Youthful Artistic Expression at Tokyo Dome City

Located just north of central Tokyo, Bunkyo City is best known for its historic and cultural vibes. Aside from being home to the University of Tokyo, the ward is also filled with beautifully-preserved gardens, shrines, and temples, with some of the most popular ones being Nezu Shrine, Yushima Tenman-gu Shrine, Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, and Rikugien Gardens. For museum fans, Bunkyo also features a number of interesting spots, from the Printing Museum to the Tokyo Waterworks Historical Museum. However, in terms of tourism, Bunkyo is most renowned for Tokyo Dome City.

Tokyo Dome City is a multi-facility destination that features various event halls—including the renowned Tokyo Dome, a famous baseball and concert venue; Tokyo Dome City Attractions, a free admission amusement park where everyone can have fun; LaQua, a fusion commercial facility where visitors can enjoy a natural hot spring spa, shopping, and restaurants; and Tokyo Dome Hotel, which has 1,006 guest rooms. With its host of indoor and outdoor activities, Tokyo Dome City truly has something for everyone—rain or shine. In addition to its tourism offerings, Tokyo Dome City also has launched numerous initiatives to support the betterment of the local community. One of these projects is the Tokyo Dome City Art Project.

A collaboration between Tokyo Dome and the Tokyo University of the Arts, the Tokyo Dome City Art Project is a five-year initiative focused on conducting art-related research, connecting guests with art, and creating opportunities for young artists. Through these activities, the project aspires to develop an art culture, solve social issues through art, and create social wealth. “Usually, art is about the final product,” Masato Nakamura, a professor at the Tokyo University of Arts shared, “But for this project, the goal is social engagement—meaning the process is the artwork.” As a place where traditional culture and education shine, Bunkyo serves as an excellent place to launch this art-focused project. Additionally, Tokyo Dome City, with its heavy foot traffic and countless spatial opportunities for art displays, is the perfect venue to promote artistic expression. Given the noteworthy location and environment, the Tokyo University of Arts and Tokyo Dome City hope the project can serve as a model case of a creative community where society and corporate activities create value together.

The project’s first displays are “Radius harps” and “After a typhoon.” These artworks decorate the wall that connects the Gallery AaMo in Tokyo Dome City to Suidobashi Station and were created by 32-year old Rintaro Takahashi, a graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts. Since Tokyo Dome’s roof is supported by air, it releases a stronger-than-normal breeze when its doors are opened. This impressive wind served as the inspiration for Takahashi’s displays. The tunnel’s illuminated walls are decorated with a series of photos of the artist himself fighting the winds with a parachute. Towards the end of the tunnel, visitors can enjoy a gentle sound that Takahashi recorded with harps played by the wind. When we inquired about his artwork, Takahashi said, “I hope people will see the invisible and hear sounds they have never heard before.” Takahashi also aims to create a form of measurement that people can understand. Oftentimes in Japan, people use the Tokyo Dome as a unit of measurement. For example, “X building” is the size of three Tokyo Domes. This expression, however, has a vague impression in terms of measurement.

Before the Tokyo Dome City Art Project, the tunnel used to be an ordinary passageway lined with advertisements. Now, it serves as a place where people can challenge their visual and auditory perceptions of the area. “People who view these artworks will see and appreciate things in a new way,” Yasutaka Tobita in the Tokyo Dome’s Operations Department shared, “In this world of diversity, many people have different ways of thinking and it is important to accept those differences.”

At its core, art is a reflection of its creator’s emotions and values. Oftentimes, it seeks to challenge viewers’ long established perceptions, make statements, and inspire critical thinking. These philosophies go hand-in-hand with sustainability. In order to realize a sustainable future, people must make intentional and meaningful changes, which often go against their routines. In this sense, art serves as an excellent catalyst to encourage different mindsets. “I think it is interesting that visitors can gain unique insights, not by going to a museum, but just by walking through the city,” Tobita said.

With the Tokyo Dome City Art Project, young artists can not only express themselves and their values, but also inspire visitors to think in a new way. After all, creativity spawns innovation, which is a key element in sustainable change. When we asked Nakamura and Tobita if younger generations have the power to influence older generations, they both confidently responded with “yes.” “In terms of art, it doesn’t really matter how old an artist is or what their background is,” Tobita explained, “What matters is how the artwork touches and inspires the viewer.” Tobita believes that this feeling of being moved by art is a powerful tool in facilitating positive change.

Tourists can enjoy Takahashi’s thought-provoking displays from July 2022 to July 2023 and gain deeper insight into Tokyo’s youth art community.

