Design Festa Gallery — Attraction in Tokyo

Design Festa Gallery was one of my favorite parts of my 2018 Tokyo trip! 🩷🎨🗼

It was a unique opportunity to see and in many cases purchase artwork from young artists, just beginning their careers. The work on display was diverse, including pieces with anime and realistic imagery, Nihonga and Western influences, small soft sculpture such as keychains, printed postcards of artists’ original work, and many temporary murals on the walls, stairwells, and exterior of the building.

This was one of the most unique stops in Harajuku, and in addition to being free to view, the artists would often be in the galleries working while people viewed their work. I brought back many unique souvenirs purchased directly from, and supporting these creatives.

I also had to opportunity to fill out a multilingual survey from one artist, asking for feedback and differing perspectives of his work, for which he was appreciative.

As the work that is exhibited is constantly changing, I would love to...

Sprouting out of the backstreets of Harajuku like some bargain-basement Pompidou Centre is the Design Festa Gallery. If not Tokyo's most avant-garde art space, the gallery - an offshoot of Design Festa (Japan's biggest art and design event, held twice yearly at Tokyo Big Site and attracting over 40,000 visitors) - is certainly its most fun.

Inside, the art is no less eclectic, ranging from sculpture to photography to video installations. Even the toilet is plastered from floor to ceiling with artworks. Usuki Kunie, founder and director of the gallery, recalls one artist who repainted his display space every day for the duration of his showing.

The gallery welcomes all comers and there's no censorship policy - whatever you want to create, they will display. Behind the gallery area is an okonomiyaki restaurant and a cafe-bar, both run by...

Kind of an alternative style place, the kind of place you would tipically find in Berlin. There you can see several small exhibitions of different local artist. The place also has a really nice inner courtyard, beer garden style, where you can get several kinds of beers, Japanese and western. Behind this beer garden you have a pretty nice okonomiyaki restaurant (worth trying). No entrance fee, met several nice people there: I would definitely...