II found this essay, "Persistence of a Genetic Scar", on the site "Little Boy: The Arts of Japan's Exploding Subculture." It's very difficult for me to read. She says that Japanese subculture has been influenced by the trauma from deadly images of World War 2. Hmm, interesting!
The exhibition has a collection of Japanese vintage toys. This is part of Teruhisa Kitahara's collection. He is an internationally recognized and respected collector, especially of tin toys. He has the Hakone Toy Museum, Tin Toy Museum (another link), and more. He appears on a famous TV antique show, Nandemo Kanteidan, as a professional appraiser and sometimes speaks with foreign media like The Herald Tribune. You can see his books on tin toy collectiing like this, this, this, and more.
Kitahara is known not only as an appraiser of antiques, but also for his ability to appreciate things of beauty. For example, Shinichi Yamashita is a well-known figure designer. Nowadays, his figures can bring a price of more than 2 million yen. I like his erotic and neo-futuristic mood. Kitahara bought his figures when he was just an obscure designer. Last month, Kitahara established and opened a figure theme bar, "FIGURE COMPLEX", in Nishi Azabu. There is a small gallery of Yamashita's figures there and you can enjoy the bar where waitresses wear costumes inspired by Yamashita's figures. Looks cool. I'm going!
I like Kitahara san because I can sense his adoration for toys and people. I suppose he is a warm-hearted guy, ne!
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