Some people just can't help liking Japan.

That's the message one gets from the effervescent Tim Blum and his only slightly more taciturn partner Jeff Poe, co-owners of the Los Angeles-based Blum & Poe art gallery, which this week takes the bold step of opening a new gallery space in Tokyo.

Why bold? Well, as Blum readily admits, "There really is no collector base in Tokyo. It just doesn't really have a (contemporary) art market, not a real one. Sure there are some collectors, but, you know, not a real (market)."