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June 30, 2026
 

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Jennifer Pastore
Mizue Fukagawa's works explore of the fragility of memory and the regenerative beauty of nature.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 8, 2026
Emerging Kansai artists to watch
Among the artists featured at Art Osaka, several offered particularly engaging takes on the ubiquity of digital technology and relationships between people and nature.
Sculptor Kohei Nawa's first solo show in Los Angeles debuts 20 new artworks this month.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 17, 2026
At Kohei Nawa’s studio, the world is seen through glass bubbles
Kohei Nawa’s “PixCell” series, a play on the words pixel and cell, explores the way we view objects by covering them in glass beads that magnify and distort.
“Freedom,” a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 12, 2026
At Ueno Station, ‘Freedom’ restored
Genichiro Inokuma’s 1951 pro-democracy mural speaks to a new generation as Ueno reclaims its identity as a cultural hub.
Yoshitoshi Kanemaki’s 16-faced wooden sculpture “Refrain Caprice” is carved using the traditional Buddhist technique of "ichiboku-zukuri," in which an entire figure is made from a single log.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 20, 2026
Art Fair Tokyo blends craft, pop and contemporary art in milestone 20th edition
More than 140 galleries took part at the event held last weekend at the Tokyo International Forum.
Katayama works with analog photography and handicraft practices such as embroidery and needlework, designing and handsewing objects she attaches to her body that she then captures in self-portraits.
CULTURE / Art
Mar 2, 2026
Mari Katayama wins inaugural Mori Art Prize
The biennial Mori Art Award, among the largest payouts for a single contemporary artist in Japan, was established in 2025.
The 2025 Aichi Triennale took place in several locations, including a former bathhouse where Rui Sasaki's “Unforgettable Residues” was exhibited.
CULTURE / Art / 2025 IN REVIEW
Dec 29, 2025
A year of plenty: Endless art shows, subtle curation of themes
Japan’s art scene was bursting with public enthusiasm, overflowing exhibition halls and more art festivals vying for attention.
Aya Fujioka, who hails from Hiroshima Prefecture, takes a less somber approach to the city and its history.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 8, 2025
What we see when Japanese women photographers shoot back
Women in photography have been less visible than their male counterparts. An anthology of 25 photographers and three exhibitions this autumn are turning the tides.
One of Leonard Foujita’s biggest muses was himself. He painted self-portraits, often with a cat on his side, looking back at the viewer. He posed for photographers throughout his life, the displayed photos showing he retained his signature bowl cut and round glasses.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 18, 2025
The self as a muse: Leonard Foujita’s world in paintings and photos
“Foujita: Painting and Photography” at Tokyo Station Gallery is being billed as the first exploration of the artist as a photographer and has been a decade in the making.
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2025
What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?
The spacesuited felines will be familiar to those who have visited the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka or Tokyo’s Ginza Six shopping complex last year.
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 4, 2025
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The prefecture’s new art museum aims to engage the community through interactive activities rather than merely showcasing boundary-pushing art.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art is just one of many hidden art and architectural gems across the Kagawa coast.
LIFE / Travel
Mar 15, 2025
‘Resorts for the spirit’: Touring Kagawa’s art and architecture
The seaside cities of Takamatsu and Marugame are home to a heritage of beauty, from the monolithic to the modern.
“Light Court” (2024) is based on the “Lightcourt” space at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by metabolist architect Kisho Kurokawa (1934-2007).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2025
Yuki Harada’s contemplative artworks ponder vanishing
The artist spent time researching Japanese migrants who left Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures for Hawaii, and the U.S. island state often features in his art.
The year saw multiple noteworthy exhibitions dedicated to important artists who passed away in 2024, including neo-pop designer, sculptor and illustrator Keiichi Tanaami, who died in August.
CULTURE / Art / 2024 in Review
Dec 23, 2024
A year of ruin and renewal for Japan’s art world in 2024
Amid struggles caused by a weak yen, galleries turned to innovative ideas and collaborations.
Gwangju Biennale’s artistic director Nicolas Bourriaud developed the theme “Pansori: A Soundscape of the 21st Century” to make the event “an opera you can walk into.”
CULTURE / Art
Sep 21, 2024
Japan’s art world seeks connection at Gwangju Biennale
At the longest-running contemporary art festival in East Asia, the Japan Pavilion’s display nods to historical tensions between Japan and Korea.
The Hengshan Calligraphy Art Center (HCAC) aims to serve as a base for calligraphy research and education and function as a hub for calligraphy art in Asia.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 25, 2024
In uncertain times, Taiwanese art flourishes
New museums and a lively creative scene reflect an evolving, forward-looking society.
Amateur actor Chihiro Kawano (front) performs in Hikaru Fujii's video art installation "War Is Over" in Saiki, Oita Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2024
War is (not) over: Hikaru Fujii probes historical memory in Kyushu
Viewable at its current location until June 16, “War Is Over” simply would not be the same work in a different location.
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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