Bags and pouches with screen-printed illustrations and patterns, as well as wall-hanging pieces made out of fabrics will be on display and for sale. Please enjoy these simple yet unique items. Concurrent events -Black Coffee (Yuriko Akashi) Glass Workshop Dates: July 4th (Fri) & 5th (Sat) Time: Session 1 13:30-15:30, Session 2 16:00-18:00 Fee: 1 session only ¥4000, Both sessions ¥5500 Capacity: 6 people for each session (Please make reservation asap!) -Mini Cafe by Dans la Nature Dates & Time: July 5th (Sat) & 6th (Sun) 14:00-19:00 Panna cottas, cookies and muffins will be for sale.

The open sky with its serene, rejuvenating feeling, and the daily unfolding of everyday activities under it. Life-giving water, with its quiet capacity for expression. This exhibition at Hillside Terrace features works that communicate something of that quiet murmur and rhythm of life itself.

Junie Moon has been collecting adorable miscellaneous goods from all over the world and has transformed even the gallery section in to a lovely store. These items go very well with Blythe and will be available for a limited time. Come and experience Junie Moon in a different way. Not just Blythe dolls, there are going to be a ton of cute items waiting for you here! There will also be a stamp rally during the, Blythe 7th Anniversary event "Once Upon a Wonder World" ! For details please visit the Blythe URL!

Fresco is an Osaka-based brand with over 20 years of expertise in expertly crafted glassware. This exhibition by Tsuyoshi Tsujino, head of Fresco, features products with a keen consciousness of contemporary environments and space.

Between June 21st and July 18th, TKG Daikanyama will be showing works by Tam Ochiai, Dennis Holingsworth, Bohnchang Koo, Keisuke Yamamoto, Adam Silverman, Nobuhiro Fukui and Nana Funo. Works include Tam Ochiai's "cat sculpture" series exhibited at Tomio Koyama in 2007, alluring photographs of used soap reminiscent of jewelry by Korean artist Bohnchang Koo, a drawing from Dennis Holingsworth's "Wet on Wet" series, and Keisuke Yamamoto's fantastical painting consisting of playful motifs such as trees, plants, mushrooms, and fairy-like girls. Also this exhibition presents four works by young emerging photographer Nobuhiro Fukui and a painting by Nana Funo, who is also currently holding a solo exhibition in Tomio Koyama Gallery, Kiyosumi. Flower vessels from the "Hyena" series by Adam Silverman are also on display. [Image: Nobuhiro Fukui]

Opening Reception: June 20th 18:00-20:00

This exhibition at Gallery Teo is the first gallery show for two young artists who have just completed their graduate studies. Aki Inomata, who is showing in Room One, was born in 1983. She majored in Advanced Arts and graduated from the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music this March. In today's media-saturated environment where digital networks have almost completely replaced face-to-face contact and letters as communication tools, and where digitally processed information has become ubiquitous, this digitally-controlled information makes up an entire virtual world that appears to continually displace reality. Inomata ventures to tackle the perfectly ordinary and familiar aspects of life - enjoying the movement of ripples on the surface of water, wiping condensation off car windows, making tracks on fallen snow...Through carefully conceived installations, Inomata allows audiences to reexperience these "real" sensations by paradoxically using digitally-controlled virtual means of expression. This work also comes out of experience working in theater with Juro Kara, using the man-made device of the stage fused against a background of nature, using that natural backdrop as a form of "borrowed scenery" (shakkei). This installation works with the same principles of economy. The work "0100101" in this exhibition seems to be standing on the surface of a body of water, but is in fact a virtual projection of water ripples on the floor with a palpable form. More than the perception of a "real" water surface and its ripples, however, what is more striking is the feeling of brimming color and light, prompting a reconsideration of realistic sensations ironically through the deployment of virtual means used to achieve that effect. On display in Room Two is the work of Aki Toiya, born in 1980. Toiya graduated this March from the oil painting course at Musashino Art University. While studying there, Toiya worked mostly with skirt designs and braided cords, expressing these aspects of "girlhood" through oil paintings and sculptures. Toiya gives subjective expression to what she calls "crystals of memory" lying latent in each of us, things we have felt and registered as emotions, overlapping and intertwining with each other in complex ways. The largest work in this exhibition, a painting entitled "Twilight" measuring 2.6 meters across, depicts landscapes and sceneries from memory that prompt viewers to wonder if they have not themselves seen them somewhere. In another two-meter painting entitled "uta", a girl's skirt appears positively unreal, being made up of many faces and alternately absorbing and radiating light. "Banana's Torso," a ceramic sculpture, captures the whirlwind dance made by the skirt of a girl spinning round and round, giving the illusion of perpetual movement and the feeling of a living, moving thing.

