Tokyo keeps cultural Olympics program alive

While Tokyo 2020 organizers have just announced that the Games will be held without live spectators and with Japan's borders being still closed to overseas tourists, a series of cultural programs and events will still go ahead despite restrictions and amid widespread criticism of the Japanese government's handling of the situation.

Up to 10,000 visitors were originally intented to be allowed to various Olympic events, but as Japan's grip on the rising case numbers in the country, especially the capital Tokyo, is tightening so are the consequences for events based on and around the Olympics.

Despite the worrying trend, the Tokyo Festival has, however, managed to launch at the beginning of July with one of its core-events, the "Pavilion Tokyo 2021." The Tokyo Arts council says it is dedicated "to promote Tokyo's appeal as city of arts and culture" despite all the challenges the city is facing during the pandemic.

Located within a three-kilometer radius of the New National Stadium designed by Kengo Kuma, eight structures and installations created by six Japanese architects and two artists — among them, the worldwide-known contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama — are transforming the city center into an open-air museum. Although many events were forced to be canceled, postponed or held online, the organizers have decided to set up this outdoor event despite the fragile COVID-19 situation.

Redefining cultural spaces

That's why certain aspects had to be modified: To enter some of the pavilions, like the tiny Tea House Go-an by Terunobu Fujimori, which faces the stadium, advanced reservation is required, meaning that capacities are going to be limited.

Yayoi Kusama's Obliteration room — an indoor installation reproducing a typical house from the Japanese countryside —is also affected by certain last-moment modifications, as the building is designed for interaction between visitors and the artwork. Kochi Watari, the chairman of Production Committee of Pavilion Tokyo 2021 and CEO of the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, asked himself at first if they should just cancel Yayoi Kusama's pavilion, where visitors are invited to stick polka dots anywhere on the installation, as people will inadvertently "touch the stickers, the wall, and so on.

"But we thought the counter-measures were safe enough," he says, determined to showcase an artwork that reflects that "in a way, the COVID-19 crisis is rather similar to this obliteration room, because we are all together tacking a common challenge that will eventually disappear, just like this white room."

Spiting COVID-19 through art

As most of the projects have been designed before the pandemic, some of them had to undergo revisions, such Teppei Fujiwara's street theater project. Yoko Takaoka from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's Cultural Coordination Division explains that Fujiwara "was planning to create a 'street theater,' where people could sit as a place to perform.

But under the pandemic, interactions among people is reduced, so the plan was revamped. He reviewed his concept and came up with a 'garden street theater,' reflecting a communion between cities and plants that has existed in Tokyo since the Edo Period."

Near the Tokyo Stadium, the Super Wall Art Tokyo displays two giant pieces of mural art on the Marunouchi buildings, which were also designed long before the pandemic. But Naoya Hosokawa, the chief creative officer of the project, said the project can today be read differently that was originally intended, making the works even more relevant:

"The artists are talking about energy that around us. The virus brought a lot of changes, a lot of restrictions and limitations in our lives, regarding what we can do and can't do. Depicting this great energy we have around us is a way to send this strong and universal message to the world: we won't be beaten by the virus."

Food for thought: 'Rice for the mind'

Nevertheless, various artists are also conscious of the impact that the COVID-19 crisis will have on the visibility of their project: "My artworks are mostly displayed in Japan, so I really hope people will come to Japan when that will be possible again," said Aida Makoto, the artist behind the Tokyo Castle Outdoors installation.

"It's a pity that we won't have any overseas visitors for sure, but I also understand the risks it would have imply," adds Terunobu Fujimori, whose grass and moss-covered Tea House Go-an will not get to enjoy the exposure to international tourists that he had hoped for. "Still, I think it was important to have this festival, as culture and art are rice for our minds, and we need to eat! Art has always been there since the beginning of humanity, so I think it is necessary to keep it alive, particularly in these difficult times," Fujimori adds.

After Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called another state of emergency in the capital, Tokyo, excluding spectators from Olympic Events as the games get ready to take place one year after they had originally been scheduled, Naoya Hosokawa remains optimistic: "Thankfully, we do have alternatives. Thanks to new technology, for people that can't come physically, it is still possible to enjoy art through videos, images, internet and more."