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

"MAM Collection 019: Perspective" focuses on the photographic expressions of three female artists from the Mori Art Museum Collection: Maiko Haruki, Mari Katayama, and Tomoko Yoneda. This exhibition introduces photographic works in which the image is completed through the viewer's involvement, rather than as a so-called recording medium. Maiko Haruki's series "either portrait or landscape" attempts to destabilize and liberate the viewer's perspective from the perspective of form, and also by incorporating the relationship between photography and abstract expression as a theme. Mari Katayama reverses the power relationship between image and viewer, challenging conventional traditional notions of diversity, normative values, and agency. Tomoko Yoneda's series "Between the Visible and the Invisible" expresses the interrelationship between the image on the surface and the narrative behind it.

The exhibition is currently touring the country. It features around 180 selected costumes based on the book "Perfume COSTUME BOOK 2005-2020," which compiles 761 outfits worn by the trio over the 15 years from their major debut in 2005 to 2020.

Joan Miró (1893-1983) is one of the most important Spanish artists of the 20th century, as famous as Picasso and Dali. His creations experienced changes from Fauvism, Realism to Surrealism, and finally established his own unique style. His paintings are famous for their strong colors, imagination and poetry. This exhibition will present the artist's works collected by the Joan Miró Foundation. Through Miró's representative works from his early years to his later years, it will review his creative career of more than 60 years and show the development of his artistic language and creative process. .

At the beginning of the 20th century, many artists from all over the world gathered in Paris, the city of art. Young artists lived in studio complexes such as the Bateau Lavoir (laundry boat) in Montmartre and La Ruche (the beehive) in Montparnasse, where they deepened their connections and worked hard on their creations. This group of artists was later called the Ecole de Paris. Many of them were painters and sculptors who came to Paris from outside France and gathered mainly around Montparnasse. Representative painters include Chagall and Soutine from Russia, Modigliani from Italy, Pascin from Bulgaria, Kisling from Poland, Tsuguharu Foujita from Japan, and French painters Utrillo and Laurencin. They did not create their works based on a clear artistic theory or doctrine, like a specific school or art movement. However, inspired by new artistic styles and theories such as Fauvism and Cubism, and sometimes drawing inspiration from primitive art in Africa and elsewhere, each artist sought his own unique expression rooted in the traditions and ethnicity of his home country. Although it reached its peak in the 1920s and came to an effective end with the Second World War, the painters of the École de Paris allowed diverse and rich art to flourish in Paris. This exhibition will feature works by Laurencin, Utrillo, Modigliani, Pascin, Foujita Tsuguharu, Kisling, and others from the Sanno Museum of Art's collection.

Tokyo City View will hold the Tezuka Osamu "Phoenix" exhibition - the Phoenix is ​​a symbol of dynamic equilibrium (dotekiheikou) that resists the increase of entropy, i.e., cosmic life (cosmozone) - from Friday, March 7, 2025 to Sunday, May 25, 2025. Tezuka Osamu, who created many masterpieces, declared that the manga "Phoenix" was his life's work. It is a masterpiece long work that depicts the conflict of people who pursue the legendary bird "Phoenix", whose blood is said to grant eternal life to those who drink it. The magnificent worldview of this work, which alternates between the past and the future and freely expresses philosophical themes such as "life and death" and "reincarnation", continues to capture people's hearts even today. This exhibition will interpret the epic poem, which was written over a long period of more than 30 years, focusing on the 12 main chapters from "Dawn" to "Sun", which began in the magazine "COM". Now that 70 years have passed since the serialization of "Phoenix" began, biologist Shinichi Fukuoka will guide us as we interpret the story structure of "Phoenix" from a new perspective of bioscience and seek the answer to the question "What is life?" that Tezuka Osamu continued to express throughout his life.

When Charlie Brown and his sister Sally get on the school bus with their friends and head off to school, various events await them. They meet unique friends and teachers. Classes are conducted day by day, and sometimes there are tense presentations, and as a reward, there are dance events. When they get home, they do their homework, and during summer vacation, they meet new people at summer camp. The school life of the Peanuts gang is a familiar, bittersweet experience. Enjoy school life with the Peanuts gang through about 45 carefully selected comics.

In December 2024, a new craft collection was donated to our museum. It consists of approximately 150 pieces. Almost all of them are enamel pieces. "Emayu" may be an unfamiliar word. It is the French katakana spelling, and in English it is called enamel, and in Japan it is usually called Shippo. In other words, enamel refers to a craft in which a glassy glaze is baked onto a metal base. The donor is jewelry artist Mitsuo Kaji. This new "Kaji Collection," consisting of carefully selected enamel gems, will make its debut at this exhibition.

