Japan expo

Nippon Air operates the direct flight from Brussels Zaventem to Tokyo. We depart in the evening and land at Narita International Airport in the afternoon the next day.

Upon arrival, we take the express train from the airport to the hotel. But for those who don’t want to rush to bed yet, we can take a trip to Ginza, where the city’s lights never seem to dim.

For the first full day, we take advantage of the excellent public transport to move between districts. Before venturing across the world’s busiest intersection, the Shibuya Crossing, we take a walk past some residential projects by young architects, work by Shingo Masuda + Katsuhisa Otsubo Architects(known for the installation at the Bruges 2024 triennial) and Akihisa Hirata. In the afternoon, we move to Omotesando Road, a major commercial axis where the creations of several Japanese and international architects are showcased. Kengo Kuma’s Nezu Museum and Kenzo Tange’s Yoyogi Gymnasium are the starting and ending points of this axis. We end in Harajuku’s Cat Street, where hip youngsters mingle among tourists and casual passers-by.

Ueno Park originated as a temple garden and was turned into a public park by the Western-oriented Meiji government in the 19th century. It is where all the major cultural institutions are located, such as Tokyo National Museum and Kunio Maekawa’s Tokyo Bunka Kaikan . There, we visit the Hall of Horyuji Treasures by Yoshio Taniguchi and the Western Art Museum by Le Corbusier. But as befits any park, there are also quiet places, Hiroshi Nakamura ‘s Toshogu Shrine offering a moment of reflection in the bustle.

For lunch, we combine two uniquely Japanese experiences, travelling by shinkansen and enjoying culinary gems, especially the bento box. We disembark in Karuizawa, known as a holiday resort for Tokyo residents. A bus takes us to Ryue Nishizawa’s Hiroshi Senju Museum , where a magnificent synergy has been created between art, architecture and nature. We then take a stroll through Karuizawa where we see smaller projects by Kengo Kuma, Hiroshi Nakamura, Antonin Raymond and Kendrick Bangs Kellogg. Our bus will take us to Matsumoto in the Hida Mountains in the evening.

After a well-earned night’s sleep, we start with a visit to the 16th-century Matsumoto Castle. Unlike the more famous white Himeji Castle, it features a wide moat around the keep and all the walls are black.

We do not leave the mountain area yet, but drive on to the Jinchokan Moriya Historical Museum in Chino. It houses some special buildings by Terunobu Fujimori, a Japanese architect who became famous for his quirky tea houses. Besides being an architect, he is also a historian who studies traditional Japanese architecture.

In the late afternoon, we take shinkansen for a 700km ride from Matsumoto east to Hiroshima.

The city of Hiroshima was completely obliterated from the world in 1945, a trauma that will mark Japan forever. Kenzo Tange designed the recently renovated Hiroshima Memorial Museum there and Hiroshi Sambuichi Hiroshima Hill, a vantage point over the city.

We travel along the coastline, stopping along the way in Fukyuma at the Shinshoji Zen temple with a pavilion by Terunobu Fujimori and Sandwich. With the setting sun at our backs, we arrive in the port city of Takamatsu. Our home base for exploring the art islands over the next few days.

We first take the ferry to the smallest art island, Inujima. Only a vest pocket in size, it forms the most intimate experience of all the islands. Hiroshi Sambuichi’ s Inujima Seirensho Museum, with artworks by Yukinori Yanagi, recounts the scars left by industrialisation and modernisation. Kazuyo Seijima’ s light-hearted interventions within the Inujima Art House Projects are a necessary counterpart.

A private ferry takes us from Inujima to Teshima. After picking up our electric bikes, we have lunch at Shima Kitchen of Atelier Ryo Abe. The most important project we see on Teshima is Ryue Nishizawa’s Teshima Art Museum . Again, the entire building is dedicated to the work of one artist, Rei Naito. It is a spiritual experience to end the day.

For anyone in need of a blow-out day, we will stay on Naoshima all day today and enjoy the various Art House Projects by Sou Fujimoto, SANAA, Ryue Nishizawa and Hiroshi Sambuichi, the Chichu Art Museum by Tadao Ando and the Time Corridors by Hiroshi Sugimoto at our own pace . The island has so much to offer that we provide you with an electric bike and a handy map. We’ll meet on the ferry in the late afternoon for a final transfer to Osaka.

This is the third time the Expo has taken place in Osaka, after the famous 1970 edition with famous sculpture ‘tower of the sun’ by Taro Okamoto, it was also the host city in 1990.
The master plan of this edition, a circular wooden structure 700 metres in diameter is by Sou Fujimoto. The theme of the World Expo is ‘Common Ground: creating a new dawn together’ and there are 150 participating countries. Besides the land pavilions by Kengo Kuma, Foster + Partners, RAU and Mikan, among others, a group of Japanese designers have also been appointed to shape some overarching themes.

Who didn’t make it around on the first day of World Expo, we still have the option of adding a second day. But as we don’t want to disappoint lovers of historical architecture either, we head to Kyoto with the group.

Japan’s historic capital continues to capture the imagination. Its ancient temples, surrounded by their beautiful gardens and built in refined materials, are remarkably well preserved thanks to meticulous maintenance by the Japanese. We visit Ryoan-ji with its famous stone garden and Kinkaku-ji with its golden pavilion. The banks of the wide river in Arashiyama, are a perfect lunch spot before exploring Bamboo Grove, Tenryu-ji and Okochi Sanso Villa.

Of the travellers expected back in Belgium before the end of the Easter holidays, we must now say goodbye. They will travel back to Tokyo on the evening itself to be at the airport on time the next morning.

For those whose trip may last a little longer, we take you to the imposing Kiyomizu-dera and intimate Tofuku-ji i nthe cosy Higashiyama district. Also located here is the Kyoto National Museum by Yoshio Taniguchi.

The afternoon is free to fill in, Kyoto has so much more to offer than architecture that we didn’t want to let this pass you by!

From Osaka we take a trip to Kobe, the city was completely destroyed during Great Hansin Earthquake in 1995. Fortunately, a few gems remained, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’ s Yamamura House and Arata Endo’s Koshien Hotel . Takenaka built the Carpentry Tools Museum in Kobe to exhibit the family’s joinery tradition.

But the Seto inland sea beckons and we venture across to the island of Awaji, where we visit the Honpukuji (water temple) and the Yumebutai project by Tadao Ando, both realised in the early 1990s.

We continue our way back to Tokyo, but stop in Odawara to spend the night. Not just to enjoy the last spring blossoms and the historic castle, but especially to experience Hiroshi Sugimoto’ s Enoura Observatory. Besides being a photographer, he is also an architect and created a place of reflection dedicated to art, nature and architecture at this unique location.
After noon, we follow the coastline of Sagami Bay to the Yokosuka Museum of Art by Pritzker Prize winner Riken Yamamoto. In the evening, we travel on to Tokyo.

As it should be, we save the best for last, because on this last day of travel, Toyo Ito‘ s TAMA Art Library and KAIT workshop as well as Junya Ishigami ’s plaza are on the programme. These university buildings designed by two different generations of architects nicely sum up Japanese architects’ quest for spatiality.
One last night in Tokyo is planned, because the next morning we leave for Belgium with our heads full of inspiration.