Central Tokyo
"An exciting ART + BEER festival has been planned by 16 participating galleries located in the central part of Tokyo," read the description of the "Kunst Oktoberfest" event that took place earlier this month. That was more than enough to pique my interest, but the final words of the blurb sealed the deal: "Oh, by the way, the beer and the ride are free." Sometimes I just love this city.
2 p.m., Nihonbashi: A friend met me at the station, and we were off to the nearby Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, the tour's nexus, where buses departed for galleries on two separate routes, north and south. For those who have celebrated the hedonistic German holiday before, the word "Oktoberfest" probably brings to mind scenes of beer-swilling debauchery, but the atmosphere inside Galerie Sho was decidedly civil. About a dozen visitors were sipping bottled German beer and taking in the paintings of MASAKO, whose understated work had an unsettling, almost haunting quality.