\n\u30fbHow to mature the art market in Japan<\/a>
\n\u30fbArt as a means for reflection, creating a city with a solid core<\/a>
\n\u30fbKey points<\/a><\/p>\n
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Shuichi Okino
\n Director of the Co-Creation Marketing Office, Sales Planning Department, Mitsubishi Estate Co.
\nOkino joined Mitsubishi Estate in 2008. After being transferred to the Mitsubishi Jisho Residence, which is engaged in large-scale mixed-use redevelopment projects, office building development projects, and residential projects, he joined the Co-Creation Marketing Office in 2019. In this capacity, he seeks to collaborate with various external players to increase the value of the Mitsubishi Estate Group\u2019s existing businesses and to create new value based on \u201cnew services\u201d and \u201cnew targets.\u201d
\n<\/small><\/p>\nPersonality first: A surprising commonality between art and startups<\/h2>\n
Mr. Okino oversaw capital participation in MAGUS and has a deep knowledge of contemporary art. However, before his involvement with MAGUS, contemporary art was a bit of a distant experience for him.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cWhen I was a student, while I liked to draw pictures, in a state of not understanding anything about contemporary art, there were many things that made me wonder and ask, \u2018What the heck is this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
However, he explained that when he stepped into the world of contemporary art with interest, he began to realize various things. What he found particularly interesting was the similarities between art and startups.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cWhen I stepped into the world of contemporary art and spoke with people in the art industry, I was blessed with the opportunity to talk with gallerists and curators. At that time, I took the liberty of asking them, \u2018What is the key to identifying an up-and-coming artist from the standpoint of a gallerist?\u2019 The answer I got was, \u2018Personality.\u2019
\nRather than looking at the work itself, the gallerists were looking at why an artist chose to express themselves in such a way, and what they were thinking when they created the work. In other words, they were looking at the \u2018human thoughts.\u2019 It occurred to me then that art is an industry that looks at the artist and hopes for growth, just as VCs look at people and teams to decide which startups to invest in.
\nAnother interesting similarity is that artists\u2019 works have a context, such as a historical background. If you\u2019re too far ahead of your time, you won\u2019t be understood, and if you are late to the scene, you\u2019ll become obsolete. This is also similar to the situation when a startup releases its own product, is it not?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\nSince then, Okino has actively contacted artists and gallerists to listen to their stories. Because we are living in the same era, we can communicate with contemporary artists. More than anything, the current art industry needs to increase the number of willing artists and gallerists, and to develop its business.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cWhen we hear someone close to us say, \u2018I\u2019m going to earn my living as an artist,\u2019 we tend to think, \u2018Will they be okay?\u2019 What gives rise to these thoughts is the immaturity of the ecosystem. It\u2019s easy to understand if you compare it to the startup ecosystem. A long time ago, there were not as many startups, VCs, and investors as there are now. If a young person said, \u2018I\u2019m going to work at a startup,\u2019 people would ask, \u2018Is it safe to work for such a company?\u2019 Now, there is hardly anyone who would object to working at a startup. That\u2019s because the number of startups have expanded, the amount of money flowing into them has risen, the number of successful startups have increased, and there are more people who feel close to them. I believe that the art industry will eventually follow a similar path.\u201d<\/p>\n
How could we then create a movement to make art more accessible? Okino said the answer is to \u201cutilize the hipster spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okino : \u201cI think that many Japanese people tend to be followers of trends. Not only are they sensitive to trends; it\u2019s not unusual for a brand to become popular as soon as it is recognized as \u2018a brand that the founder of a famous company is paying attention to\u2019 or for a product to sell out after being photographed on Instagram. When you think about it like that, I think it\u2019s something that will gradually spread when people who are known influencers begin to pay attention to art and start broadcasting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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As more and more people come into contact with art in this way, art becomes a common language. In recent years, art has become a starting point for communication, as seen in communities that form when people come together in galleries to share their purchased art.<\/p>\n
Some of the major companies hold art seminars for their management. The world of contemporary art is something that should be studied from a business perspective, as it is a field in which empathy toward others is crucial.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cWe have seminars on the context of art, and we also have educational programs to make people feel more familiar with art within the company. The first thing we need is for art to become a common language for people, just as it is with sports and entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\nHow to mature the art market in Japan<\/h2>\n
Okino, who called for \u201cart to become a common language\u201d and stated that the Japanese art market is still in its infancy, and it is the mission of MUGAS to help it mature.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cIn Japan, there are museums all over the country that are so large that they attract visitors from overseas and exhibit masterpieces. Whenever a famous painter or work of art makes a triumphant return to a special exhibition, there is always a line of people waiting to get in. However, the story changes when it comes to buying and selling art.