This exhibition combines 88 pieces from the collections of the San Diego Museum of Art and the National Museum of Western Art, and offers tips on how to enjoy the artworks. The 49 pieces on display from the San Diego Museum of Art, including world-renowned masterpieces by Giorgione and Sánchez Cotán, will all be shown in Japan for the first time. Come and discover your own "where to look" as you trace the history of Western art spanning 600 years from the Renaissance to the end of the 19th century.

This exhibition focuses on publishers related to Katsushika Hokusai, a famous Ukiyo-e artist from the Edo period of Japan, exploring how they planned and promoted Hokusai's works, showcasing the masterpieces they brought to the world, and leading viewers to gain an in-depth understanding of the world of "producers" who supported the Ukiyo-e industry.

Beginning in the 1920s, architects including Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe explored new residential designs with function and comfort in mind. Their experimental visions and innovative ideas eventually intersected with everyday life, greatly reshaping people’s lifestyles. This exhibition focuses on seven dimensions of modern houses: hygiene, materials, windows, kitchen, furnishings, media, and landscape. Approximately 14 masterworks of residential architecture spanning the world will be presented in detail through photographs and drawings, sketches, models, furniture, textiles, tableware, magazines, graphics, and films. The modernity of this residential architecture in this exhibition continues to resonate today, offering an opportunity to reflect on our own living spaces and ways of living.

Folk tools are objects that have been created and used in Japan as necessities for daily life. These folk tools have been collected by researchers who have traveled and encountered the lifestyles and cultures of various regions. This special exhibition will expand the scope of folk tools from Japan to overseas, and introduce them as forms of beauty in everyday life.

From the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, René Lalique (1860-1945) was known outside of France as an original jewelry maker. However, his work was extremely broad, leaving behind a large variety of "clothing accessories" such as decorative collars and handbags. At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, held ahead of the new century, Lalique served as general manager of the jewelry department. Later in life, he had an unexpected connection with Jeanne Paquin (1869-1936), a top designer who held that position in the fashion department. The women's fashion led by Paquin and others at the time was dresses with curved lines that harmonized with the popular decorative style "Art Nouveau." Many women worked hard to create a slim waist that was suitable for the flowing silhouette. It was in the 1920s, after World War I (1914-1918), that women were liberated from corsets that were so tight that they were damaging their health. At the same time, when the trend for decoration shifted to the linear "Art Deco" style, Lalique had already made a major shift to mass production of glass products, mainly for interior design. The custom-made clothing that he concentrated on in the early days of his debut is a perfect match for the Art Nouveau style of dress, which sought elegance with a slim waist. The Lalique Museum Hakone, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is holding a special exhibition that will highlight Lalique's works from its collection from a fashion perspective and introduce the items in the form of an illustrated book. In addition, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Rene Lalique's death, a dress with a silhouette from the early 20th century, when he was active, has been recreated (photo right). As a highlight of the exhibition, we will be trying to wear Lalique's works for the first time, approaching the reality of Lalique in fashion. Please take a look at 18 carefully selected items from the museum that will help you understand Art Nouveau clothing, including anecdotes about the history of clothing, as if you were flipping through an illustrated book.

The November Uprising in Warsaw in 1830 and its failure the following year were the indirect reasons why Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin ended up spending the rest of his life in Paris after leaving his homeland. In 1795, Poland was divided and occupied by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, and disappeared from the world map. After this, there were repeated uprisings and rebellions calling for the independence of the homeland, but they had to wait until the end of World War I in 1918 for this to be realized. For these 123 years, the people who had lost their country based their identity on the arts, including literature, music, and painting, as well as culture in a broad sense, including language and religion. And the ancient city of Krakow played an important role as the center of all this.

This exhibition will introduce the methods and history of observing various natural phenomena, and how the observational data accumulated to date has shed light on the state and changes of the global environment, while also introducing how it has contributed greatly to disaster prevention and mitigation.

This exhibition is being held to mark the 40th anniversary of the opening of Shokokuji Jotenkaku Museum. It will showcase masterpieces from the Shokokuji School, including over 40 national treasures and important cultural properties, and will offer a glimpse into the world of beauty at Shokokuji and entrust it to the future.

