 the japan news&ldquotakani art works,&rdquo an exhibition marking the 60year career of yoshiyuki takani, 78, who is known as a &ldquoplastic model packaging&rdquo artist, is under way at yayoi museum in bunkyo ward, tokyo, until dec. 25.the about 350 works and materials on display include many paintings with mechanical military motifs, such as tanks, aircraft, battleships, soldiers and futuristic hightech robots that were drawn for books, magazines and the packaging boxes for plastic models such as the vf1s batroid valkyrie from &ldquothe super dimension fortress macross.&rdquo these paintings impress viewers with their overwhelmingly realistic presence and delicate touches imbued with an aura of solidity.the exhibition, takani&rsquos first solo retrospective, has attracted many fans of plastic model and anime illustration, according to akiko horie, its curator at the museum. &ldquomr. takani is a charismatic illustrator who has many followers,&rdquo said horie. &ldquoi hope visitors will enjoy the appealing artistic touches of his works, which are different from works of fine art.&rdquothe exhibition is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the museum is closed on mondays. call the museum at 03 38120012 in japanese for more information.speech 