Gallery Point is pleased to announce "Heroic", a solo exhibition featuring new works by Hiro Kurata, showing from July 4th through July 26th. Hiro Kurata is an artist who is based in Brooklyn, New York. One of the characteristics that makes his painting unique is the way he renders his figures with some sort of power and movement. The figures looking innocent and strong are often portrayed as a baseball player, heroes from the Greek myths or comical characters from animation works. Kurata spent his childhood going back and forth between the U.S and Japan. The cultural differences between those places have been a natural source for the themes in his paintings. He skillfully digests the gaps between the two countries and expresses it in his work with a sense of cynicism. Depicted in bright pastel colors, the disproportioned figures simultaneously show confidence and sickness. Innocent but frightened by an enemy at the same time, his subjects being covered with macho bodies seem to hide inside extremely weak souls. Thus the heroes Kurata creates give viewers a complex impression within which happiness and nihilistic feeling coexist. Reception: July 4th (Fri) 19:00-21:00

This third "contemporary Japanese" exhibition at the Claska's Gallery and Shop Do features W+K Tokyo Lab, a worldwide collective of 42 artists working with the idea of "Tokyo Ten". Visuals, video work and music all find a place in this project, which makes bold use of the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Claska. The original sculptures, models and prints whose copies will be compiled into a book scheduled to be released in mid-July will be given a sneak advance exhibition here. Tokyo Ten Exhibition Opening Party: June 27th (Fri) 19:00-23:00

"Shaseijutsu" is a series of exhibition featuring works by emerging photographers from Setagaya. The second edition of the series features Kunihiko Katsumata. His work captures changing scenery, reflecting on society we belong to. His large scale series, "Skyline" and his other works are projected on screen. His works will be also on display at Setagaya Art Museum Ward Gallery. July 21st (Mon/Holiday) - 27th (Sun) 10:00-18:00 Closed on 22nd (Tue). [Image: "Skyline" (2005) (detail)]

Drawing collaboration between Shantell Martin and Sara Partch at Ebisupark. Closing Party: August 9th (Sat) 14:00-17:00

The results of the world press photography contest, which gathers the best work out of all press images taken last year, were announced on February 8th in Amsterdam. This year's contest, the 51st, drew a phenomenal 5019 entrants from 125 countries. The Grand Prize was awarded to Tim Hetherington from England, who has since made the cover of Vanity Fair. Various award-winning photographs from 10 departments, including incidents, accidents, sports and art events will be on display.

This exhibition, which spotlights Japanese designers whose work is featured at the annual Milano Salone, is being held for the 6th year running. Young designers with promising work will be featured here on a weekly rotating basis.

Together with Muneyoshi Yanagi, the founder of the Japan Folk-Craft Museum, ceramicist Kanjiro Kawai, and ceramic master Shoji Hamada started folk-craft movement. Moreover, Hamada served as the 2nd director of the museum after Yanagi's death. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of his death, this exhibition showcases approximately 150 representative works from the museum's Hamada collection. In 1924, Hamada started producing ceramic works using nobori-gama (climbing kiln) in Masuko Town in Tochigi Prefecture. While participating in the folk-craft movement, Hamada collected himself beautiful craft works from various ages and places, gaining inspiration from them for his own artistic creation. He boldly applied a variety of methods and techniques especially of ceramic wares, coming to realize simple yet dynamic style. Alongside Hamada's work, other museum collections, such as the work by Bernard Leach, British antique slipwares as well as ceramics from Korean period, will be on display. [Image: "Large Bowl with White Graze & Black Lines" (1963) H 16.0cm, D 58.0cm]

Original teaching materials at the Meguro Museum of Art called the "Drawer Museum of Art Tools and Materials" are divided into four themes - art tools, wood, paper and metals - and are made up of a total of 81 drawers that are widely used during exhibitions and workshops. This exhibition focuses mainly on these drawers, in addition to workshop resources and works from the collection that have been gradually acquired and built up. Photos that offer a look back at the 20 year history of the workshop, its progression and results, are also on display. These workshops, organized from the point of view of museums and their relationship to education, include "Adventure Plaza for the Hands and Eyes," "Natural History Magazine of Colors," and the "Body Workshop" and "Architecture Classroom" in recent years. Related workshops will also be held.

