UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO, an aquarium inspired by Japanese traditions and legends, opened at Aqua City Odaiba on July 13, 2022. The curious aquarium and art facility is split into five spaces, each based on a particular Japanese legend or tradition. 

Area 1 – WABISABI

Area 2 – OIRAN

Area 3 – MANGEKYO

Area 4 – YURAKU

Area 5 – RYUGU

Virtual Goldfish Scooping

This mixture of aquarium and entertainment venue was produced by GA☆KYO. Each of the five spaces invites guests to understand and appreciate a particular part of Japanese traditional culture, as well as to experience the beauty of living things. Come enjoy this unique installation the next time you’re in Tokyo!

On July 13, UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO, an aquarium inspired by Japanese traditions and legends, will open at Aqua City Odaiba. Separated into five unique sections, this curious aquarium is located in a shopping complex popular with locals and tourists alike. 

UWS AQUARIUM GA☆KYO will depict five aspects of traditional Japanese life and history: Wabi-sabi, Oiran, Mangekyo (Kaleidoscope), Yuraku, and Ryuugu. These will be explained below if you aren’t familiar.

Area

WABISABI
Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic in Japanese art centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. In the aquarium, this is shown by using delicate driftwood, bonsai, and crystal. Characteristics of wabi-sabi include asymmetry, simplicity, and roughness.

OIRAN
An Oiran was a high-ranking courtesan in Japanese history. In this work, goldfish are surrounded by beautiful and enchanting features inspired by these gorgeous women.

MANGEKYO

Mangekyo is the Japanese word for kaleidoscope. This collaborative work invites viewers into a unique space filled with paintings by Tsuyoshi Nigamushi along with disco balls. You’ll want to snap some trippy pictures!

YURAKU
This special exhibition invites guests to experience virtual goldfish scooping and fortune-telling. Made using modern technology in a space inspired by Japan’s four seasons, yuraku means pleasure in Japanese.

RYUGU

Ryuugu refers to the Palace of the Dragon King found in the ancient tale of Urashima Taro. 

This spatial work will utilize the sea around Odaiba and transport visitors to another place and time.

Come enjoy these five unique spaces with your five senses and become more acquainted with traditional Japanese beauty.

ULTRA JAPAN 2022 will be held at TOKYO ODAIBA ULTRA PARK II in Tokyo on September 17 and 18, 2022!

ULTRA JAPAN is the Japanese version of ULTRA MUSIC FESTIVAL (UMF), one of the world’s largest urban dance music festivals held yearly in Miami since 1999. This year marks the 7th event in Japan, and the festival has been held in over 21 countries around the world. In 2016 and 2017, it was named the #1 festival in the world in a fan poll by DJ MAG. 

ULTRA JAPAN has become a staple of the dance music community in Japan, attracting over 530,000 people since it was first held in 2014. The festival has been number one in terms of attendance among all dance music festivals held in Japan, bringing together some of the world’s best DJs and delighting fans with intense special effects. The festival is only 15 minutes from Shibuya!

Stay tuned for more information about the artist lineup for ULTRA JAPAN!

teamLab Borderless, a digital art museum currently housed in Odaiba’s Mori Building, will be moving to a more central location in Tokyo in 2023. In preparation for the move, the Odaiba location will close on August 31, and tickets for July and August are available now. Each ticket must be purchased ahead of visiting, and each specifies a date and time for entry. Tickets are available while supplies last. 

 teamLab ‘Forest of Resonating Lamps – One Stroke’ ©teamLab

teamLab Borderless opened in Odaiba in June 2018 and features a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of rooms and communicate with other works, influencing other pieces and sometimes intermingling with each other with no boundaries. They also shift depending on the season. In its first year, the museum attracted 2.3 million visitors, surpassing the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands to become the most popular single artist’s museum in the world. People from over 160 countries and regions visited, and in 2019, teamLab Borderless broke a world record for the most visitors to a museum showcasing art from a single artist. Borderless received numerous national and international awards, including being named one of the World’s Greatest Places 2019 by Time Magazine and receiving a Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement at the 25th Annual Thea Awards.

Highlight Video: https://youtu.be/VowWhpZzH24

The 10,000 square meter complex will be open until August 31, offering visitors a singular experience through a borderless world of art. Expectations are high for the museum’s new location, scheduled to open in central Tokyo in 2023. 

teamLab Planets TOKYO DMM will be open in Toyosu until the end of 2023. 

