Featured Events in Japan in July, 2025 (May Updated)

Famous swords were the supreme treasure of samurai families. Not only were they excellent weapons, but over the years, they have been possessed by many rulers during times of war, or given as gifts at happy turning points in life, and as a result, their value has increased even more. In this way, for hundreds of years, many famous swords have been passed down from hand to hand, and have been preserved and passed down to the present day along with their gorgeous sword fittings that are befitting of their status. This exhibition will focus on the swords and sword fittings in the collection of the Tokugawa Art Museum, and will display famous swords associated with famous warlords and daimyo, as well as gorgeous sword fittings, while focusing on the various stories surrounding the works. This large-scale exhibition, befitting the 90th anniversary of the museum's opening, will feature a selection of national treasures, important cultural properties, and famous items. The profound world of swords and sword fittings, which continue to be fascinating even through the ages, will be introduced from both the historical background and the beauty of the works themselves.

The National Museum of Western Art will hold the "Nationalmuseum of Sweden Drawing Collection - From Renaissance to Baroque" exhibition from July 1st to September 28th, 2025. The Nationalmuseum of Sweden, located in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is one of the oldest art museums in the world, based on art collected by the Swedish royal family. In particular, the museum's drawing collection is known for its rich quality and quantity, even on a global scale. This time, we will hold an exhibition that introduces a selection of masterpieces from the drawing collection, from the Renaissance to the Baroque. Since drawings are easily affected by changes in the environment, light, and vibration, it is usually difficult to exhibit drawings held overseas in Japan, so this will be the first time that the world's best collection of drawings, about 80 pieces, will come to Japan. This exhibition allows you to fully enjoy the charm of drawings, which are filled with all of the artist's skill and imagination, including works by masters such as Dürer, Rubens, and Rembrandt.

Creators Expo Tokyo is a comprehensive exhibition consisting of 7 specialised trade shows related to content Creators Expo Tokyo is a comprehensive exhibition consisting of 7 specialised trade shows related to content. This is the venue where content creators, distributors, solution/technology providers, marketing companies, and licensing professionals get together under one roof. Information Source: Reed Exhibitions Japan Ltd. | expotobi

Fukahori Ryusuke (born in Aichi Prefecture in 1973) is an artist who is fascinated by goldfish and continues to create works of art. This exhibition will feature around 300 works, from his early period to his latest, with a focus on his Goldfish Sake series, which the artist named himself after the incident of being saved by a goldfish. His virtuoso 2.5D (dimensional) paintings (which look like swimming goldfish when viewed from above, but what about from the side?) bring to life the cruelty, strangeness, beauty, loveliness and transience of life.

How have the works of Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) been passed down to the present day? This exhibition focuses on the collection that has been passed down through his family. Van Gogh's younger brother Theo, who supported Van Gogh's painting career and kept most of his works, passed away six months after his brother's death, and Theo's wife Yo took over the management of the vast collection. Yo dedicated her life to increasing her brother-in-law's fame, lending and selling his works for exhibitions, and organizing and publishing his vast letters. His son Vincent Willem created the Vincent van Gogh Foundation and worked hard to establish a museum to prevent the collection from being dispersed. The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam houses approximately 200 oil paintings and 500 drawings by the painter Vincent van Gogh, as well as letters, related works, and ukiyo-e prints. Most of the pieces were permanently loaned by the Vincent van Gogh Foundation when the museum opened in 1973. This exhibition will mainly feature works from the Van Gogh Museum, but will also display more than 30 of Van Gogh's works, as well as four of his letters, which will be on display in Japan for the first time, to introduce the collection that has been protected and passed down through the family.

The fireworks display this time featured fireworks No. 3 to No. 5 and the wonderful Starmine fireworks. Starting from 19:50, the fireworks that continued to rise into the sky wove the night sky into a series of brilliant paintings. The last 15 minutes of Starmine bursts pushed this visual feast to a climax. The fireworks poured down like a meteor shower, lighting up the entire night sky and igniting the surprise and touch in people's hearts.

