Near the Kanda-Nishiki intersection, close to Palaceside Building, a sculpture stands leisurely at a building entrance, as if wrapping the street air＝photo top. It recalls the Buddha's palm playing with Sun Wukong—but on closer look there are seven "fingers," clearly not a palm.
The plaque reads "Abundance <Seven Pods of Beans> 2003 Ikeda Masaharu." What looked like fingers were pods (saya). Ikeda has designed many public spaces and continues questioning the relationship between form and society. Tracing a sculptor's path through such street art is enjoyable.
After teaching at Kyoritsu Women's University, Ikeda took on much work at Tokyo University of the Arts. From Tokyo University of Technology's website, where he is Dean of Design, I quote briefly:
"In 1995 I directed exterior design for the 350-meter Ashigara Service Area (inbound) on the Tomei Expressway＝photo bottom. Originally a blank inorganic space, I was asked to make it more human and began with the idea that abundant trees nearby called for simple man-made forms. I erected nine monuments of varying size to create organic space through their placement," he says.
Seeking what "Seven Pods of Beans," reminiscent of Buddha's palm, shares with Ashigara's monuments beyond being made for their sites—street art becomes all the more intriguing.