One Club exhibit showcases creative trends in Japanese ads

In a country where East and West engage on a daily basis, ad creativity is spawning provocative, often controversial work.

For instance, in a recent Japanese spot for Suntory Mineral Water, a blue river stretches elegantly toward a bottle of mineral water, morphing into different leaf shapes along the way. Its Zen-like minimalism is in stark contrast to a commercial for contact-lens store EyeCity, in which four Gen Xers stand around a disheveled warehouse, take a mysterious pill rectally, fling off their clothes and—suddenly invisible—gallivant around a city.

The two singular ads showcase the new look of Japanese advertising, currently on display in the ambiguously titled exhibit Sushi & Sake: Japanese Advertising Deciphered, Sort Of, which runs through March 23 at The One Club in New York.