Infotropolis/Shinjuku (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century)

This lithograph from the collaborative portfolio 'One Hundred Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century' (1989–1999) depicts Shinjuku, Tokyo's dense commercial and administrative hub, through the lens of late twentieth-century information culture. The title 'Infotropolis' — a portmanteau of information and metropolis — signals Endo's central concern: the transformation of urban space by communication networks, signage, and data flow. Lithography, with its capacity for tonal gradation and fine linear detail, suits this subject, allowing the artist to render the layered visual noise of Shinjuku's streetscape — neon signage, transit infrastructure, crowds — with both precision and atmospheric density. The work participates in the meisho-e tradition of depicting famous places, updating that Edo-period convention for a contemporary moment when 'famous places' are as much nodes of information exchange as they are physical landmarks. As part of a multi-artist portfolio, the print reflects a broader effort to position printmaking as a medium capable of engaging seriously with late twentieth-century urban modernity.