Supporting Sustainable Travel One Refill at a Time

Avoiding single-use plastics can seem nearly impossible while traveling. Whether you are stopping by a konbini (convenience store) or grabbing a beverage from a vending machine to hydrate, plastic bottles are everywhere. In order to combat this unnecessary waste and promote sustainable living overall, Robin Takashi Lewis and Mariko McTier founded mymizu.

mymizu is Japan’s first water refill app and connects users to roughly 200,000 free refill spots worldwide, including about 12,000 in Japan alone. “Basically, we thought, “Well this should exist, but it doesn’t. So, how about we make it happen and see what we can do,”” McTier shared. These refill stations include cafes, restaurants, hotels, water fountains, and more. With its refill tracker, the app even helps users to calculate the number of single-use plastic bottles, CO2 emissions, and money they have saved. Apart from its app, mymizu also offers sustainability-related lectures and events for companies, governments, and educational institutions and collaborates with businesses—including large companies, hostels, and travel agencies—to promote eco-friendly ideals. “The app we see more as a tool,” McTier shared, “...the bigger part is getting people interested in sustainability and taking action .” Overall, mymizu’s mission is to create a world where people can more easily enjoy and realize sustainable lifestyles. To start, all visitors need are reusable water bottles.

Both co-founders exhibit remarkable fervor when it comes to sustainability and entrepreneurship. In 2020, Lewis received the “Innovators Under 35 Japan” award as an “Envisioner” for his co-establishment of mymizu. Prior to mymizu, Lewis worked for over 10 years with social companies and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) around the world. McTier, who spent years promoting innovation between Japan and the UK before supporting NGOs and social enteprises as a freelancer, was featured in Forbes Japan as a “Self-Made Woman” in 2020 for her co-founding of mymizu. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum, “Global Future Council of Japan,” which aims to create a vision for a sustainable future in Japan. Together, Lewis and McTier believe that combined individual efforts have the ability to change the world.

Given its offerings, mymizu serves as an excellent resource for tourists who want to travel more sustainably. Aside from its map of refill stations, the app is also one of the best ways to connect with sustainability-conscious businesses in Tokyo. Presently, the app has helped save over 600,000 plastic bottles! There are refill stations throughout the city, including popular areas like Shibuya City, Ueno Park, Odaiba, and more. The app shows visitors whether the refill spot is private, such as a restaurant or cafe, or public, like a water fountain, and provides important details, including business hours, refill instructions, and types of water (i.e. filtered, hot, cold, tap, etc). The app even has a QR code that visitors can use to share information about mymizu with businesses that they think would make good refill stations. When we asked McTier what she would like to share with tourists, she responded with an optimistic smile, “We hope that wherever you go in Japan, you can find a refill spot, and if not, that you use the opportunity to spread the message. People have power. We all have the ability to influence what is going on around us. So, join our movement.”

Being in their late 20’s and early 30’s when they founded mymizu, Lewis and McTier illustrate younger generations’ awareness of sustainability and their aspirations to make Tokyo and the world a better place. In fact, mymizu’s team is primarily composed of people in their 20’s and 30’s. “There’s kind of a shared frustration and slight anxiety about the future,” McTier shared in regards to young people’s ideals, “However, these feelings are matched with the thought that, “we can make a difference.”” McTier is happiest when mymizu users realize that their actions do count. “It’s a real mindset shift,” she beamed.

Thanks to its global network of refill spots, mymizu is a perfect catalyst to inspire tourists to make sustainable changes in Tokyo, Japan, abroad, and even in their home countries. mymizu’s website says it best, “Join us on our journey as we build a world with cleaner oceans, healthier ecosystems and happier people—one bottle at a time!”

Experience Tokyo’s Youth-Inspired Sustainability as a Tourist

To many tourists, Tokyo glistens as a city of the future. While most associate these futuristic vibes with the metropolis’s impressive skyscrapers and technology, the atmosphere can be equally defined by its remarkable youth. Across Tokyo, younger generations are redefining tourism in Tokyo by inspiring innovation through creative thinking and spreading awareness about sustainability. With apps and tourist destinations as venues, these young people are sharing eco- and socially-conscious messages with peers, older generations, and visitors. Today, tourists have wonderful opportunities to explore younger generations’ sustainable ideals in an intriguing and fulfilling manner—further enriching Tokyo as a place where sustainable travel thrives. As expressed by mymizu’s founders, individual actions, no matter how seemingly small, can make a difference and contribute to society’s next chapter. Through travel, let’s discover that future chapter in Tokyo together.