Many students may think of Japanese arts as very traditional since our art, theatre and music have such ancient roots. I have noticed that there are many lectures and books about Japanese traditional arts, but it seems that modern arts are not popular except foranime and Japanese games. However, modern Japanese authors, Haruki Murakami and Yukio Mishima, are popular here. Murakami’s books are often on the best-seller lists, and Mishima’s novels have been made into U.S. movies. Also, contemporary Japanese arts are getting attentions in the American and European art scenes. For example, there’s lots of interest in the Japanese avant-garde now, such as Gutai group exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. If you are interested in Japanese
contemporary art, I really recommend checking out this exhibition at Gutai exhibition at http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view/gutai-splendid-playground