This is an exhibition by a girls' photo club. The members are amateur photographers aged between 20-40.

Nadiff's inaugural exhibition at their new location kicks off with an exhibition of the art group Chim Pom, known for their transgressive, performance-based video and installation works. Opening Reception: July 7th (Mon), 19:00

Magic Room?? in Kiyosumishirakawa will move and reopen as cafe & snack bar on the 4th floor of NADiff A/P/A/R/T in Ebisu on July 7th! There will be opening reception from 19:00 on the opening day.

In an age increasingly dominated by IT, what sort of role does media art play? Many media art specialists now work with their eyes firmly fixed on the future, in this new field that has yet to acquire a stable definition. Media art creators, compared with their counterparts in contemporary art with an intimate relationship to society and proposals for its problems, are perhaps more concerned with how the latest technology can interact with human emotion. For this TAB Talk, we are delighted to welcome Creative Cluster founder Tomohiro Okada, bit-generation creator Ryota Kuwakubo, and chief producer of internationally-active video unit WOW, Kazuhiko Kameda, for an evening of complete immersion in the world of media art. Who make up the "creative class" and the occupations contained within it? What is the route to a closer relationship between society and media art, often seen as aloof or difficult to approach? What sort of influence has YouTube exerted on media art? What sort of future is envisioned through the eyes of these creators who stand at the frontier of cutting-edge art and design? Right after, we'll have a short segment called the 30-second Pitch. Five members of the audience will be invited to introduce themselves to the audience, promote a recent project, or announce a new product, website or company in under 30 seconds. If you're interested, please give your name and contact info at the reception table. Then for another hour, we'll have drinks, chatting, and networking among guests and audience members. Light meals will also be available. TAB Talks are bilingual Japanese-English and start at 8:30pm, late enough for overworked designers like us. Limited seating of 90, come early. Profile Tomohiro Okada Writer, consultant, business planner and university lecturer, focusing on the development of innovative approaches to cutting-edge art and design. Head of Cool States Communication Research Institute. Founded the non-profit organization Creative Cluster in 2004 and now acts as chairperson and curator, coordinating platforms for unique approaches to art management, the development of society and buisness use, and the dissemination of artists and their work. Organized the Electrical Fantasista 2008 exhibition at ZAIM in Yokohama, which begins July 18th. Creative Cluster - http://creativecluster.jp Kazuhiko Kameda Chief producer of WOW, a video production company that works mainly on TV commercials. WOW handles not only client work, but is also highly acclaimed for its original self-commissioned video work that is exhibited annually both in Japan and abroad. WOW's book "WOW10" traces its 10 year creative trajectory and includes the work of Shigeki Hattori (graf), Yoshio Kubo, Gwenael Nicolas, Koichiro Tanaka (Projector Inc.), Artless and Masashi Ishiwata (Ikenobo). Participated in Tokyo Wonder in cooperation with Curiosity and Tonerico at the Milano Salone 2008 international furniture fair. Exhibited installation work created by Wowlab at the Cultural Typhoon 2008 in Sendai event at the Sendai Mediatheque in June this year. www.w0w.co.jp/ Ryota Kuwakubo Media artist. Started producing and exhibiting devices using electronics in 1998, based around the various phenomena that arise at the borders between digital and analog media, man and machine, and senders and recipients of information. Developed the "Bitman" mobile electrical bulletin board for Meiwa Denki and designed the Rimeikaburu T-shirt for Muji, collaborating with manufacturers on the development of numerous products. Exhibited work at the world's largest media art event, Ars Electronica, the "Roppongi Crossing" exhibition at the Mori Art Museum, and many other venues both in Japan and abroad. Received the grand prize at the 7th Media Art Festival in 2003, organized by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Celebrating the artist's winning of Art Gaia Nominees Award grand prize, this exhibition introduces her beautiful ink paintings with eatable vegetal motifs. Opening Party: July 11th (Fri) 18:00-20:00 The artist will give commentary on her own work. *Reservation required. Please call 03-5447-3077 (10:00-19:00). [Image: detail]

This is a talk event inviting artist Fuyuko Matsui, Akimitsu Naruyama of Naruyama Gallery, and Akio Nagasawa (fashion designer).