National Museum of Modern Art and Tokyo Tower

Wednesday was the last day of the Silver Week holiday, and I decided to spend it exploring Tokyo a bit more after returning from Kyoto. I first went to the National Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo (NOMAT). I like going to art museums, especially modern art museums, and I wanted to experience a modern art museum in another country. The fee was only 400 yen ($3), a pleasant surprise! 

My favorite of Foujita's.

The pieces in the museum ranged from the early 20th century to a few years ago. There was a special exhibit for the artist Leonard Foujita, born Fujita Tsuguharu, who was known for his paintings of women and cats. He was heavily French-influenced, and later became a nationalized French citizen and changed his name to a French one. One of my favorite paintings was a nude of five women who represented the five senses. Photography wasn't allowed in the museum, but I've attached an image of the painting on the right. 

He was also sought out by the government during WWII to travel to the front and make paintings of what he saw. Some of these were a bit propagandist, but many depicted war realistically, with interestingly low-lighted scenes which reflected the low visibility of nighttime battles. 

Some of my favorite paintings included landscapes by different artists. Landscapes became more popular among Japanese artists after WWII because they reflected how mountains still stand and rivers still flow after war. One of my favorites was a paintings of a dirt road that extended away from the viewer and stretched far off into the distance and off to the right, into an area of dim light. It suggested a fresh start for Japan after the war. 

Kimonos at the Crafts Gallery.

The ticket for the NOMAT also allowed me access to the Crafts Gallery down the block, which showcased many interesting pottery pieces as well as cloth and kimonos. I stayed in both museums for a long time and viewed nearly every piece.

After that, I decided to go to Tokyo Tower, something I've been wanting to do since I arrived in Tokyo. Tokyo Tower is a beautiful orange and white radio tower that has an observatory through which people can look at the Tokyo skyline. The observatory has signs on the walls that point out how far significant places are, such as Mt. Fuji and Shinjuku. It also has a cafe from which I bought a frozen yogurt and sat and looked out at Tokyo. It was very cool. I plan on going to the other tall Tokyo observatory, Tokyo Skytree, at night since I went to Tokyo Tower observatory during the day. 

The view of Tokyo from Tokyo Tower.

Tokyo Tower.