This retrospective exhibition is held to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Uemura Shoen's birth, and will introduce her achievements in painting through many works. Shoen's art pursues unique ideals, which is different from those of Kabuki Kiyokata and Kitano Tsunetomi who depicted female images in the same era. At the same time, as a pioneer of outstanding female painters, she also served as a guiding light for later generations, giving birth to many female Japanese painters, including Ikeda Kyoen and Shima Narien. In the Kyoto painting world with a strong Shijo school tradition, Shoen Uemura, who created her own lineage of beautiful paintings, was destined to be a pioneer in many senses, and she eventually succeeded in fulfilling the mission given by fate. This exhibition will display more than 100 outstanding works from Shoen's early to late years, including masterpieces such as "Mother and Child" (Important Cultural Property, Collection of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo) and "Jō no Mai" (Important Cultural Property, Collection of Tokyo University of the Arts), showing visitors their charm. In addition, this will be a valuable opportunity to review the true value of Shoen's art. She was the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture and left an indelible mark on the history of modern art.

Jean-Michel Folon (1934-2005) is a unique artist born in Belgium. Poetic and humorous, his works are expressed with soft colors and a light touch, and they take the viewer on a journey of the imagination while also containing rich messages that bring awareness to the various things happening in the world. This exhibition commemorates the 20th anniversary of Folon's death and the 25th anniversary of the Folon Foundation, which he founded during his lifetime, and introduces the warm and profound appeal of his work through approximately 230 diverse works, including paintings, sculptures, and posters.

Takehiko Yamashiro (1908–1997) is an important figure in the study of modern and contemporary art history in Japan. He was the director of the art department of the Nara National Museum and a professor at Ryukoku University. He is also known for his profound research on Chinese art. This exhibition systematically reviews his academic career and private collection from the two dimensions of "collection" and "research", showing his love and unique vision for East Asian art. The exhibits include Chinese calligraphy and painting, ceramics, and ancient Japanese art, all of which are important objects that Yamashiro has collected or studied for many years, and some of the works are open to the public for the first time. The exhibition will also present precious documents such as his academic manuscripts, investigation notes, and lecture manuscripts, exploring the paths of "how to watch" and "how to study" from the perspective of scholars. In the Nara area, which is densely populated with cultural heritage such as Todaiji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and Toshodaiji Temple, Yamato Bunkakan has always played the role of a cultural bridge. This exhibition is a beautiful practice that connects academic research and visual aesthetics, and it is worth savoring for audiences who love Chinese art and Japanese cultural history.

The exhibition is an expansion of the exhibition "Ikimono: Edo-Tokyo Life with Animals," which was jointly organized in Paris in 2022 by the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo and the Maison de la Culture du Japon à Paris.

Mitsuaki Iwago’s World “Cats” Travelogue is a long-running NHK BS Premium program relished by cat lovers all over Japan. This exhibition shows photographs taken in fifteen locations in Japan carefully selected from that program.With the natural climate of each location in the background, the lifestyle of cats and people living in various parts of Japan are introduced. The exhibits are all new works taken in recent years. Come and find your favorite shot.

Among the museum's collection, two short swords designated as national treasures, "Meibutsu Hyuga Masamune" and "Meibutsu Tokuzen'in Sadamune," as well as swords including seven Important Cultural Properties, and lacquerware mountings will be on display at once. Also on display will be armor used by Mitsui Takayasu, the Mitsui family's distant ancestor, a modern replica of the large armor that was handed down to Kasuga Taisha Shrine and destroyed in a fire, made by Miura Sukeichi, and paintings such as hanging scrolls depicting warriors, Shuten-doji picture scrolls, and the Twelve Battles picture scrolls, which are somewhat manga-like. The special exhibit will be the May dolls handed down by the Mitsui family that were made in modern times, and this will be the first time they will be on display together.

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of architect Kazuo Shinohara, TOTO Gallery Ma will be holding the exhibition "Kazuo Shinohara: Carving Eternity into Space - 100 Questions on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth." Kazuo Shinohara (1925-2006) studied under Kiyoshi Seike (1918-2005) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (now Tokyo University of Science), and after graduating he taught at the university as a professor architect. After retiring he set up the Shinohara Atelier in his own home and studio, House in Yokohama (1985), where he continued to present designs and discourses. Many architects who were influenced by or mentored by Shinohara are currently active at the forefront of the architectural world, including a group of architects known as the "Shinohara School," including Kazunari Sakamoto, Toyo Ito, and Itsuko Hasegawa.

