Before World Cup events kicked off in Japan, there were distressing media reports of how hotels planned to refuse service to foreigners; and of stadium-area restaurants and bars intending to close their doors on game days, from fear of furigan (hooligans).
It was good to hear, then, that one institution -- on the enlightened contemporary art beat, to be sure -- not only didn't bar its doors to foreigners, but threw them wide open to them. The National Museum of Modern Art, down by the Imperial Palace in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, is giving holders of foreign passports free admission to their current group exhibition, "Photography Today 2 [sait] site/sight." The offer extends to the end of the World Cup and is open to anyone who can produce a valid foreign passport, including long-time foreign residents.
"Photography Today 2 [sait] site/sight" is the second contemporary photography showcase for the usually staid MOMAT (the first was in 1998). The exhibition comprises some 200 prints by eight Japanese artists, most of whom are in their 30s.