21_21 DESIGN SIGHT Exhibition "Soup is Life" Directed by Designer Natsumi Toyama

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT will be hosting the exhibition "Soup is Life" from March 27, 2026. Directed by designer Natsumi Toyama, who has viewed the external environment of the body, such as clothing and housing, and the internal environment of food, as "acts that envelop the body," this exhibition will use soup as a starting point to re-examine the fundamentals of clothing, food, and shelter.

Soup is born from the minimal act of heating water and ingredients, but in that single bowl, diverse layers simultaneously breathe life: the power inherent in the ingredients, the shifting heat, the history of the land, bodily sensations, and the quiet presence of the bowl and dining space. The outer world and the inner world merge into one, and "the very environment of life" rises within the small bowl — Toyama sees this structure as the most straightforward expression of the common principle of "the body being enveloped," which underlies clothing, food, and shelter.

While modern life has become increasingly convenient, the underlying systems and environments have become more complex, and the primal senses that support clothing, food, and shelter are drifting further away. This exhibition re-examines the environment that shapes our lives from the perspective of "enveloping" it, using as clues the material presence emitted by ingredients such as water, salt, and vegetables, how they change with heat, their interaction with vessels and space, the delicate movements of the act of "eating" entrusted to a spoon, and even invisible layers such as memory and scent. It quietly brings to light the function of design hidden between clothing, food, and shelter as abstract structures and the wild senses that remain in the human body. This perspective is deeply connected to the attitude of "thinking about design from everyday life" that 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT has always cherished.

We hope that this experience, starting with the simplest food—soup—will allow visitors to discover new perspectives and insights through their five senses, as their bodies, environment, memories, and time intertwine, and lead them to an experience that touches upon the fundamentals of clothing, food, and shelter.

Special Exhibition: "Soup is Life"
Exhibition period: Friday, March 27, 2026 - Sunday, August 9, 2026
Venue: 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT Gallery 1 & 2
10:00 - 19:00 (Last entry at 18:30; closed on Tuesdays)
General admission: 1,600 yen, University students: 800 yen, High school students: 500 yen, Junior high school students and younger: Free

More information: https://www.2121designsight.jp/program/soup/

See also "Is soup the smallest unit of design? Kitchen, travel, history, body—a world connected by a single pot" article from WORKSITE (May 25, 2026): https://worksight.substack.com/p/197

Some photos from the WORKSITE article:

A scene of the 'Soup Kitchen' sketched by Vincent van Gogh in 1883. From the special exhibition "Soup is Life" photographed by Keizo Kioku.

Scenes from catering at HORO Kitchen. The meals provided at the Hara Museum mentioned in the main text are those shown in the image (Photo courtesy of Natsumi Toyama).

Satoko Kohiyama of Yamafoods is presenting a playful exhibition featuring a dining kitchen designed by Hamaguchi.

"Call for Entries: 2016 David Plath Media Award for best film/video/multimedia work on East Asian Anthropology"

Announcement via EASIANTH:

The Society for East Asian Anthropology invites submissions for the David Plath Media Award. Film, video, and multimedia submissions may address any aspect of East Asian anthropology and/or East Asian anthropology’s contribution to the broader field. The 2016 prize will be awarded for material produced in 2014 or 2015.

The prize of $300 is named for David Plath, renowned Japan-scholar and producer of award-winning documentary films. Evaluators of the work will seek to determine the scholarly significance of submissions which contribute to the anthropology of East Asia.Nominations for the prize may be made by producers/authors, distributors, or interested third parties. The award will be announced at the SEAA Business Meeting during the 2016 AAA Annual Meeting (Minneapolis, MN).

Entry deadline: May 1, 2016

Submission Details: http://seaa.americananthro.org/awards/david-plath-media-award/

"RACE Project on MSNBC"

Also form the AAA eNews, June 2008:

Not necessarily Japan related, but a follow-up to an earlier post on RACE (Are We So Different? :: A Project of the American Anthropological Association). It's actually pretty cool, check it out.