The British Museum of Natural History is coming to Japan for the first time! A full-body reconstructed skeleton of the 37-meter-long "Patagotitan mayorum" is on display! The exhibition "Titanosaur: Life as the Biggest Dinosaur," which was well received at the British Museum in London, is coming to Japan! Yokohama will be the first stop on its international tour. The museum will introduce the world's largest sauropod, Patagotitan mayorum, through an impressive, fully restored skeleton measuring approximately 37 meters in length, and interactive exhibits. Many specimens from Japan are also gathered here! Learn about not only giant sauropods, but also the history of the gigantism and prosperity of dinosaurs. Under the supervision of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and the Fukui Prefectural University Dinosaur Research Institute, numerous specimens of dinosaurs other than sauropods and other creatures are collected from all over the country and exhibited in one place. The museum introduces the history of the flourishing of dinosaurs and the evolution of living things through a wide range of specimens, including non-dinosaur paleontologists and extant mammals. A moving specimen?! An impressive dinosaur robot is also on display! This robot is made by Kokoro Co., Ltd., a company that makes high-quality dinosaur robots that are exhibited in museums both in Japan and overseas, such as the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and the British Museum of Natural History. Even adults will be amazed by its life-size, realistic appearance.

Kimono have been used as clothing to adorn people's bodies. Kimono are decorated with designs on the surface, and because they are made from a fixed width of cloth sewn in straight lines, they have a very flat appearance, but the colorful designs they incorporate give them a three-dimensional appearance when worn as clothing. This shift between flat and three-dimensional is interesting, as it is very different from Western clothing, which is designed and produced from the beginning using three-dimensional cutting.

The Tachikawa Festival National Showa Kinen Park Fireworks Display will be held in Tachikawa, Tokyo. This summer tradition of Tachikawa is characterized by its ability to keep spectators entertained from start to finish, including spectacular fireworks rarely seen in Tokyo and star thunders with a diameter of 130 cm.

Rusutsu Resort has a variety of activities such as an amusement park where you can have fun. During the summer vacation, from July 26 (Sat), August 2 (Sat), 9 (Sat) to August 16 (Sat), 23 (Sat), 2025, a gorgeous fireworks display with 1,200 fireworks will be set off with music. Rusutsu Resort offers a variety of outdoor and indoor activities for children in the summer, allowing you to fully enjoy the outdoors in Hokkaido. In addition to the fireworks display, you can also enjoy activities such as the amusement park and rafting, as well as the Yotei Panorama Terrace, which offers a panoramic view of Mt. Yotei, Lake Toya, and Shikotsu-Toya National Park, and even make waffle ice cream. It contains a lot of materials for summer independent learning projects, perfect for summer family trips.

Kuwana Town, famous for its waterways, has been hosting a fireworks display since 1934 (Showa 9). Large fireworks are launched from the sandbar of the Ibigawa River, and the entire scenery is bathed in light when viewed from the riverbank. You can enjoy a variety of fireworks, such as music fireworks set off to music and starlight fireworks that are launched continuously. About 10,000 fireworks will be set off, including the largest two-shaku fireworks in the Tokai region. Two-shaku fireworks are large fireworks with a diameter of about 600 meters, creating a spectacular sight in the night sky.

Get ready to witness the legendary Iggy Pop live in concert at Marymoor Live - Presented By Toyota in Redmond. The event is scheduled to take place on July 28, 2025. Iggy Pop, known for his influential contributions to rock music, promises an electrifying performance that will leave fans in awe. Don't miss this rare opportunity to experience a true icon of the music industry in action. Secure your tickets now to be part of an unforgettable evening filled with unforgettable music and memories.

The Sumiyoshi Festival is one of the three major summer festivals in Osaka, and it is also a grand festival in the back of the summer in Osaka. The three-day event starts on July 30 and ends on August 1. There are three well-known events: "God Washing the Gods", "Xia Yuexi" and "God Yu Yu". "God washes the gods" refers to the ritual of washing the gods with sea water on July 30. The shrine starts from Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine and heads towards Sumiyoshi Park, which used to be in the direction of Yoshihama, washing the shrine with sea water as it goes. This seawater is brought back in the morning by the special ship "Shiokabune" of the Osaka Sumiyoshi Fisheries Association from Osaka Bay, which is considered a sacred seawater. After the cleaning was over, Miyu returned to Sumiyoshi Taisha. "Xia Yue's sacred events" is considered to be an intangible cultural heritage, and it is also the highlight of the annual festival on July 31. It is a ceremony in which a gorgeously dressed Xia Yue girl and a golden boy and a jade girl drill the thatch together. Ordinary people can also participate, praying for no disease and no disaster. "Shinyu Togo" refers to a ceremony in which the deity of Sumiyoshi the Great God parades through the shrine to Sakai no Judo Intongu. Local residents will participate in the activities of raising the gods, and the scene is very lively.

