Roppongi Art Night

We're ready for this!

Roppongi...is kind of a cesspool of sweaty drunks and loud people who have a hard time controlling hormonal imbalances. Most Tokyo people know this for a fact. Being a person who does not wish to contract any form of airborne AIDS, I tend to avoid Roppongi.
 But once in a while, something nice happens in Roppongi! And in this case, it was the annual Roppongi Art Night, once again brought to my attention by Eri the Receptionist (who has notably been moved to another branch of my workplace since the last big outing. Boo.) More or less unaware of what to expect at the event, we ventured into the heart of an infamous district we weren't very well acquainted with.

The Roppongi Art Night is a massive explosion of assorted modern art happening throughout the whole district over the course of a mere 24 hours, indoors and outdoors. During this time, the streets run ablaze with artwork of all shapes and sizes, some merely nice to look at, and others deeply conceptual and interactive.
As Eri and I stumbled around town in a fittingly confused and disorderly fashion, we were drawn from one section of the event to another in somewhat of a scavenger hunt to track down all the major pieces scattered throughout Roppongi, grabbing food and information where we saw it and stopping at every wonderful and unusual sight.

For the most part, the theme of the event was apparently "ships and lighthouses," so many of the artwork exposed on the streets were some form of either, but the indoor portion contained within the Tokyo Art Museum touched upon other themes such as the important, if depressing, results of the March 11 earthquake that shook Japan.

My highlight was probably the amazing Korean exhibit that focused on bringing to life the drawings of children aged between 5 and 7 year old. I used to enjoy re-drawing my younger cousins' drawings in great, realistic detail, so this really struck a chord with me.
All in all, in good company, the Art Night is an amazingly endearing experience I would voluntarily do again next year and probably the year after as well. And the one after.

 Lots of these pictures taken by Eri! Credit where it's due!