Spring scenery will welcome guests to the teamLab Borderless exhibit at the Mori Building Digital Art Museum starting March 2, 2022. teamLab Borderless is a group of artworks that form one borderless world. Artworks move out of rooms, communicate with other works, influence, and sometimes intermingle with each other with no boundaries. They also shift depending on the season.

teamLab Borderless in Odaiba is scheduled to close on August 31, 2022, so this will be the only chance to catch this incredible display!

Forest of Resonating Lamps – One Stroke, Cherry Blossoms, teamLab, 2019

Forest of Resonating Lamps – One Stroke, Spring Mountain Fields, teamLab, 2019

Proliferating Immense Life – A Whole Year per Year, teamLab, 2020

Memory of Topography, teamLab, 2018

Flowers in Layered Ultrasubjective Space, teamLab, 2018

Flowers Bloom in an Infinite Universe inside a Teacup, teamLab, 2016

Tea Tree, teamLab, 2018

Drawing Factory

Each installation will filter through new colors and illustrations. A Whole Year per Year will include new spring flowers, multiplying to over 100,000 blooms before dispersing around guests. ‘Memory of Topography’ depicts a massive landscape based on Japan’s four seasons, and in March and April, cherry blossoms and lavender will appear beside terraced rice paddies, wisteria trellises, and gently flowing rivers. 

At the Drawing Factory, guests can also make their own original goods to be taken home as keepsakes. Get your creation printed on T-shirts, pins, or hand towels!

Escape rooms invite family and friends to solve exciting puzzles and riddles within a time limit, and have become massively popular around the world. Since the first one opened in 2007, over 8 million people in Japan have participated in one of these exciting events held everywhere from apartment buildings to amusement parks.

The Escape from Godzilla event will be held throughout the Atami Bay Resort Korakuen, and will ask players to solve mysteries throughout the hotel. Visitors will need to explore rooms and sometimes interact with hotel staff to reach the end. SCRAP, known for its numerous crossover escape games, created the project.

Atami is the setting of the decisive battle in the 1962 film King Kong vs. Godzilla. 2022 is the 60th anniversary of the film, and guests are invited to enjoy an original story and original images showing Godzilla’s attack on present-day Atami in cooperation with Toho.

Keep an eye out for more details coming later in February!

©SCRAP TM ＆ © TOHO CO., LTD.

SCRAP, a company known for its unique escape games, have recently started selling its ‘Nazokan’ (Mystery Can) product at stores nationwide starting December 22, 2021. These items sold out instantly upon initial release, and have been highly praised by puzzle-lovers, including popular actress and model Nanase Nishino!

Two kinds of ‘Nazokan’ are on sale: The ‘Golden Angel Can’ and the ‘Silver Devil Can.’ Each large can contains a number of difficult puzzles and riddles.

Following its initial launch in October 2021, the first production run sold out in only six days. Puzzle fans have been begging for a second production run, and to celebrate the re-release, actress and model Nanase Nishino has released her comments on the product. Nishino is known as major puzzle fan, so what does she have to say? 

Comment from Nanase Nishino

When I first grabbed a ‘Nazokan,’ I was excited to see what sorts of mysteries I’d find inside, and I was ready to take on the challenge.
Spending my time on each puzzle, I completely lost track of time, and I came away with a real sense of accomplishment.
You can solve it alone,
or work together with your friends,
or even give it as a gift to someone who loves riddles!
I hope everyone has fun with this amazing product!

The Tokyo-based bathhouse Oedo Onsen Monogatari is set to collaborate with the anime series Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club with a special event titled ‘Tokimeki Onsen Monogatari’ from July 30 to September 5. This will mark the site’s final collaboration with an anime series as the bathhouse is closing on September 5.

For the collaboration, panels and decorations featuring original artwork of the Nijigaku members is featured around the bathhouse. There’s also a special photospot featuring a backdrop of a scene taken the anime’s second episode.

A lottery draw will take place where you can pay ¥550 for a chance to win a cushion, illustrated print, or bromide. There are also 10 collab drinks as well as three pasta dishes to pick from. Fans can also get their hands on exclusive merch such as keyrings, tees, tapestries, and more.

SCRAP’s Mr. Osomatsu themed escape game “Escape From the Black Market Empire,” which is currently taking place in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, has proven so popular that it’s set to open in Fukuoka on August 1.