\nCompared to other countries, the amount of art traded in Japan is remarkably low. The number of people visiting art museums is high compared to other countries, and it remains the case year after year. But when it comes to buying and selling, only a few people are interested.
\nConsidering Japan\u2019s GDP, it is not that Japan does not have the financial strength to purchase artworks. I think the problem is that even though Japan is a strong nation, art has not become a part of our daily lives. There are a lot of people who visit events like special exhibitions as an extraordinary experience, but there are not many Japanese who are interested in owning artwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It is not uncommon for Japanese-born artists to relocate overseas as it is difficult for art to be bought and sold in Japan. So why isn\u2019t the art market growing? One problem is that the circulation of information is lacking.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cI think one thing that a mature art market overseas has that Japan does not is \u2018criticism.\u2019 There are opportunities and culture to come into contact with art in Japan, but there are very few people and media that understand art from the perspective of criticism and that broadcast their criticism. I think that\u2019s why no one is getting the information they need to make a purchase.
\nIn the business that MAGUS will develop, we will transmit relevant information for purchasing art. In particular, we envision that, with a focus on contemporary art, prominent figures in various fields will act as art critics and MAGUS will distribute such criticism as content.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cMore and more high brands and manufacturers that are active worldwide are incorporating art as a way to enhance their corporate image. Our mission at MAGUS is to create a world where art and business are linked, as in the case of a company that increases the value of its products by featuring contemporary art.\u201d<\/p>\nArt as a means for reflection, creating a city with a solid core<\/h2>\n
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Mitsubishi Estate, which has been conducting business with a focus on urban growth, is now considering incorporating the context of art into urban growth. In the future, in cooperation with MAGUS, the company aims to create a unique town that utilizes art.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cYurakucho is located in close proximity to Marunouchi, the heart of Mitsubishi Estate. It is close to Ginza and has a long history as a town that values cultural development. I hope that in the future, we can take advantage of this background and work to build Yurakucho as a town of culture and art.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Mitsubishi Estate was involved in urban development for a long time, they felt that the attitude necessary for urban development was \u201cto have a solid core.\u201d This stance is also one of the common points with art.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cThe town does not need to be a town where 100 out of 100 people say it is good; rather, there should be at least a few people who love the town. That\u2019s what\u2019s necessary for urban development. Because we are building towns with different histories and characteristics, each town needs to have its own unique features.
\nIt is very important to think about how you can create a town with a solid core. Mitsubishi Estate\u2019s raison d\u2019etre is to create towns with new perspectives and intentions that do not exist in current towns. This is the raison d\u2019etre of Mitsubishi Estate.\u201d<\/p>\n
MAGUS has a wide range of roles to play, including the expansion of an economic zone based on art, the creation of culture, and the revitalization of the city; these have great potential to change the future.<\/p>\n
Okino<\/b>: \u201cUltimately, I want to create a toC paid membership platform and an economic sphere where people with art as their common denominator gather. We need a market where artists can choose their stage, whether it\u2019s Japan or the world, rather than abandoning the option of working in Japan. \u30fbMAGUS is an art business company established on March 8, 2021 with investments from four companies. What image comes to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":5441,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"5440","footnotes":""},"categories":[367],"class_list":["post-6429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","tags-mitsubishi-estate","features-slider","en-US"],"acf":{"slider_pic":5441},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6429"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6584,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6429\/revisions\/6584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5441"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xtech.mec.co.jp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI am aware of the interest and need for cultural development as a country. The other day, I had a chance to talk with some government officials, and I felt their strong will to foster culture. MAGUS will work to bridge the gap between artists, consumers, corporations, and the government, while exploring the possibilities of art.\u201d<\/p>\nKey points<\/h2>\n
\n\u30fbHints for the formation of an art market can be found in the growth trajectories of startups.
\n\u30fbMore action is needed to bring art closer to people through companies and celebrities.
\n\u30fbMitsubishi Estate also sees the potential for urban development using art.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"