I found another second-generation Toyota Carina Japanese brochure with the mysterious glass-cube building of the Ideka 20th Century Art Museum on its cover!

It turns out the Carina is parked in the Ikeda Museum parkinglot
Ikeda Museum parkinglot

In the previous post, I was happy to have found out that the Ideka 20th Century Art Museum was featured on the front of the brochure. Last time, I couldn’t have solved the mystery without the help of Google Bard which recognized the building.

Second-generation Carina brochures with glass cube Ideka Museum compared
Second-generation Carina brochures with glass cube Ideka Museum compared

In this new second-generation Toyota Carina brochure, we also see the same glass cube building the Ideka Museum is housed in on the cover. However, this time the second-generation Carina sedan is photographed from the front of the car instead of the rear. Just like the other brochure, the photo is taken inside the museum’s parking lot. However, the building has been photographed from a different angle.

Second-generation Carina in front of the Ideka Museum from the side
Second-generation Carina in front of the Ideka Museum from the side

On the inside of the brochure, I was able to find another photo taken in front of the building. This time one from the side.

Brutalist architecture inside the second-generation Carina brochure
Brutalist architecture inside the second-generation Carina brochure

In addition to these photos, also a photo of a Carina coupé parked in front of a building can be found. At first, I thought this was the entrance to the Ideka Museum, but it wasn’t. The building looks like the entrance of some Brutalist architecture. Brutalist architecture is a term for the typical massive concrete buildings from the 1960s and 1970s. A good example would be the city hall of Dallas which was used in the first Robocop movie. I browsed through Japanese Brutalist architecture, but I gave up quickly: there is so much concrete in Japan!

Japanese brutalist architecture: Kyoto International Conference Center
Japanese brutalist architecture: Kyoto International Conference Center

Naturally, I tried the same thing as before: feed the photo to Google image search. Unfortunately, Google Bard had much more difficulty identifying it. Sure, it could identify the black Carina coupé as a Toyota Carina, but not the building behind it. At first, I tried to cut off the car, but that only resulted in Google images of slabs of concrete. I then made an attempt to reconstruct the lines of the building behind the Carina, but even that didn’t match anything. So now I have the same urge as before: find out which building this is. I’m back to square one!