Enjoy contemporary art and the Grand Hyatt’s delicious sweets all at once with this exclusive, extremely limited snack box.
Takashi Murakami
Internationally acclaimed contemporary artist Takashi Murakami has returned to Japan with a long-awaited exhibition and Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills is celebrating with a cafe that offers up his art in edible form.
Last summer the international pop-star Pharrell Williams rocked Japan with his single, “Happy,” which launched countless fan-made remakes across the country. Joining in with the “happy” Japanese people, he has since collaborated with renowned artist Takashi Murakami to make a remix of virtual star Hatsune Miku’s video “Last Night, Good Night (Re:Dialed).” This time around, however, Pharrell is trying to bring fun Japanese culture to the rest of the world.
Sexism and discrimination have been rather hot topics here in Japan following an unpleasant incident at a Tokyo political assembly on June 18, during which female politician Ayaka Shiomura was taunted and mocked by assembleymen while giving a speech about pregnant women and working mothers.
In response, world-famous Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has taken the unusual step of creating and hanging a series of portraits of the politician in his Tokyo cafe.
All-around music guru Pharrell Williams can’t possibly get any “happier” as he continues to ride the waves of last year’s worldwide hit “Happy” into Japan. He released a special Japan-version music video for the song on May 13, and even appeared as a special guest on May 16th’s episode of popular Japanese music variety show Music Station, where he performed in front of an ecstatic Japanese crowd. And the fun doesn’t stop there, because he has yet another treat for his Japanese fans–a collaboration with everyone’s favorite Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku!
Miku, who made a splash for herself last month when it was announced that the virtual idol will be performing as the opening act for part of Lady Gaga’s upcoming world tour, stars alongside Williams in the music video for a remixed version of a Livetune song. The original song serves as the theme song for prolific Japanese artist Takashi Murakami’s directorial debut film. Just wait until you see the adorable avatar version of Williams dancing alongside Miku in the video!
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