Nippon América 日本アメリカ and Google Mexico invite you to tour Tokyo.
Nippon América 日本アメリカ is a project by Mexican artist Alantl Molina, first presented in Tokyo in September 2019, later at the Barranquilla Arts Carnival in February 2020, and which in 2021 will be available on Google Maps thanks to a partnership with Google Mexico. The photography exhibition Nippon América 日本アメリカ is an approach to Japan through the eyes of three Latin American photographers of Japanese origin: Brazilian Marcio Takeda ( @takeda_marcio ), Peruvian Luis Okamoto ( @luisokamotope ) and Mexican Taeko Nomiya ( @nomiyataeko ). Mexican Taeko Nomiya is a renowned photographer who uses the double exposure technique, which consists of combining two photos into a single image, to explore her dual nationality by combining scenes from Japan and Mexico. In this exhibition, Taeko uses this technique to recreate scenes she remembered from visiting Tokyo as a child. Marcio Takeda is a Brazilian photojournalist who, in the exhibition Nippon America 日本アメリカ, presents festive, colorful digital photos that capture the surprises Marcio encounters when he takes his camera out onto the streets. Luis Okamoto, meanwhile, takes Polaroid snapshots that focus on architectural details. His images feature shapes and textures that Okamoto transforms into symbols that summarize important aspects of Japanese culture. “The Japan we see in the photos in the Nippon America 日本アメリカ exhibition is unlike any version of the Asian country we've seen before. Turning to three photographers who are simultaneously Latin American and Japanese allowed us to approach the country from a different perspective than the one repeatedly presented to us in Western films or artworks about it,” says Alantl Molina. The images featured in this exhibition were captured in Tokyo in August 2019, when the three photographers visited the city to compare the Japan they had heard about from their families with the real-life country. In collaboration with Google, a version of the Nippon America map (日本アメリカ) was created so that users can virtually tour the exhibition and add their own route and images. “Platforms like Google Maps, which allow you to create and share personalized maps, can achieve a very unique convergence with photography, taking us to different places in the world without having to leave home. We joined the Nippon America exhibition with the goal of promoting the dissemination of art, and of this project in particular, both within and outside Mexico,” said Fiorella Fabbri, Product Manager at Google Mexico. The Tokyo map will display red icons to view the image taken at that location, accompanied by audio and an explanation. Additionally, users can compare the photo with the location on Google Street View and explore it while listening to the audio. The result is a unique experience that allows users to explore Japan through technology, art, and photography. Unlike traditional photography exhibitions, Nippon America (日本アメリカ) is also a social experiment that, through an ingenious interplay with the viewer, shows us how much of the time we tend to project our own ideas instead of understanding the reality in front of us. “Nippon America (日本アメリカ) shows us that, if we open our eyes to what is in front of us, instead of trying to impose our ideas, we can discover that even in what seems most remote and indecipherable, there are codes we can understand, and that nothing in this world is untranslatable,” concludes the creator of this exhibition. To explore the location from Street View and listen to the audio, go to https://www.japonamerica.art
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Join us for a book talk, reception, and panel discussion on Japanese Canadian history. The panel discussion will also be live-streamed via Zoom!
