Years ago, Daikanyama was one of those places you could visit for a bit of peace and quiet in Tokyo. It had beautiful tree-lined streets and lovely old traditional Japanese houses. There was also a slightly bohemian edge to it, with small independent shops and galleries littered among the back alleys. These days it's just another of Tokyo's many homogenized shopping areas — the quaint old neighborhood having been replaced by expensive stores and exclusive apartments.

But for three weeks starting this Saturday, visitors to the area will once again have a reason to go besides shopping, as the biannual "Daikanyama Installation" public art project begins.

This will see the work of 12 artists being installed in 12 sites around Daikanyama, and is the brainchild of Fram Kitagawa, chairman of the Daikanyama-based Art Front Gallery. Kitagawa has built a reputation over the years for championing public art in Japan since he directed "Faret Tachikawa" in 1994. That project, which Kitagawa still sees as one of his most successful, saw 109 works by 92 artists from 36 countries installed permanently in Tachikawa, western Tokyo.