The Mingei movement in Osaka was first started by the founding of the Japan Crafts Museum by Miyake Chuichi (1900-1980), a member of the Mingei movement. Having read Yanagi Muneyoshi's The Way of Crafts, Miyake joined the Mingei movement and in 1950 established the Japan Crafts Museum in Osaka (now closed) to widely introduce the beauty of excellent crafts from all over Japan to the Kansai region. At the same time, he also turned his attention to the situation of various production areas, mainly in Kyushu, and made an effort to produce and support crafts. However, Miyake had doubts about the way the movement was conducted at the time, so in 1959 he left the Japan Folk Crafts Association, where Yanagi was the chairman, and founded the Japan Folk Crafts Association. From then on, he developed his own Mingei movement based on the Japan Crafts Museum and the Japan Folk Crafts Association.

Nijigen no Mori's hugely popular attraction, Godzilla Intercept Operation, will hold a "Destroyah Special Exhibition" for a limited time from Thursday, March 13th to Sunday, December 14th, 2025, as part of the "30th Anniversary of Destroyah's Birth Project". This special exhibition will allow you to enjoy the world of "Godzilla vs. Destroyah", the final installment of the Heisei vs. Godzilla series, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary since its release, through various exhibits. This is the first time that a special exhibition dedicated to "Destroyah" has been planned, and in particular, the exhibition of "Destroyah's flying objects and aggregates", which have rarely been shown in the past, and the comment panel exhibition from Hideo Okamoto, who designed Destroyah, and Shinichi Wakasa, who sculpted it, are must-see projects for fans. The "Destroyah Special Exhibition", surrounded by numerous battle scenes with Destroyah in which Godzilla used all his strength, is a special project only available at Nijigen no Mori! Godzilla fans around the world, come witness everything about Godzilla's greatest enemy, Destroyah, here!

Oka Nobutaka and Maki Susumu, who both became apprentices of Kawabata Ryushi in their teens and trained at Seiryusha, were bound by a deep bond of affection, but each went their own way after becoming independent. This exhibition will feature a selection of works from the museum's collection by these two artists who are key players in contemporary Japanese painting. The exhibition will focus on Oka's elegant flower and bird paintings, which make use of the stylized beauty of Japanese painting, and Maki's masterpieces, which depict the beauty of impermanence using the four seasons of Japan as their subject. This is a special exhibition unique to our museum, which houses a comprehensive collection of works by both artists.

In this exhibition, Wurm will explore the human body, one of the most fundamental sculptural motifs, through themes of time, volume and surface, figuration, and representation. The human form—shaped by external influences such as clothing, furniture, language, and social ideologies—is depicted as fragile, mutable, and filled with boundless possibilities. Often absurd and paradoxical, Wurm’s works expose the structures underlying social norms, institutions, and power. The exhibition will feature the Japan premiere of Wurm’s latest large-scale installation, School (2024), along with recent key works from his Skins and Flat Sculpture series.

Celadon is a kind of ceramic that has a trace amount of iron in its glaze and turns green after high-temperature firing. Celadon has a long history. It was born in China in the 2nd century AD, and then continued to develop and spread to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, and even all over the world. Celadon occupies an important position in the history of East Asian ceramics. Its unique beauty is not only fascinating, but also a symbol of authority and wealth. The most fascinating thing about celadon is its beautiful glaze color, and its color will change subtly due to the different firing environment and the color of the body, making celadon present a rich and diverse appearance. This exhibition selects the treasures of Chinese and Korean celadon in the museum's collection, and also introduces Japanese and modern celadon works, allowing the audience to appreciate the dazzling charm of celadon in the history of East Asian ceramics. In addition to this exhibition, special exhibitions and collection exhibitions will be held to display representative works in the museum's collection. In each exhibition, works from the special project "Treasures of Osaka - Twenty Selections of MOCO" held in commemoration of the Osaka Kansai Expo will also be displayed.

Quo Vadis (1903-04, revised in 1920) is the oil painting that marked the finale of the Paris period of Alfons Mucha (1860-1939), a leading Czech artist. The large painting, measuring over two meters in length and width, depicts a scene from a novel in which a young girl kisses a marble statue in an ancient Roman villa. The person peering from behind does not appear in the original novel. Many things surrounding this work, such as its identity and the reason for choosing this scene, have remained shrouded in mystery. This exhibition will reveal the full picture of Quo Vadis, which was missing for a long time until it was discovered in 1979. It will also trace Mucha's creative path leading up to this painting through his representative prints, illustrations, drawings, oil paintings, and jewelry, and will fully introduce the charm of the museum's world-leading Mucha collection, which is one of the museum's prides. In addition, a nearly life-size tapestry woven using Sakai Dantsu, a hand-woven carpet technique handed down in Sakai City, will be on public display for the first time. This will be a new page in the history of the painting that was originally intended to be the original for a carpet, created in America in 1910.

