Art Exhibitions to See in Japan in 2025
Japan’s art scene continues to impress.
Cover photo: We Met Through Match.com, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, by Tomokazu Matsuyama [松山 智一] (2016). Via Artsy (cropped).
Intro
Japan is home to many unique artistic traditions, many of which continue to inspire artists today. Here are the exhibitions I’m most excited to see this year, including a collection to be brought from my motherland of Poland.
Left to right: theater posters by Akira Uno (宇野 亞喜良), Tadanori Yokoo (横尾 忠則), and Katsuyuki Shinohara (篠原 勝之), from various sources.
Japan Avant-Garde: Underground Theater Masterpiece Poster Exhibition
Ogimachi Museum Cube, Osaka — Wednesday, January 22 to Sunday, February 16
Commemorating 90 years since the birth of provocative playwright Shuji Terayama (寺山 修司), Ogimachi Museum Cube in Osaka will present a collection of 100 underground theater posters from the 1960s to 1980s, including works by celebrated designers Akira Uno (宇野 亞喜良), Tadanori Yokoo (横尾 忠則), and Katsuyuki Shinohara (篠原 勝之).
Promotional image for “Tomokazu Matsuyama Exhibition: First Last” at the Azabudai Hills Gallery. Via Azabudai Hills Gallery.
Tomokazu Matsuyama Exhibition: First Last
Azabudai Hills Gallery, Tokyo — Saturday, March 8 to Sunday, May 11
Azabudai Hills Gallery will present Tokyo’s first major exhibition of contemporary visual artist Tomokazu Matsuyama (松山 智一). Born in Gifu and raised in New York City, the Japanese-American is known for his fluorescent explorations transcending time and space.
Promotional image for “Japan: An Artistic Melting Pot” at the Kyoto National Museum. Via the Kyoto National Museum.
Japan: An Artistic Melting Pot
Kyoto National Museum, Kyoto — Saturday, April 19 to Sunday, June 15
In celebration of World Expo 2025 held in Japan’s Kansai region, the Kyoto National Museum will exhibit a collection of 200 Japanese masterpieces, featuring “important cultural properties” and “national treasures.” Highlights include the Wind God and Thunder God Screens by Tawaraya Sotatsu as well as Katsushika Hokusai’s Great Wave.
The Artist’s Family, oil on canvas, by Włodzimierz Tetmajer (1905). Via the National Museum in Krakow (cropped).
Young Poland: Polish Art 1890-1918
National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto — Tuesday, March 25 to Sunday, June 29
The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, will present over 100 works tracing the search for Polish identity during the partitions of Poland. On loan from the National Museum in Kraków, the collection includes paintings by masters Jacek Malczewski, Jan Matejko, and Włodzimierz Tetmajer.