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  • Workshop
  • Sanpo

Mariam Tovmasian | Sunwalks — A Sanpo Cyanotype Archive

Workshops by Mariam Tovmasian, a biennale artist.   Step away from Tokyo’s fast rhythm and explore a cyanotype workshop that captures the city’s traces and the chance moments discovered while walking. Starting from a meeting point, we will take a slow walk through the area, collecting objects that seem meaningful along the way, and then create original prints under the sun!   Cyanotype is an early photographic technique that uses sunlight and water to produce vivid blue images. Participants will learn how the shapes of various objects leave their traces on paper through light and time. By walking, noticing, and imprinting with sunlight, you will capture Tokyo’s fast-paced landscape while experiencing the slower rhythms hidden within it.   Meeting and Dismissal Points Meeting point: Hamacho Park, in front of Exit A2, Hamacho Station (Toei Shinjuku Line) Dismissal point: Etoile Kaito Living Building, 1-15-15 Higashi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku (near Bakurocho Station, JR Sobu Line)   What to bring 3–5 small objects that you associate with Tokyo or that remind you of the city An apron   Notes As the event involves walking, please join only if in good health. Outdoors under the sun—bring sun protection (parasol, hat, etc.). Wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. Participants may take their prints home, but one piece must be contributed to the artist’s exhibition. Children of elementary school age or younger must be accompanied by a guardian (guardians also require a ticket). Cancelled in case of rain.
Ongoing 09/20/2025 - 10/19/2025 / Hamacho Park (Hamacho Sta. A2 Exit)
  • Workshop
  • Sanpo

Adam Roigart | For the Public- SANPO: Exploring Forgotten Urban Spaces – Walking/Making/Hosting Together

Participatory events for a biennale artist Adam Roigart’s Sanpo Project. Roigart has long focused on overlooked corners of the city, exploring ways of intervening in these places through gatherings. In this project, participants will visit forgotten spaces scattered across Tokyo with him, assemble simple structures on site (such as tables or benches), and experience a form of temporary “hacking” and collective “hosting.” These walks into what could be called “non-places” aim to share the latent potential of each site and open it up to new relationships. At the same time, they naturally question themes that Adam has consistently been interested in: caring for places, access from the public, hands-on design experiences, and the joy of working together. Through this project, participants will engage with each site directly, while also sharing new experiences and stories with one another, creating connections between people and place.     Schedule Departure We set off toward a selected site carrying the structural parts, flags, tools, and light refreshments.  Arrival at the Site – Activating the Space – Assemble Assemble the simple structures together – Share beverage and  light snacks together. – Dismantle all structures and return the site to its original condition. Return to the Starting Point Return to the initial meeting point and bring back all items to the exhibition space.   Meeting Point 1F Workshop Space, Etoile Kaito Living Building (see Map section below)   Notes In case of rain, the event will be postponed as follows: ① Sat 10/11 -> Sun 10/12 ② Sun 10/19 -> Sun 10/26
Ongoing 10/11/2025 - 10/19/2025 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.
  • Performance
  • Sanpo

Elke Reinhuber | Sanpo with the Urban Beautician

A participatory event by Elke Reinhuber, a biennale artist.   The Urban Beautician tries to emphasise or even improve neglected details in our urban environment with non-intrusive interventions and performances to camera. Since more than two decades, she takes care of things no one else does. These overlooked details in urban space gain a new breath of life through performance, installations, video and photography.     Now in Tokyo, she invites her audience to join her on a walk through different areas to support her in identifying aspects that could do with some corrections. An introductory lecture performance will provide further insight to her approach before joining her to observe and document the nooks and crannies of the city with her ironic perfectionism.   What to Bring Camera or mobile phone, rubber gloves   Notes English support is available. In case of rain, the event will be held indoors. The event may be photographed or filmed. Please let us know in advance if you do not wish to be recorded.
Upcoming 10/18/2025 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.
  • Workshop
  • Sanpo