Over the past two decades, Kohei Nawa’s mixed-media practice has explored the reciprocal interplay between materiality, perception, and codification in an era of accelerated technological and ecological transformation. Series such as “PixCell” have emerged through his sustained engagement with materials that alter the surface of found objects, highlighting recursive exchanges between engineered substances and encoded signifiers, as well as between digital data and sculptural form. “Sentient”—Nawa’s sixth solo exhibition with the gallery and his first in three years—extends this inquiry, challenging conventional ontologies of objecthood through a diverse array of artistic interventions.

Shimose Art Museum will hold the exhibition "Surroundings, Development, Circumstances - Circumstances and Geography of Contemporary Art" from Saturday, April 26, 2025 to Monday, July 21, 2025 (National Holiday). This special exhibition is held to commemorate the museum's receiving the Versailles Prize (an architecture award established by UNESCO Headquarters) in 2024, and will be the museum's first contemporary art exhibition. Artist Saito Keita will serve as chief curator, with Matsuyama Takanori, Li Jingwen, and Negami Yoko participating as co-curators. This international exhibition will also feature artists with roots in East Asia, including China, Indonesia, South Korea, Myanmar and Singapore, including Endo Kaoru, Kin Riyu, Kugita Daichi, Suzuki Misao and MADARA MANJI from Japan, Omyo Cho from South Korea, Zheng Tianyi from China, Muhamad Gerly from Indonesia and Soe Yu Nwe from Myanmar.

During the Sengoku period, various cultural artifacts from Europe and Asia were brought to Japan through trade with the Western countries. This exhibition will focus on the various aspects of exchange with the world that had a major impact on Japanese society, such as the introduction of Christianity and firearms.

In this exhibition, works from these two genres will be displayed side by side in two halves of the exhibition room, allowing visitors to first experience the difference in their form with their own eyes. The exhibits will mainly consist of national treasures and important cultural properties from the museum's collection. What makes these works so outstanding, and how? We will introduce points to look out for in appreciation, such as the highlights as calligraphy and their historical importance, while also explaining technical terms in an easy-to-understand way. Let's begin our appreciation of sutra copying and calligraphy through these masterpieces.

Shosoin THE SHOW, an exhibition event supervised by the Imperial Household Agency's Shosoin Office, will be held on the occasion of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, where visitors can experience and enjoy the miracle of Shosoin and its treasures, which are still in good condition after 1,300 years of rare items. These treasures, which still shine and do not fade, have been passed down through the hearts and hands of people throughout the ages. This exhibition will unravel the story of the miracle of Shosoin's 1,300 years from the three perspectives of "love, beauty, and weaving." This exhibition is unique in that it will make full use of the latest digital techniques. The treasures will be scanned from 360 degrees and displayed in high-definition 3D digital data, allowing visitors to experience the details and texture of the treasures in a realistic way. In addition, the "replicas" that the Shosoin Office has been researching and producing will be exhibited in combination with video, music, and lighting, providing a new encounter with Shosoin. In addition, new works created by contemporary artists, including fashion designer Tomoe Shinohara, inspired by Shosoin treasures will be introduced. Photography and posting on social media is permitted throughout the venue, not just at the photo spots. This is an exhibition event that is truly colored with the splendor of a show, with cutting-edge creators directing the words and space.

There are many artists and works that are still unknown to the world in Japanese art. For example, in the case of Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), an exhibition held at the Kyoto National Museum in 2000 triggered an unprecedented boom in Jakuchu's work, but before 2000, Jakuchu was a "hidden treasure trove" for the general public. Since then, Jakuchu and other eccentric painters have been unearthed, but there are still many hidden treasures from the Jomon period to modern times. This exhibition aims to unearth these treasures once again and establish them as beautiful gems in the history of Japanese art. We would like the audience to use their own eyes to find "future national treasures."

Sou Fujimoto (born 1971 in Hokkaido) has design offices in Tokyo, Paris, and Shenzhen, and is involved in a wide range of projects around the world, from private homes to universities, commercial facilities, hotels, and complexes. After garnering attention with his Aomori Museum of Art Competition in 2000, he has completed a series of highly acclaimed projects, including the Musashino Art University Museum and Library (Tokyo, 2010), the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2013 (London), and in recent years the apartment complex L'Arbre Blanc (The White Tree) (Montpellier, France, 2019) and the music complex House of Hungarian Music (Budapest, 2021). He is currently one of the most notable Japanese architects, serving as the venue design producer for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo.