Nipponica

"Pokemon x Kogei - Playful Encounters of Pokemon and Japanese Craft" began on July 6 at the MOA Museum of Art in the city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture. On display are around 70 pieces of artworks including ceramics, lacquerware, metalwork and textiles created by 20 artists representing contemporary Japan -- ranging from those designated as a living national treasure to young people. The works create a new charm for the Pokemon franchise with their unique textures and presence.

I need a metal Eevee now.

Visitors, who had waited a long time for the reopening of the museum’s iconic artwork “The Swimming Pool,” enjoyed looking up and taking photos from the bottom of the “pool.”

A special exhibition, entitled “Lines — Aligning your consciousness with the flow,” is now underway, while a cafe restaurant and a museum shop have switched back from shortened to regular hours.

An entire set of Hiroshige’s colorful depictions of his native city was bound into a book, donated to the Brooklyn Museum and left in storage for 40 years before being unbound in the 1970s. Because it was probably intended especially for such a collection, this particular set was also a kind of luxury edition, made with extra care and details, like the use of reflective metallic dust, that ordinary consumer-grade prints, for all their intricacy, didn’t have.

Bit of a drive from Asia but if you are in the New York area, it is a must-see.