The first session, themed "How to Nurture the City of the Future," featured architect Kengo Kuma, who designed the exterior of MoN Takanawa, and artist Katsuhiko Hibino, president of Tokyo University of the Arts. The session provided an opportunity to hear their perspectives on MoN Takanawa, a museum open to the city, as well as the relationship between local communities and art.

Venue was the 1st floor Park Terrace, a comfortable, open space bathed in warm sunlight. In addition to the 1st floor seating, many people also watched the stage from the 2nd and 3rd floors.

In the next session, poet Machi Tawara and comedian and author Naoki Matayoshi appeared.Under the theme of "When you encounter words, the world changes," they talked about each other's works and their approaches to words.

Whether it's tanka or haiku, the beauty of words lies in the fact that they are perceived differently by each person who receives them. The discussion was lively, and ideas for future events were sparked, such as "It would be fun to have everyone share a poem each and talk about it in Tatami, which has about 100 tatami mats of space."

Furthermore, Matayoshi, who will be appearing as a manga logger in "MANGALOGUE : HINOTORI" also spoke about his excitement for this new experience of being able to share manga, which he usually reads alone, with many people.

The next session featured lacquer artist and a Living National Treasure Kazumi Murose and model and tefutefu Creative director Hikari Mori.

Under the theme of "Living with Crafts, Living with Crafts," two individuals involved with "lacquer," a craft passed down through generations, from different perspectives, discussed imagining the future and the past, and how to interact with nature. They brought valuable works onto the stage and also talked about their thoughts on incorporating crafts into everyday life. It was an opportunity to feel closer to crafts.

The session, themed "Learning from Edo: Hints for Imagining Tomorrow," featured actor and painter Tsurutaro Kataoka and historical writer Atsushi Kawai.

The two, reunited after a long time apart, discussed the history of Takanawa, which was the "gateway to Edo," and the rich culture of the Edo period, focusing on free imagination and creativity. It was a time to reaffirm that a rich culture could only flourish during a time of peace.

The next session, titled "MoN TALK," featured media artist and picture book author Toshio Iwai and artist Akinori Goto, both of whom are exhibiting their works at the currently running "Spiral, Spiral."

Together with Maholo Uchida the artistic director of MoN Takanawa, we discussed the highlights of the "Spiral, Spiral" and also spoke about the origins of the creativity of these two artists who continue to create "swirling things."

Finally, it was time for the last session. The theme of this session was "Sharpening Your Sensitivity to Transform Your Heart into Sound: Talk & Live," and the guests were composer Akira Senju and violinist Mariko Senju, a brother and sister duo. They shared stories about their mother, who nurtured the sensibilities of the three siblings, including Japanese painter Hiroshi Senju, who are active in the world of art, and also shared how the two of them approach their own work.

Finally, they presented a special collaborative stage. The beautiful melodies they played in the open space captivated all the attendees.

The MoN Future Conference brought together creators from a wide variety of cultures. It was a day that truly gave us a glimpse of what a "vessel for harmonizing cultures" might look like.

Some of this footage is available on MoN Takanawa's official YouTube channel. Please check it out!

"How to Nurture the City of the Future"

"When you encounter words, your world changes."

"Living with crafts, living with crafts"

"Learning from Edo: Hints for Imagining Tomorrow"

"Spiral, Spiral" Creator Talk

"How to hone your sensitivity to transform your heart into sound"