Exclusive merchandise when buying select tickets: glass, coaster, business card, and card case

Sticker Set ¥300 / Folder ¥1,000 / Pins ¥500 / Acrylic Keyrings ¥800 / Mini Tote Bags ¥2,000 (Tax Included)

The escape game, which is called “Escape From the Black Market Empire,” features an original voiced story (recorded by the original voice actors) that has players using their smartphones to communicate with the six Matsuno siblings. They must work with them to help repay their debt.

The event also has its own exclusive merchandise. In Fukuoka, it will be held at SPACE on the Station on the 6th floor of SOLARIA STAGE which is located not even a minutes’ walk from Nishitetsu Fukuoka (Tenjin) Station.

In promotion of SCRAP’s new Detective Conan themed escape game Escape From the Scarlet Investigation (Blood Task Force), five of the company’s past escape games made in collaboration with the anime series are being revived for a temporary period.

Escape From the Orient Express

Escape From the Magical Castle

Escape From the Black Assassin

Escape From the Final Public Examination

Escape From the Navy Blue Art Museum

Here’s what it’s like to play..

SCRAP’s escape games are made in collaboration with many different series and see players become a character in the story where they must solve puzzles and riddles to find a way out. They have collaborated with Detective Conan since 2013 during which over 1.3 million people have played. The newest entry to the series is Escape From the Scarlet Investigation (Blood Task Force).

Five previous escape games make a return this year including Escape From the Orient Express (2014), Escape From the Magical Castle (2015), Escape From the Black Assassin (2016), Escape From the Final Public Examination (2018), and Escape From the Navy Blue Art Museum (2019). Each features a completely original story set in the world of Detective Conan.

©青山剛昌／小学館・読売テレビ・TMS 1996
©青山剛昌／小学館

Japanese real-life escape game creative company SCRAP is set to open a new game in collaboration with the anime series The Promised Neverland. Titled “Escape from the Demons’ Forest,” the game will open in seven cities across Japan on July 8.

Escape game bring people together in a themed space where they have to solve puzzles in order to escape. Players of this new game take on the role of one of the special children to be eaten like Emma, Ray, and Norman. They must work alongside the characters while avoiding the demons guarding the area. If you’ve always wanted to feel like you’re in the world of The Promised Neverland, this immersive experience is on way of getting there.

SCRAP has collaborated with The Promised Neverland before, with their 2019 game receiving the Best Event Award for its original story and level of immersion. The new game is sure to be a similar experience, with newly-recorded voice lines for Emma, Norman, and Ray who players will interact with.

Players who book a ticket in advance can also receive a special message in a bottle.

©白井カイウ・出水ぽすか／集英社・約束のネバーランド製作委員会
*「リアル脱出ゲーム」は株式会社SCRAPの登録商標です。

June 21 will mark three years since MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab Borderless first opened. Located in Odaiba, Tokyo, the digital art museum is commemorating its anniversary with two new installations: Sketch Aquarium: Connected World and Sharing Rock Mass, Transcending Space. Experience digital art, which blurs the lines between reality and fantasy, change in real time as people come into contact with it.

MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: EPSON teamLab

Sketch Aquarium: Connected World

teamLab describes this exhibit:

The fish drawn by everyone swim around in this aquarium.

Color in a fish on the paper provided. See the picture you have drawn come to life in the massive aquarium in front of you, swimming together with the fish drawn by other people. If you touch the swimming fish, they will swim away. If you touch the food bags, you can also feed the fish.

The tuna you draw will transcend the boundaries of the artwork and swim out into the Sketch Aquariums and Sketch Oceans of exhibitions around the world. And the tuna drawn in other parts of the world may appear and swim in the Sketch Aquarium right in front of you.

Sharing Rock Mass, Transcending Space

teamLab describes this exhibit:

A rock mass floats in the world of the teamLab Borderless museum in Shanghai. The rock mass floats through the hallway of teamLab Borderless Shanghai and sinks into the wall. The rock mass transcends the physical space of the museum itself, the part that sinks into the wall appears in the world of the teamLab Borderless museum in Tokyo.

When people touch the part of the rock mass emerging in Tokyo, it shines with blue light. This light flows to the rock mass sunken into the wall in Shanghai. When people touch the part of the rock mass sunken into the wall in Shanghai, it shines with a red light which flows to the rock mass here in Tokyo. When red light flows into the rock mass, it indicates that someone in Shanghai is touching the rock mass.

teamLab is represented by Pace Gallery, Martin Browne Contemporary and Ikkan Art International.