Care to take a guess what the new exhibition ¡°Tokyo, Tokyo and Tokyo¡± at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum is about? In fact there are two exhibitions with the same name running concurrently, so it¡¯s ¡°Tokyo, Tokyo and Tokyo¡± and ¡°Tokyo, Tokyo and Tokyo.¡±

It may be that someone at the museum took a leaf out of Matsuo Basho¡¯s book, when the overwhelmed haiku poet could only exclaim ¡°Matsushima ah!¡± repeatedly, when confronted with Matsushima¡¯s famous scenic landscape in Tohoku. Or perhaps it¡¯s a nod to 1980s pop hit ¡°New York, New York (So Good They Named it Twice).¡± Wherever the inspiration came from, the title of the museum¡¯s second big exhibition after a two-year break for renovation is resoundingly, exuberantly clear.

With Tokyo being the object of so many excellent photographers¡¯ interest over the last 150 odd years, it¡¯s entirely legitimate that the museum should be bringing it home. What¡¯s on display in the first exhibition, displayed on the third floor, is a selection from the museum¡¯s world-class permanent collection, featuring some of the biggest names in art photography, who also happen to have done some of their best work in Tokyo.