A plastic statue in the rooftop garden of the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, looking out at the surrounding cityscape while curling its back under the blue sky

A rather elegant building blends in with the traditional townscape. It is the Asakura Choso-kan (Asakura Museum of Sculpture). It is an art museum that exhibits the works of sculptor Fumio Asakura, who was called the "Rodin of the Orient." The blackened concrete facade of the museum stands out in the Yanaka area, which is known for its rows of old wooden buildings.

Not only the exterior, but also the word "choso" in the museum's name has a somewhat peculiar presence. The word "choso" is a combination of the words "sculpture," the technique of carving, and "plastique," the technique of shaping, and is generally referred to as "sculpture" in Japan today. Originally, the two techniques of shaping were used differently: sculpture was used for subtractive techniques and plastique for additive techniques. However, the word "sculpture" has come to be used to describe both types of work. As a result, the word "choso" has lost its place and has fallen into the category of words that people do not pay much attention to.

When I went up to the roof of the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, I found a statue of a young man sitting on the edge of the roof. As I gazed down at the statue under the blue sky, looking down at the surrounding cityscape with its back rounded, I felt as if I understood why the word "choso" was unfamiliar to me. Perhaps the reason people no longer pay attention to the word "choso" is because the word "choso" sits still on the roof of the Asakura Museum of Sculpture, located in a corner of Yanaka. This lonely statue is the very word "choso."