Tsubasa Kato “Raise／Topple”

30 August, from 4:00 PM
Location: Open lot at Saiwaichō Danchi (in front of Shōju Mihama Nursing Home)

This marks Kato’s first appearance in the Greater Tokyo area in 11 years. Whether you are new to the project or have experienced it in the past, the artist warmly invites you to take part.

The venue, Saiwaichō Danchi, is one of Japan’s largest post-war housing complexes, established during the period of rapid economic growth and now home to approximately 10,000 residents. Built on reclaimed land in 1964 alongside the Chiba Food Industrial Complex, the danchi welcomed its first residents in 1967. Today, those original residents are now in their late seventies and eighties, while in recent years, a growing number of foreign-born residents have moved in. Factory workers, language school students, families with young children — Saiwaichō Danchi now consists of approximately 40% elderly and 15% foreign nationals, representing a striking microcosm of Japan’s near future. Event posters, designed by Tomokimi Washio, have been displayed around the neighborhood in five languages.

Historically, residents brought a wide range of regional festival cultures to Saiwaichō Danchi, gradually forming a unique community and annual “Danchi Festival.” This year, in conjunction with the festival, we will attempt to collectively overturn a life-sized wooden structure replicating a danchi apartment room (3.6 × 8.9 × 7.2m) using ropes, together with local residents.

By gathering people of diverse generations, languages, and lifestyles to work together, even momentarily, this performance seeks to create a new shared memory — one that signifies Saiwaichō Danchi’s transformation as it moves toward the future.