An art installation combining goldfish and cocktails in a lounge-like atmosphere…

Highly-stylized pop up aquariums created by ‘aquarium producer’ Hidetomo Kimura will either soothe you, blow your mind away, mesmerise you or all of the above.

In this unique exhibition, you can make your way through all the different aquariums, each conveying Japanese cultural elements: the flower aquarium presents fish floating amidst beautiful flower arrangements sticking out of the tank (ikebana), while the ‘byouburium’ projects ink drawings on folding screens (byoubu) where goldfish swim, their shadows creating art.

And it gets even better. In a kaleidoscope-like tank, you can look through a triangular lens and watch the fish swim by, with patterns changing as if you were rotating the kalleidorium, and nearby polyhedron (3D structure with flat faces and straight edges, if you’ve forgotten math class) aquariums let you view the goldfish from all angles, shining like diamonds. You can even see fish swimming in paper lanterns, thousands of them supposedly representing the red light districts of the Edo period.

As if the art part wasn’t exciting enough, the exhibition turns into a ‘Night Aquarium” during the evening, serving cocktails and presenting DJs and live music on Saturdays. Watch the video preview, and make sure you see it as it’s only here for a limited time.

Art Aquarium (click for more info/video preview)

When: July 12- Sept. 23 11:00- 19:00 (Art Aquarium), 19:00- 23:30 (Night Aquarium)

Where: Nihonbashi Mitsui Hall

How much: ¥1,000 (adults)/¥600 (children)

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