TOKYO ART PICKS (JUNE)

Tokyo is the art capital of the World in terms of people actually attending art shows, so what's hanging on the walls in June? Tokyo-Met offers its picks.

AQUIRAX UNO

Not sure how I missed this, which has been running since April, but it continues to the 16th, so it's not too late to get down to the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery. Akira Uno (1934-) is one of Japan's leading illustrators and graphic designers with an unforgettable style that takes you right back to the psychedelic sixties, a much simpler and happier time when all we had to worry about was nuclear annihilation. Japan's answer to Toulouse-Lautrec. Over 900 works!  PRICE: ¥1,400. Read more here.

Poster for Le Petit Prince 1968

FAN PICTURES BY KUNIYOSHI

The last time I visited the Ota Museum of Art I was forced to take my shoes off and pad around in a pair of children's slippers. Oddly this added to the whole experience, so I heartily recommend a visit to this quaint establishment, and this show which focuses on paintings on fans of cats, kabuki actors, and girls by the late Edo-period master Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). June 1st - July 28th, PRICE: ¥1,000. Read more here.

Girl Playing with a Cat

TAKEHISA YUMEJI: TAISHO ROMANTICISM AND THE NEW WORLD

As one of the best examples of Art Deco architecture in Tokyo, the Teien Art Museum is well worth a visit in its own right, but from June 1st it hosts a classic show of art by Takehisa Yumeji, the artist who best epitomises "Taisho Romanticism" (TR), the style associated with the charming period before militarism ruined everything. TR has a peculiar charm -- modern, nostalgic, and eerily timeless at the same time. "Amaryllis," an oil painting that had been missing for years, will be on display. PRICE: ¥1,400. Read more here.

Makeup in Autumn

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC: ELEGANCE OF THE MASTER OF THE BELLE EPOQUE

OK, at ¥1,800, this is a little steep, but the people at the Sompo put on good shows and the new museum won't pop your ears like the old one at the top of the Sompo Building did. The show introduces 240 graphic works by the vertically-challenged French painter who captured the seedy nightlife of 19th century Paris better than most. A bit like a French Akira Uno. 22nd June - 23rd Sept. Read more here.

Divan Japonais