Nalaka Wijewardhane | Silent Walk Workshop: Contemplating the Unthinkable

A workshop by Nalaka Wijewardhane, a biennale artist.   Wijewardhane, inspired by Quentin Meillassoux’s concept of hyper-chaos, has been wandering through the streets of Tokyo, capturing the unimaginable with his camera. In this workshop, participants will join a silent walk through the city, sensing a “space of contemplation” shaped by contingency, absence, and non-human presences. By rethinking everyday spaces, sounds, and objects as independent existences beyond human centrality, participants will share in the experience of a dérive—a wandering in which the city subtly engages the body and guides perception. This is a rare opportunity to attentively engage with the faint uncertainties embedded in everyday life and to perceive the city of Tokyo from entirely new angles. Listen to the subtle voices and traces of the urban environment, and allow your body to experience the city in ways that go beyond ordinary observation. We warmly invite you to join this unique exploration.   Workshop Flow Introduction: The artist presents the work and introduces the approach to the walk Silent Walk: Participants drift through the city, opening their senses and engaging with the environment Reflection: Participants share impressions and insights from the experience   Notes The workshop will take place rain or shine The walk and workshop will be filmed, and the footage may be shown later in the exhibition space or included in a publication documenting the project. Please be aware that participants may appear in the recorded videos and photographs.
Upcoming 10/22/2025 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.
  • Performance
  • Sanpo

Shahrzad Malekian and Ida Uvaas | Performance "STIM – Kizuna"

Members of the Norway-based Tenthaus Art Collective, Shahrzad Malekian and Ida Uvaas, will present their new performance Kizuna in October 2025. Kizuna is a site-responsive work developed in and around Kanda’s Ebihara Shoten. Shaped through movement and embodied research, it leaves traces in the form of shared rhythms, presence, attentiveness, and moving images. The performance is part of Malekian and Uvaas’ long-term collaboration STIM—a living, context-specific choreographic organism. STIM unfolds through a flexible score that shifts with each location, taking on a new title in response to its surroundings. Rooted in an inquiry into time, memory, belonging, and spatial narratives, the work treats public space as a layered and contested terrain, where movement becomes a mode of listening, tracing, and reimagining. Previously presented in Norway, Singapore, and other sites, STIM adapts to each context with sensitivity to its history and social fabric. In Tokyo, the project takes form as Kizuna, engaging with Ebihara Shoten as both a structure of memory and a site shaped by visible and invisible systems of care and control.   Notes Event held rain or shine (mostly indoors). Bring an umbrella for site transfers.   Performers Shahrzad Malekian, Ida Uvaas and others   Shahrzad Malekian An interdisciplinary artist working across performance, video, and sculpture, they use play to explore power, resistance, and care within public spaces and institutions. Recent exhibitions include SACO Biennial (2025) and Singapore Art Museum (2024). @shahrzad.malekian   Ida Uvaas A movement artist exploring mobility across body, mind, and society. Through interdisciplinary, participatory works, she challenges structures and invites collective experiences across performance, visual art, and site-specific practices. @idauvaas
Upcoming 10/24/2025 - 10/26/2025 / Ebihara Shoten
  • Workshop
  • Sanpo

Camila Svenson | Rewriting the City: A Guide to Imaginary Tokyo

Workshops by Camila Svenson, a biennale artist.   This workshop invites participants to explore the concept of urban transformation through the lens of an old Tokyo travel guide. Using the guide as a starting point, we will investigate how tourist narratives shape our perception of cities and create spaces of imagination. The day begins with a collective reading and discussion of selected passages, followed by the creation of an affective map that reinterprets these references in the local context. Participants will then engage in a performative walk, following instructions inspired by the guide while documenting the journey through photography, video, sound, and object collection. Returning to the workspace, each participant will produce a “guide page” that combines text, image, and found materials, blending fiction, memory, and observation. Together, these pages will form a collaborative, hybrid guide — a poetic translation of past visions into the present urban experience.   Schedule (tentative) 13:00–13:40 Introduction & Workshop 1 “Reading the Guide and Poetic Mapping” 13:40–15:10 Performative Walk 15:10–16:00 Workshop 2 “Translation and Assembly”   Notes Preschool children are not suitable to participate. Ideally, the workshop is best suited for participants aged 16 and above. This event will be conducted in English only.
Upcoming 10/25/2025 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.

Discover the Beauty of Wooden Architecture

  • Lecture
  • Sanpo

Terunobu Fujimori Unravels Kanda's Billboard Architecture : A Dialogue on Art and Architecture between Masato Nakamura and Terunobu Fujimori.

