JAPAN HOUSE IN LONDON - WOW!
Nigh on 150 years ago Britons went mad for all things Japanese. Newly opened up to foreign trade, we couldn’t get enough of the country. In 1885, a wily businessman opened a ‘ Japanese village’ complete with traditional wooden houses, shrines and geishas which adorned a large building just off Knightsbridge in Central London. Running for a full two years, the faux Japanese village drew thousands of eager Londoners not least W.S. Gilbert who was inspired to write the libretto of ‘The Mikado’ whose opening lines are: ‘.we are gentlemen of Japan, on every vase and jar, on every screen and fan..’
Over a century ago, Japan was uber cool and it seems like a fervent revival is fully under way. And it’s not just the rugby world cup. Not far from Knightsbridge in 2019, is the modern equivalent of the Victorian Japanese experience. The ‘’Japan House’ opened last year and is a unique mixture of cultural centre, elegant shop and restaurant, matcha tea bar, theatre and exhibition space. It is a little bit of Japan bang in the centre of London.
A few minutes from High Street Kensington Station, Japan House is an experience not to be missed – especially over the next few months when a quite extraordinary exhibition (free) is wowing visitors. It is described as ‘an authentic encounter with Japan’ and for someone who has recently visited the country, this is much more than a PR claim. It is the closest you can get to that astonishing country without the 12-hour flight. The centre is part of a global initiative led by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are two other Japan Houses in Los Angeles and São Paulo but this one is the most convenient for Cambridge folk!
Leaving the roar of traffic on the busy High Street, one immediately enters a calming world with meditative interiors by Katayama Masamichi. It is a generous space of emptiness packed with meaning: very Japanese. The centre of attention is not the design, but rather what occurs in that space. Katayama's intention is for Japan House to be a tokonoma, an artistic space into which one’s gaze is drawn by Japanese aesthetics. The shop is like no other shop I know – more beautifully curated gallery than emporium, the generous ground-floor space displays many fine examples of contemporary Japanese design including colourful washi (Japanese paper).
A floor above is a Japanese restaurant named after its star chef, Akira, whilst the basement level is given over to a several exhibition areas.
The current show, ‘WOW: City Lights and Woodland Shade’ is a must for a variety of very good reasons. WOW is a multidisciplinary visual design studio based in Tokyo and Sendai; their work, shown for the first time out of the home country, is visually stunning – almost overpoweringly so. The theme explores the highly contrasted worlds of rural Japan (specifically the Tohoku Region of the North East (tragically perhaps better known as the area around the tsunami-hit Fukushima in 2011). But for the Japanese, Tohoku is the epitome of rural idyll with quaint villages nestled amid mountain forests. It is the very antithesis of mega-urban Tokyo. It is this stark contrast between Metropolis isolation and the richly traditional humanity of the craftsman’s world that is illuminated (literally) in this supercharged multimedia exhibition.
The first room you hit takes you into the fascinating world of Kokeshi. These are limbless wooden dolls, colourful figurines that have been carved from cherry wood for centuries. Rows of Poppo toy dolls (that is the local version for the Kokeshi) adorn a pristine white gallery. The are carved by elderly craftsmen using a single blade to create a beautifully delicate array of hawks and roosters. Figures also represent men, women and children in colourful traditional dress (reds and blues are dominant). The wooden figures were originally made in the 19th century to sell to Japanese tourists who visited the local hot springs. There’s much fun to be had in digitally carving your own Kokeshi and one’s narcissistic side can be satisfied by having your own face projected on to the surface of a wooden doll.
Having explored the ‘woodland shade’ the next room comes as a shock. ‘City lights’ takes you to a large semi-circular space onto which is projected a 360 degree video installation that I can only describe as ‘techno psychedelic’. It is described as an ‘immersive motion graphics exhibition that transports the visitor through the Tokyo night.’ It certainly does that but hold on for a dizzying ride.
Standing in front of a near wraparound screen you are hurled into the vast light world that is Japan’s gigantic capital city. You are taken on an electro-journey on the Tokyo subway, hurled into a galaxy of office lights. It is all head-spinningly awesome but the point is well made: behind the high-tech illuminations, the city is impersonal; exciting yes –even thrilling – but ultimately cold compared to the warm living forces at work in the countryside.
A visit to the Japan House is a must - certainly for anyone fascinated by a nation that has fascinated Britons for at least 150 years.
The exhibition runs to the 22 March 2020 and is free. Japan House is at 101-111 Kensington High Street. Opening times are Mon-Sat 10:00 to 20:00; Sundays and Bank Holidays 12:00 to 18:00.
