Tokyo Tower (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ)
- Date:
- 1989-99
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
A color woodblock print of Tokyo Tower from Takahashi's ambitious series "One Hundred Views of Tokyo: Message to the 21st Century," produced between 1989 and 1999. The series title deliberately echoes Hiroshige's famous "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo," updating the meisho tradition for the late twentieth century. Tokyo Tower, the red-and-white lattice structure completed in 1958, serves as the modern city's most recognizable vertical landmark and a fitting subject for a project that documents Tokyo at the millennium's edge. Takahashi renders the tower within its urban context, surrounded by the dense cityscape that had grown up around it over four decades. The "Message to the 21st Century" subtitle frames the series as a time capsule, preserving Tokyo's late-Showa and early-Heisei identity.
More Prints by Takahashi Rikio
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
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The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
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Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Tokyo Tower (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ) was created by Takahashi Rikio (高橋力雄) in 1989-99.
Tokyo Tower (One Hundred Views of Tokyo, Message to the 21st Century 東京百景 21世紀へのメッセジ) depicts landscapes and architecture, set at Tokyo.