Join us on a guided sanpo (stroll) through the neighborhoods of Kanda-Sudacho, Iwamotocho, Higashi-Kanda, and Bakurocho—areas where rare examples of Tokyo’s wooden architecture still remain. This walking tour will take you through the streetscapes of these historic districts, with stops at three wooden buildings that will serve as key venues for Tokyo Biennale 2025. The tour begins with a special talk by architectural historian Terunobu Fujimori, who will introduce the history and significance of Kanban Kenchiku—a unique style of wooden architecture characterized by decorative facades. The sanpo will be led by Masato Nakamura, an artist and General Producer of Tokyo Biennale 2025, who will guide participants through the route and share his perspectives on Tokyo’s urban fabric and the role of wooden architecture within it.
Upcoming 11/15/2025 / Ebihara Shoten

Revealing the transformations of Tokyo’s waterside

  • Lecture
  • Sanpo

Sanpo University: Special Field Lecture by Hidenobu Jinnai (Nihonbashi–Tsukudajima Route)

A walk from Nihonbashi to Tsukudajima tracing Tokyo’s waterfront history—both its original landscapes shaped by water and the new scenery emerging today. Guided by Prof. Hidenobu Jinnai, the tour explores remnants of the merchant town, the revitalized Nihonbashi Kabutocho area, the riverside along Kamejimagawa, and traces of the Edo port around Tsukudajima and Okawabata, revealing the dynamic transformations of Tokyo’s waterside through time and space.   Guide (lecturer): Hidenobu Jinnai (Vice President of “Wandering University” / Professor Emeritus, Hosei University / Director, Chuo City Local History Museum) Course: Nihonbashi – Tsukudajima Meeting Point: In front of the Nihonbashi Tourism Information Center (1-1-1 Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku) Dismissal Point: Tsukudajima (subject to change depending on weather or other circumstances)   Notes We recommend installing the Oedo Map app, “大江戸今昔めぐり,” beforehand and using it on-site (Japanese only). Participants gather and disperse on-site. Travel and accommodation are each participant’s responsibility.
Upcoming 11/18/2025
  • Tours
  • Sanpo

Masato Nakamura's Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho Sanpo

Experience the city as a gallery on this special art sanpo with Masato Nakamura, artist and General Producer of the biennale!   The Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho area has been a business hub driving the Japanese economy since the modern era. In recent years, it has also gained a reputation as a fun and exciting place to visit on your days off. Perhaps you’ve heard that its streets are lined with popular shops and restaurants—or that it’s one of Tokyo’s top destinations for art?   We’ll start with a live painting on a wall at Otemachi First Square, then stroll down Marunouchi Naka-dori to see remarkable public art and pieces from the Tokyo Biennale. Our sanpo ends at the Gyoko-dori Underground Gallery.
Upcoming 11/22/2025 / Otemachi First Square
  • Workshop
  • Sanpo

Gaku Kurokawa | Workshop "Percussions in the City"

Workshops by Gaku Kurokawa, a biennale artist.   This workshop involves participants making their own small wooden mallets and then heading out into the city to make sounds. As you walk around the city, you gently touch things that catch our eye with your mallets and listen carefully to the sounds you make. Let’s enjoy together the fun, mystery, and joy of touching things we encounter in the city with the tools we have made ourselves and listening to the sounds that result. The creation of the wooden mallets will involve only simple tasks, requiring no specialized knowledge or experience. After making the wooden mallets, we will walk with Mr. Kurokawa and listen to the sounds around us. The mallets you create can be taken home with you.   Notes Children under elementary school age must be accompanied by a guardian. This event includes a walk (approx. 1 hour) after the production, from Etoile Kaito Living Building to Kamiya Ice Shop. Please prepare an additional fare of ¥180 for transportation from Bakuroyokoyama Station to Iwamotocho Station. If a typhoon is approaching or rainfall of more than 30mm per hour is forecast on the day of the event, we will inform you of the decision to hold or cancel the event by the day before.
Upcoming 11/23/2025 - 11/24/2025 / Etoile Kaito Living Bldg.

Walking, Rediscovered

  • Lecture
  • Sanpo

Sanpo University: Special Field Lecture by Shunya Yoshimi (Ueno–Hongo–Myogadani Route)

This walking tour, beginning in Ueno and continuing through Hongo to Myogadani, traces areas undergoing redevelopment and explores urban spaces where layers of memory are being overwritten. By observing the underside of Tokyo’s transformation into a “tourist destination,” we re-examine the layers of history embedded in the city from a pedestrian’s point of view. This relaxed yet critical urban walk invites participants to reconsider the value of “Sanpo”, which we are increasingly losing amidst modernization and globalization.   Guid (lecturer): Shunya Yoshimi (President of “Sanpo University” / Professor, Faculty of Tourism and Community Development, Kokugakuin University) Date: Friday, November 28, 2025 Tour Course: Ueno – Hongo – Myogadani Meeting Point: In front of the Statue of Saigo Takamori, Ueno Onshi Park (Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo) Dismissal Point: Hatoyama Kaikan (subject to change depending on weather or other circumstances)   Notes Participants gather and disperse on-site. Travel and accommodation are each participant’s responsibility.
Upcoming 11/28/2025
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