Art Sanctuary Allan West

With an entrance fashioned from a 270-year-old temple gate and a central workshop built by a miyadaiku (temple carpenter), Allan West’s Art Sanctuary blends seamlessly into Yanaka’s shrine-dotted streets. What may surprise you is that it was never a temple, but a car repair shop, which West transformed into a studio dedicated to Nihonga. Each screen and scroll reflects the care and discipline behind the medium, making the studio feel less like a gallery and more like a sanctuary where one can enjoy the beauty of nature. Gold-leaf painting covers both the walls and the ceiling.

As the pigments are so expensive, the world of Nihonga is lost to many in modern-day Japan. Protecting the heritage of this centuries-old practice and building upon its traditions, West brings together both his American and Japanese artistic foundations. If you’re lucky, you can even catch him at work, brush in hand.