With a population of around 35 million, Greater Tokyo is the ultimate "modernist" conurbation; a vast megacity, where something as old-fashioned as realist art might seem out-of-date and out-of-place. Maybe so, but on the metropolis' western and eastern extremities stand two museums that, each in their own way, evoke the power and potential of realism.
One is the Takao Trick Art Museum, a venue in the shadows of Tokyo's western mountains that delights in the illusionist aspects of realism. The other is the Hoki Museum, an architectural masterpiece located in Toke on the eastern edge of Chiba City, which houses works by Japan's best contemporary realist artists.
The Trick Art Museum reveals the potent effects that realism has been able to generate, using the rules of perspective, shading, and other optical tricks discovered in the Italian Renaissance. This reveals the power that lies within realism, although the emphasis here is on entertainment rather than awe.