Japan House opens in London to foster Japanese creativity in the UK

Japan House London opens today (22 June) and will be home to a temporary exhibition gallery, events space, library, retail shop and Japanese restaurant, in order to celebrate various aspects of Japanese culture. The arts space has revived an Art Deco building on Kensington High Street in a bid to help foster Japanese creativity and business in the UK.

The art space will premiere with an exhibition of renowned Japanese architect Sou Fujimito’s work, entitled Sou Fujimto: Futures of the Future, which was made possible through a collaboration with Tokyo’s Toto Gallery. Sou Fujimito is noted for his airy structures and large, porose buildings, and notably designed London’s temporary Serpentine Gallery pavilion in 2013. This will be the first major exhibition of the celebrated architect in London.

Spread across three floors, Japan House London will offer a wider-ranging programme in order to highlight Japanese artists, craftsmen, designers, performers, musicians and other creatives who are building a name for themselves both nationally and internationally. Meanwhile, the restaurant, which is by renowned chef Shimizu Akira, will offer diners a unique and engaging experience of Japanese food culture.

Hara Kenya, Chief Creative Director of the global Japan House project, said: “It is not easy to introduce Japan simply. In Japan House, we shall not be showing stereotypes, but importantly we shall be asking visitors to discover and reflect on what they might not yet know about Japan. For people who have not thought about Japan, for those who think they do, and for Japanese people themselves, I hope that at each encounter with Japan House there will be fresh discovery.”