The Shōtō Museum of Art — Attraction in Tokyo

Currently exhibiting about BEADS and you start with the second floor then B1. Shoto is a beautiful old buildings but current exhibition is quite shallow.

Pros: I learn alot on how beads were made without technology, with countries using different items to create accesories and wear. (Queen Bees head, dolphin’s teeth, bear claws, shells). It shows Japanese beading work inspired from Africa which were beautiful.

Cons: Lack of date or era. Placement of items are minimal and almost felt like I was in the 80s trade show with lack of lighting, consistent template of both english japanese and minimal effort on information. they are paper print out, cut out and double taped.

For a paid exhibition of 800yen (640yen if you wear beads) I am not sure if it is worth it. Beads are a huge topic and they were just showing examples of what tribes use what beads but not the significant of beads. The start was egyptians but placed at the end of the exhibition on b2 so there could definitely be improvement on the storytelling through placement and depth of information. eg, beads on south african skirt, but there is no photo of how they would wear it. more photos would definitely bring more understanding. or why placing feathers with beads were significant and if there is a status in the tribe that uses certain beads. and for recent work, of its inspiration and many many more information. Some were confusing, with information of Japanese beads and Ainu but beading infront of the information has nothing to do with Ainu culture and nothing is marked except saying it is from Edo period.

This is just one exhibit that I have been in Shoto Museum, but with the space, and the beautiful building and history, I was expecting more. A museum has so much potential of storytelling through lighting, flow of information and...

Came to an exhibition of a famous Japanese illustrator, I knew almost nothing about him, but I've seen the drawings. The drawings are beautiful. The information on the first stand was in Japanese and English. But already inside the exhibition halls the signs are only in Japanese. There is a lot written on the signs and of course I wanted to understand what the text was. I had to get my phone out and use a translator to understand what was written. A museum worker came up to us and told us that we couldn't use the camera. We explained that we were translating the description from Japanese into English. I only speak Japanese and I can't read very well. She said again that the camera can't be used. We again explain in more detail that we are not taking pictures of anything, but just translating the text, as the information is not presented in English. The museum employee repeats it again and again. Although we have already explained everything. It was very annoying and spoiled the rest of the time in the museum. I wanted to leave soon and not come back. You don't want to come to a place where you can't even use an interpreter. If you don't want people to get translators and study information about your artists, then don't write anything in English at all. And that on the site information in English, partly translated, and partly did not bother to translate. And how are the clients of your museum supposed to understand the exhibition if you can't translate it? In any case, in a city like Tokyo, a major museum does not have information in English. Whereas millions of tourists come to Tokyo every year. These people will never come to you unless you are friendlier and more modern.

日本の有名なイラストレーターの展覧会に来た。彼のことはほとんど知らなかったが、絵は見たことがある。 絵は美しい。 最初のスタンドの案内は日本語と英語だった。 しかし、すでに展示会場の中は日本語の看板しかない。 看板にはたくさんのことが書かれていて、もちろん私はその文章が何なのか理解したかった。 携帯電話を取り出し、翻訳機を使って書かれていることを理解しなければならなかった。 博物館の職員が近づいてきて、カメラは使えないと言った。 私たちは説明を日本語から英語に訳しているのだと説明した。 私は日本語しか話せないし、字もよく読めない。 彼女はまた、カメラは使えないと繰り返す。 私たちは、私たちは何も写真を撮っているのではなく、ただ文章を翻訳しているだけなのです。 館員は何度も繰り返す。 私たちはすでにすべてを説明したにもかかわらず。 とても腹立たしく、美術館での残りの時間が台無しになった。 一刻も早くその場を立ち去り、二度と戻ってきたくなかった。 通訳も使えないような場所には来たくないものだ。 通訳を呼んでアーティストの情報を勉強してほしくないのなら、英語で何も書くなということだ。 そして、サイト上の情報は英語で、展覧会では部分的に翻訳され、部分的にはわざわざ翻訳する必要はない。 そして、あなたがそれを翻訳することができない場合、どのようにあなたの美術館のクライアントは、展覧会を理解することになっている？ いずれにせよ、東京のような都市では、主要な美術館が英語で情報を提供することはない。 東京には毎年何百万人もの観光客が訪れる。...

Shoto Art Museum is one of my best museums. At the museum, I noticed that my most respected artist, Hiroshi Sugimoto, will hold the exhibition. So I had been looking forward to visiting here. All were impressive, but especially very large artworks on folding screens that were created inspired by the famous old artwork.

Regarding the architecture of the museum, I’m not familiar with architecture but the style of this museum is different from any other museum. In the center of the museum, there is a outside void going through four floors, which makes us feel like crossing inside and outside. Also, many curves are used on the outside wall and stairs. The extraordinary space always...