Contemporary Tokyo: A Guide to 6 of the City’s Best Small Galleries

Hakusen Art Space, Asagaya

In one of the city’s more underrated neighborhoods, Asagaya is where you’ll find Hakusen Art Space, a free contemporary art gallery that regularly showcases work by domestic and international talent, both emerging and established. Aesthetically, the gallery space is an effortlessly fashionable juxtaposition of rustic exterior and elegantly minimalist interior. The gallery space is an embodiment of Asagaya itself, a pocket of Tokyo where modern ideas and traditional charm meld together to create something entirely new. If you’re exploring the back streets of Koenji, be sure to make a detour here.

gallery hakusen

Tokyo Suginami-ku Asagayaminami 1-36-14 House swan 1F-B

0359139286

URL：http://hakusen.jp/

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Clouds Art Plus Coffee, Koenji

An excellent stop off to combine with a visit to Hakusen Art Space, Clouds Art Coffee, is a coffee shop-art space hybrid tucked right in the creative hub that is Koenji. A recent addition to the scene, Clouds Art Coffee only opened in the second half of 2017, but its regular rotation of incredible, genre-defying art exhibitions, world-class coffee, and warm, international atmosphere have made it one of Tokyo’s most exciting modern art spaces.

CloudsArtCoffee

Tokyo Suginami-ku Koenjikita 2-chome 25-4

0353569358

URL：http://cloudsartcoffee.com/index.html

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BnA Hotels Koenji

Part hotel, part bar, part innovative art project, defining BnA is near impossible, but one thing is for sure; it’s arguably one of the best art bars in Koenji. Founded as a way to help local artists make some money through their work, space has a small two bedroom hotel upstairs designed by two artists Yohei Takahashi and Ryuichi Ogino, while the hotel’s check-in desk is the bar. Hidden behind a door at the back of the bar you’ll find Backroom Gallery, BnA’s live performance and art space, home to regular parties, rotating exhibits and some of the most modern creative concepts in the city. Welcoming to staying and non-staying guests, a drink at BnA, is the perfect way to end a day exploring the layered neighborhood of Koenji.

BNA HOTEL KOENJI (ビーエヌエー ホテル 高円寺)

東京都杉並区高円寺北2-4-7

URL：https://www.bna-hotel.com/001108439337/

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Bar Zingaro, Nakano

If you want to kick on post-BnA, made your way over to the neighboring area of Nakano, one of Tokyo’s most densely populated and creatively vibrant suburbs. As soon as you step into Bar Zingaro bar-café, you’ll notice that the interior design has gone pretty heavy on Takashi Murakami style aesthetics, that’s because he owns it. Smiling cartoon flowers and cute street art inspired characters pop boldly against the rustic wooden interior and earthy ceramics, it's where nature and street aesthetics collide. The coffee is supplied by Fuglen Tokyo, and the space often hosts parties and events. It’s equal parts trendy and laid back, and the perfect Nakano inner-city hideaway.

Bar Zingaro(バー ジンガロ)

東京都中野区中野5-52-15 中野ブロードウェイ2F

URL：http://bar-zingaro.jp/

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Gallery Hana, Shimokitazawa

A gallery focused on presenting and supporting emerging artists and their work; Gallery Hana is one of Shimokitazawa’s most important creative hubs. With its large windows looking out onto the sidewalk, the gallery is an incredibly inviting space, open to both serious art lovers and passers-by. Showcasing oil paintings, sculpture, illustration, tapestry, and so much more the displays rotate regularly, so you’re bound to always see something new.

Gallery HANA Shimo-Kitazawa

Tokyo Setagaya-ku Kitazawa 3-chome 26-2 ~ 1F

0363805687

URL：http://www.g-hana.jp/schedule/

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Gallery Tsubaki, Ginza/ Nihonbashi area

Positioned down a quiet street in the strange space between salaryman populated Nihonbashi, and high-end shopping mecca of Ginza is where you’ll find one of Tokyo’s best-kept art secrets, Gallery Tsubaki. The gallery is home to a broad selection of works, traversing all genre boundaries, from painting to sculpture, to live performances and everything in-between. It does have a heavy focus on upcoming, contemporary artists, so if you’re looking to see something new, or want to check out the future of art in Japan then be sure to pop by.

Gallery Tsubaki

4.0

3 Reviews

Tokyo Chuo-ku Kyobashi 3-chome 3-10

0332817808

URL：http://www.gallery-tsubaki.net/access.html

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