ¥1,000 (Before Tax)

I also recommend this Japanese-style cocktail for those thinking of staying late. It’s inspired by the colours used in kabuki theatre―a Bloody Mary combining shichimi, nihonshu, and tomato juice. The rim of the glass is lined with more shichmi for a spicy and refreshing kick when you sip.

Check out the cute glass it comes in too.

From affordable lunches to dinner courses made with top quality ingredients, SHARI can be enjoyed throughout the entire day with its diverse menu line-up. Be sure to pay a visit to tuck into authentic Japanese cuisine in the luxury district of Ginza.

Writer: Sayuri Mizuno (MOSHI MOSHI NIPPON)

Translator: Joshua Kitosi-Isanga

Ginza’s biggest shopping centre GINZA SIX has announced that it’s set to light up its rooftop garden with an enchanting illumination event titled Rooftop Star Garden which will begin on November 26 and run until February 24 next year.

Standing at 56 meters high, the rooftop garden is the “closest place to the stars” in Ginza. This will be GINZA SIX’s first ever illumination event and it will shine a bright spotlight against the nightscape of Ginza’s streets.

Rooftop Star Garden will take place in two areas in the garden: the Water Fountain Area and the Forest Area, both of which will welcome star-themed light shows.

The theme of the Water Fountain Area is “Shooting Star,” whose LED lights will elicit a sense of profoundness in its observers. 147 LED lights will form the main monument of this area, with bright, sparkling illuminations that will remind one of shooting and twinkling stars.

The Forest Area is made up of two separate areas between the Water Fountain Area. Lasers will shoot through crystals, creating an ocean of countless specks of light that look like little stars that make it feel like you’re in space.

This limited-time event is the perfect way to spend this year’s Christmas, so don’t miss out.

*Photos are for illustrative purposes only

Sunday Branch Marronnier Gate Ginza is a cafe in Ginza that has collaborated with a number of different characters and artists, including Shawn the Sheep since 2017, The Very Hungry Catterpillar in 2018, and Leo Lionni since 2019.

The cafe is now collaborating with Swedish ceramicist and designer Lisa Larson to open LISA LARSON Fika TOKYO. The menu will feature dishes inspired by her cute works.

Mikey Plate

​Inspired by Larson’s popular cat character Mikey, this healthy dish includes almond milk rice with a side of greens.

Lion Plate

The adorable round Lion looks like he has been taken right out of Larson’s works and put onto a plate.

Baby Mikey Gateau Chocolate

These baby Mikey chocolates take on a ceramic appearance like Larson’s work and are filled with sesame and cocoa powder.

Bob Plate

Liten Katt Plate

These’s even a meatball meal, which is a staple of the Swedish household, as well as semla, a type of sweet roll made in the country.

Enjoy food and art come together at LISA LARSON Fika TOKYO. Keep in mind that reservations get priority, so be sure to book a table in advance.

In line with the annual autumn event Ginchakai―which is held in Ginza and brings together multiple schools of tea in Japan for an open-air tea ceremony―Tokyu Plaza Ginza is hosting an event themed on the heart of the Japanese tea ceremony.

This special event will serve Japanese omotenashi, or “hospitality,” thorough various exhibits including a co-project with Tokyo University of the Arts, an exhibition by one of Japan’s leading confectionery companies Toraya Confectionery, and more.

The co-project with Tokyo University of the Arts will feature installations produced by the university that is centred on calligraphy drawn by Japanese calligrapher Shoko Kanazawa, who performs both in Japan and overseas, and the tea ceremony. There will also be several tokonoma alcoves around the event which will be like miniature gardens where one can enjoy the beauties of nature. There will even be covers of famous songs about autumn on October 27 at the KIRIKO TERRANCE on the roof.

Up in the KIRIKO LOUNGE on the 6th floor, Toraya will serve up a selection of traditional Japanese confections, including those that had already been created by the end of the Edo period. You can order a set of two confections and a drink. Sweets include the Kiren Kaki, which is made to look like a Japanese permission, and the Kuri Goyomi, which is made with chestnuts, sugar, and agar-agar.

Soak up the enchanting nostalgia of autumn while enjoying the Japanese tea ceremony at Tokyu Plaza Ginza.