Tokyo Weekender July 2016

Lee Wen, Strange Fruit, 2003, C print, 42×59.4
F
FICTION
SUNSHOWER: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM SOUTHEAST
ASIA 1980S TO NOW
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of ASEAN (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations), both the Mori Art Museum and the National Art
Center, Tokyo will be showing a collection of works by leading creative figures
from the art scenes of several different countries in Southeast Asia. The show
gets its name from the common – in Southeast Asia at least – phenomenon
of rain falling from clear skies, which organizers say is “a metaphor for the
vicissitudes of the region.” Mori Art Museum and The National Art Center,
Tokyo Until October 23 sunshower2017.jp/en/index.html
GREAT COLLECTORS: MASTERPIECES FROM THE
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
Vincent van Gogh, Lullaby: Madame Augustine Roulin Rocking a Cradle, 1889, Bequest of John T.
Spaulding, 48.548 Photograph © 2017 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, is renowned as one of the world’s top
museums, in both quality and scale. Even more impressive is that the museum
developed its collection entirely through the efforts of private citizens, collectors
and companies, without any assistance from the state or federal government.
This collection of 80 items from the MFA’s collection highlights the work of
the individual collectors who helped the museum reach its global status,
and features masterworks ranging from ancient Egyptian pieces to dazzling
examples of contemporary art at its finest. Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
July 20-October 9 www.tobikan.jp/en/exhibition/2017_boston.html
You might think that writer Barry Lancet
has a crystal ball somewhere around
his writer’s desk, given how topical his
most recent book, The Spy Across the
Table, manages to be. Its plot wends its
way into North Korea, and features a character
who is a high level Chinese spy. But this is
all in a day’s work for Lancet’s creation Jim
Brodie, the art dealer/private detective who
is sleuthing and fighting his way through his
fourth novel.
After two close friends of Brodie are
murdered in Washington DC, he is drawn
into action that takes him to one of the
world’s most tense geopolitical regions –
the demilitarized zone that lies between
North and South Korea. He also delves into
corners of Japan’s underworld, including the
Chongryon, a Japanese Korean group with ties
to North Korea, and the PSIA, Japan’s national
intelligence agency.
The “spy” of the title is Zhou, and as Lancet
explains, “he's based on a real encounter I
had in Tokyo years ago. He first appeared
fictionally in the second Jim Brodie book, Tokyo
Kill, and a lot of people liked him as a character
so I had planned to bring him back. I had a set
scene in this book where he was just supposed
to appear for just two or three chapters, but he
sort of took over the book. I wasn't even really
expecting it.”
Expect plenty more surprises in this taut
thriller, which hit shelves last month. Some
of the standouts from the book are the fight
scenes, which give the lie to anyone who
thinks that brawlers are just dumb brutes;
Lancet’s ability to introduce cultural details
and deep history while still keeping the pace
going; and the unflappable Jim Brodie, whose
multifaceted background gives him what his
creator sees as his greatest strength: “His
ability to see both sides of the coin without
making judgement – even when there are
three sides to the coin, or four.”
The Spy Across the Table is available on Amazon
Japan and at some Kinokuniya Stores for ¥2,837
TOKYO WEEKENDER | JULY 2017 | 41