The Setouchi Triennale is a festival of art, architecture and, more generally, culture. The festival takes place in 17 locations scattered around the eastern part of Japan's Seto Inland Sea, in spring, summer and autumn. It is a must-attend event for art lovers and countryside enthusiasts. Over the past decade, it has become the most important art festival in Japan and one of the most important in Asia. The Setouchi Triennale exhibits artwork and architecture from many artists from around the world. A recurring theme is "Restoring the Ocean".

This special exhibition aims to present the historical treasures of Japanese art in the cultural exploration and exchange between China and foreign countries on the occasion of the 2025 Osaka World Expo. Over the years, more than 200 rare regional artifacts, including paintings, sculptures, sketches and crafts, have been exhibited, spanning more than 1,000 years from pre-Japanese history to the Meiji era, and are a mockery of cross-cultural exchanges in Japanese art.

Ryukoku Museum (about a 12-minute walk from Kyoto Station, in front of Nishi Honganji Temple) will be holding a spring special exhibition, "Otani Expedition: Yoshikawa Koichiro - Search and Perseverance, Exploring the Man" from Saturday, April 19th to Sunday, June 22nd.

Every year, the Tokyo National Museum holds a joint thematic exhibition related to animals together with other institutions in Ueno. Along with the Ueno Zoological Gardens and the National Museum of Nature and Science, we are proud to introduce this year's thematic exhibition on elephants.The present exhibition is divided into smaller sub-themes, namely: “Prologue: Encountering Elephants,” “Elephants and Religious Beliefs,” “The World of Ivory,” and “Wonderful Elephant Shapes.” By engaging with the elephant-themed works from Japan and various other countries in Asia, we hope that you can come to understand how humans have interacted with elephants throughout history, as well as how this relationship has been expressed through decorative art objects.

The Tokyo National Museum Hyokeikan in Ueno will be hosting an exhibition called "Ukiyo-e Contemporary," focusing on ukiyo-e prints by contemporary artists. The exhibition will run from April 22 to June 15. Japanese woodblock printmaking techniques developed uniquely during the Edo period, producing ukiyo-e prints as a flamboyant art that reflected the society and customs of the time. The works of artists such as Toshusai Sharaku, Kitagawa Utamaro, and Katsushika Hokusai are characterized by their intricate carvings and vivid colors, and their outstanding techniques have been passed down to the present day and continue to fascinate many people. In this exhibition, a total of 85 artists influenced by the expression of traditional woodblock prints will work as contemporary artists with the carvers and printers of the Adachi Institute of Woodblock Prints to create new "contemporary ukiyo-e." Participating artists include Mizuki Shigeru, Umezu Kazuo, Anno Moyoco, Ishinomori Shotaro, Awazu Kiyoshi, Asaba Katsumi, Sato Koichi, Matsunaga Makoto, Tanaka Ikko, Kurokawa Kisho, Ay-O, Wada Makoto, Hundertwasser, Kusama Yayoi, Yokoo Tadanori, Tanaami Keiichi, Kato Izumi, Shiota Chiharu, Nawa Kohei, Rokkaku Ayako, Hanai Yusuke, Lee Ufan, Antony Gormley, Kiki Smith, N.S. Harsha, Nick Walker, James Jean, Alex Dodge, and KYNE.

Approximately 100 pieces will be on display, ranging from Kin Shiotani's early works to new works created specifically for this exhibition, to thoroughly introduce his artistic career spanning 30 years. The paintings are difficult to interpret just by looking at them, and the long titles are hard to imagine just by reading them. Please enjoy looking at both the paintings and the titles and letting your imagination run wild, asking yourself questions like "Is this what it means?", "I see!", and "That's so true!"

The Art Aquarium Museum GINZA (located at Ginza Mitsukoshi) will be holding an early summer exhibition "Wisteria and Hydrangea Early Summer Goldfish 2025" from Friday, April 25th (until Sunday, June 22nd). \The purple Art Aquarium is a gorgeous art space where you can enjoy early summer with all your senses! / The wisteria and hydrangeas that beautifully color Japan's early summer are in full bloom, and the museum is filled with purple and ultramarine colors that give a noble impression and a sense of modesty. Please come and experience the fantastic and glamorous early summer installation art that combines the beauty of the goldfish swimming gracefully inside the aquarium artworks surrounded by light, fragrance and sound. This project allows you to enjoy the seasonal scenery along with goldfish art without having to worry about the weather, even during rainy periods, making it perfect for outings during the upcoming rainy season♪ Immerse yourself in this limited-time production, be soothed by the goldfish, take gorgeous photos, and spend some time forgetting the hustle and bustle of the city.