Hidden between the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, containing the Mori Art Museum and the National Art Center you can find Roppongi tunnel and its vivid Murals.
Although Street art, The Roppongi Tunnel does not feature any Grafitti, but 5 oversized paintings. Each unique, thought-provoking and certainly instagramable, it is definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.
The short tunnel stretches from the National Art Center, via Nogizaka Station on the Chiyoda line, via the Tokyo Metropolitan Road 319 towards Roppongi Hills and its Mori Art Museum. So it is the perfect way to connect the two and even squeeze in another art-related stop. Win-win!
The Murals at Roppongi tunnel
The Murals are as different as they can get, with Jun Kitagawa’s “Zipper” being popular on Instagram because of its way of letting people interact with it.
But we especially loved Toru Kuwakubo’s “ROPPONGI SEASIDE TUNNEL”. As with Art always being subjective, we could not help but finding this almost apocalyptic ocean mural quite mesmerizing. But at closer inspection, we realized that it actually depicts people digging holes into the sea. We wonder what are they looking for…
Born in Kanagawa, Toru Kuwakubo is a Tama Art University graduate. He won the “Tokyo Wonder Wall Award” in 2002 which was sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
The other Artists on the Project include Matsumoto Chikara, Samejima Daisuke and Yo Masajun. Each creating a unique Mural in this otherwise so triste space.
What we love, although all in their own style, still found a way to connect to each other. So this Art tunnel does not feel like 5 Painters competing, but rather a unified story being told.
How to get here?
There are a few stations within walking distance including Roppongi Station. But the easiest is to take the Chiyoda line to Nogizaka Station. Take “Exit 6” and it will be less than 3min on foot.
Address
〒106-0032 Tokyo, Minato City, Roppongi, 23, Unnamed Road ７丁目-２２