The RACE Project’s timeline of racial milestones in U.S. history currently is being featured on the msnbc.com original series: “Gut Check: Multiracial In America.” The Gut Check series includes news stories and interactive media components that explore the growing number of Americans living in multiracial families and the issues they face. View the articles, video gallery, a state-by-state map and, best of all, the AAA timeline on the web.

http://gutcheck.msnbc.com

More Contemporary Ainu Resourses

The information in this post comes from an announcement from Japan Focus.

Chisato ("Kitty") O. Dubreuil, The Ainu and Their Culture: A Critical Twenty-First Century Assessment

Chisato ("Kitty") Dubreuil, an Ainu-Japanese art history comparativist, has charted connections between the arts of the Ainu and those of diverse indigenous peoples of the north Pacific Rim. Currently finishing her PhD dissertation, Dubreuil co-curated, with William Fitzhugh, the director of the Smithsonian Artic Studies Center, the groundbreaking 1999 Smithsonian exhibition on Ainu culture.

This wide-ranging and lavishly illustrated interview explores historic and contemporary Ainu arts and Ainu social movements.

This is a very interesting article, and as promised, it includes lots of helpful images and illustrations. There are also some useful links, including one to "Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People," a multimedia presentation that should be of interest to visual anthropologists.

Link to The Ainu and Their Culture: A Critical Twenty-First Century Assessment
http://japanfocus.org/products/details/2589

Multi-media website on RACE

RACE - Are We So Different? :: A Project of the American Anthropological Association

This is a very visually-interesting site dealing with important issues. A nice balance of form and content, art and science... Good visual anthropology...

From its "ABOUT THE PROJECT" section:

We expect people to look different. And why not? Like a fingerprint, each person is unique. Every person represents a one-of-a-kind, combination of their parents’, grandparents’ and family’s ancestry. And every person experiences life somewhat differently than others.

Differences… they’re a cause for joy and sorrow. We celebrate differences in personal identity, family background, country and language. At the same time, differences among people have been the basis for discrimination and oppression.

Yet, are we so different? Current science tells us we share a common ancestry and the differences among people we see are natural variations, results of migration, marriage and adaptation to different environments. How does this fit with the idea of race?

Looking through the eyes of history, science and lived experience, the RACE Project explains differences among people and reveals the reality – and unreality – of race. The story of race is complex and may challenge how we think about race and human variation, about the differences and similarities among people.

Link to RACE
http://www.understandingrace.org/index.html

Visual Anthro Links...

Here are some links related to visual anthro, some of which will be discussed in class.




Beautiful Japan related article with suggestions by Wm. Penn on how to make Japanese TV more beautiful...

Link to Beautiful TV for beautiful country
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20070217TDY21003.htm

"Tokyo Love Hello" by Chris Steel-Perkins. A multimedia photo exhibition on the photographer's impressions of Tokyo. A little reminiscent of the February 13, 2006 Newsweek article "Where's the Real Japan?" (p. 32-35) that claims "To someone who has lived for long periods of time in the West, there is nothing particularly challenging about Japan, not anymore" (p. 33). Steel-Perkins admits there is more going on under the surface of his photos, but still his exhibition also reminds me of some of the "crazy Japan" scenes in "Lost in Translation." What do you think?

Link to Tokyo Love Hello
http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essays/tokyolovehello.aspx



Another interactive essay on the Slate webpage: "World of Changes" by photographer Thomas Hoepker. Click on the photo of the "Japan head" (under the photo of London youths smoking pot). Not Japan specific, but some interesting commentary by a well travelled and experienced photographer.

Link to World of Changes
http://todayspictures.slate.com/20060329/

Do Steel-Perkins and Hoepker have ethnographic authority? What do you think of their representations of Japan?









Asagao-no-kai (a supporting group for Megumi Yokata's family). I don't want to get into the politics of the issue here (unless someone insists...); this link is included for its interesting presentation style. It is an exhibition of photos and information about one of the Japanese abducted by North Korea.

Link to Asagao-no-kai
http://asagaonokai.jp/

Two Deaf friends of mine recently went on a trip to Cambodia to perform pantomime for Cambodian Deaf people. This link is from the Deaf Development Programme (Cambodia) homepage. See photos of their arrival, perfomance at the Deaf Community Center and a Deaf school in Phnom Penh.

Link to Deaf Pantomimes in Cambodia
http://ddp-cambodia.org/activities/2007/mimes/mimes-1.htm