Art and culture in Tokyo's creative east side

The Higashi-Kanda area in eastern Tokyo looks as though it hasn’t changed much since the 1960s. Along the main road, a mass of drab office buildings carries a whiff of dilapidation. The tangle of old-school shopping streets around Bakuro-yokoyama station is crammed with discount clothing shops, alongside wholesale outlet stores selling everything from polyester pants to Diesel backpacks. In the midst of this mercantile chaos, however, a contemporary art scene is emerging. 

Increasingly, small galleries and cool cafés are popping up in downscale shita-machi neighborhoods like Higashi-Kanda and Bakuro-cho. The low rents and abundance of abandoned spaces have been a boon for young artists. Thanks to collaborative projects such as Central East Tokyo, which brings together artists, designers and architects for events and exhibitions, and the Tokyo Milky Way candle night tour, the area is attracting a growing number of creative types.

Gallery Alpha-M is a non-profit extension of the Musashino Art Univerisity in western Tokyo. Founded in 1988, the gallery operated out of its original Kichijoji location until 2002 and moved to Higashi-Kanda in 2009. The focus is on young Japanese artists, and the shows are based on a new theme each year. The theme for 2010 is “Complex Circuit.” For the second installment of this six-part series, 26-year-old artist Yuta Hayakawa has created a sculptural installation based on the movements of water. 

The same building houses two more galleries. Publishers of the art magazine Foil opened the Foil Gallery in 2007 to showcase new talent. Once a month, the gallery holds a portfolio-review event called Mochikomi Night, where artists are encouraged to submit their work. The upcoming exhibition will feature 15 artists discovered through past Mochikomi Night events. 

Directly across the hall from Foil Gallery is Bakuro-cho Art + Eat, a pleasantly sunny café serving Lebanese dishes that doubles as an art space. The current show is a series of oil pastel drawings by Tsunahiro Ishizuka. You can munch on a pita stuffed with falafel as you contemplate the evocative images of disinhabited articles of clothing. 

In the building adjacent to this cluster of galleries is the stylish Fukumori Café. It’s a comfortable place to stop for lunch, or one of the homemade desserts on display in the retro glass case near the entrance. The lunch menu changes daily but, in the evenings, you’ll find Yamagata specialties like Yamagata-beef burgers and soy-marinated black cod. 

Yuta Hayakawa at Gallery Alpha-M until 7/1.

Mochikomi Night Commemorative Exhibition at Foil Gallery until 7/9.

Tsunahiro Ishizuka at Bakuro-cho Art + Eat until 6/26.