Best Exhibitions to See in Japan in Winter 2022-2023

Tokyo Art Beat presents a selection of exhibitions outside the Kanto region held during the winter vacation in Japan. Don’t forget to bookmark the exhibitions on the Tokyo Art Beat app to never miss them.

*Opening hours and days may differ during the holidays. Please make sure to check the official websites before your visit.

*See here for the Tokyo and Kanto edition.

Hello, How Can We Do a Nara Yoshitomo Show? Documents on Nara Yoshitomo’s Hirosaki Exhibitions 2002-2006

Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art looks back on the history of three exhibitions by Yoshitomo Nara (1959-), a contemporary artist from Hirosaki City (Aomori Prefecture), held in a brick warehouse before it became an art museum. These exhibitions, known as “Yoshitomo Nara Exhibition Hirosaki” or “Narahiro,” were realized through the efforts of many volunteers from within and outside the city. The exhibitions were a great opportunity to bring energy to the town and to raise public awareness of the possibilities of creating a base for the arts, which led to the museum’s opening. By exhibiting materials, artworks, and research outcomes, this exhibition approaches multiple questions surrounding local art projects, museums, and involved citizens.

Venue: Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art (Aomori Prefecture)
Schedule: September 17, 2022 - March 21, 2023 
Exhibition details

Aya Momose Exhibition

Towada Art Center presents a solo exhibition of contemporary artist Aya Momose. In her works, Momose pursues themes of the body, sexuality, and the multilayered nature of communication with others. This exhibition features new works focusing on female voice actors portraying boys in anime works, including Shinji Ikari (Emi Ogata) from “Neon Genesis Evangelion” and Monkey D. Luffy (Mayumi Tanaka) from “One Piece,” along with her past works.

Venue: Towada Art Center (Aomori Prefecture)
Schedule: December 10, 2022 - June 4, 2023 
Exhibition details

The Timeless Imagination of Yves Klein: Uncertainty and the Immaterial

Yves Klein is known for his monochromatic works, such as his all-blue body sculptures. 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, presents an exhibition featuring works of Klein and his contemporaries, including the Italian Spatialist Movement and the Japanese Gutai movement, as well as current artists to bring to light the theme of “immateriality” that is common to their art. The exhibition aims to inspire visitors and stimulate the imagination to overcome the uncertainty of the present times.

Venue: 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa Prefecture)
Schedule: October 1, 2022 - March 5, 2023 
Exhibition details

Shigeo Toya Sculpture Exhibition

Nagano Prefectural Art Museum presents an exhibition featuring the works of one of Japan’s leading contemporary sculptors Shigeo Toya, who was born in Ogawa Village in Nagano Prefecture. Toya has been confronting sculpture, which was dismantled as an institution in postwar art in Japan and abroad, and has attempted to reconstruct it from its essence. The exhibition features approximately 30 works displayed without being bound to a particular year of production but according to a concept.

Venue: Nagano Prefectural Art Museum (Nagano Prefecture)
Schedule: November 4, 2022 - January 29, 2023 
Exhibition details

The Birth of Seeing: Tomoko Konoike

In her works, contemporary artist Tomoko Konoike attempts to develop various initiatives to liberate the audience from the conventional museum system, as shown by her 2020 solo exhibition “Chugaeri” at the Artizon Museum. Her previous exhibition at the Takamatsu City Museum of Art featured objects never seen in museums, such as animal excrement and skins, as well as handicrafts and other works that are not considered fine art. This exhibition is not simply traveling to the next museum but attempts to change and evolve, as are the works and composition.

Venue: Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art (Shizuoka Prefecture)
Schedule: November 3, 2022 - January 9, 2023 
Exhibition details

Gerhard Richter Exhibition

This summer’s Gerhard Richter’s large-scale exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, traveled to the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. The exhibition, held in the year of Richter’s 90th birthday, introduces 60 years of his painting career, focusing on the works he has carefully preserved in his possession. 

Venue: Toyota Municipal Museum of Art (Aichi Prefecture)
Schedule: October 15, 2022 - January 29, 2023 
Exhibition details

Andy Warhol Kyoto

A major retrospective exhibition of Andy Warhol, a leading Pop Art artist, is on view at the  Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art. The exhibition traces Warhol’s rise in the world of commercial design and the process by which he became popular by using images of mass consumption, such as Campbell’s soup cans and Marilyn Monroe, in his artwork. Warhol first visited Japan and Kyoto during his world tour in 1956 and later in 1974. Rare sketches and other items that demonstrate the connection between Kyoto city and Warhol are also on display.

Venue: Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art (Kyoto Prefecture)
Schedule: September 17, 2022 - February 12, 2023 
Exhibition details

Into the Unknown World - Gutai: Differentiation and Integration

The “Gutai Art Association” was formed by Jiro Yoshihara in Ashiya, Hyogo Prefecture, shortly after the end of World War II. A large-scale retrospective exhibition focusing on the group’s history from the two perspectives of “differentiation” and “integration” is on view at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, which opened in February this year, and the neighboring National Museum of Art, Osaka. A photo report of the exhibition can be found here.

Venues: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka and The National Museum of Art, Osaka (Osaka Prefecture)
Schedule: October 22, 2022 - January 9, 2023 
Exhibition details

20th Anniversary of Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art Lee Ufan

A large-scale solo exhibition of Lee Ufan, previously held at the National Art Center, Tokyo, is now on view at the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art. Lee Ufan, known as one of the leading artists of the “Mono-ha” school, was born in South Korea in 1934 and came to Japan during his university years. He developed a deep interest in contemporary art and began creating works in earnest in the late 1960s. This exhibition will bring together his representative works, from early works that questioned the issue of vision before the “Mono-ha” movement, the “Relational Term” series that changed the concept of sculpture, to his spiritual paintings.

Venue: Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art (Hyogo Prefecture)
Schedule: December 13, 2022 - February 12, 2023 
Exhibition details

Goda Sawako: A Retrospective

Since her solo exhibition debut in 1965, Goda Sawako’s creative activities have traversed a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, and photography, and since 1969 she has worked on stage design and original poster art for plays by Juro Kara and Shuji Terayama. This exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist’s work since her death, and the largest ever held, featuring over 300 works and materials on display. The exhibition is a rare opportunity to learn about the life of an artist who never stopped changing her style and evolving.

Venue: The Museum of Art, Kochi (Kochi Prefecture)
Schedule: November 3, 2022 - January 15, 2023 
Exhibition details

Kazutomo Fujino and Toshiko Okanoue Exhibition

Fukuoka Art Museum presents an exhibition of Kazutomo Fujino and Toshiko Okagami, married artist couple. Fujino is known for his detailed fantasy paintings. At the same time, Okagami is famous for her collage works based on photographs from Western magazines left behind by the occupying forces during the war. The exhibition explores the influence of Surrealism and the similarities between the two artists, such as the use of the female body as a motif, the male-dominated gaze, and the dreams and struggles of women.

Venue: Fukuoka Art Museum (Fukuoka Prefecture)
Schedule: November 1, 2022 - January 9, 2023 
Exhibition details

Yokoo Tatsuhiko “Beyond the Realm of Meditation”

Born in Fukuoka in 1928, Yokoo spent his youth in present-day Kitakyushu and moved to Switzerland in 1965. Yokoo’s visually striking paintings based on biblical and mythological themes attracted attention worldwide, and he exhibited his works in Japan and Switzerland, the United States, Germany, Austria, and other European countries. This exhibition will focus on the works left in his studio in Japan. The exhibition will also travel to the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama, and other venues.

Venue: Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art (Fukuoka Prefecture)
Schedule: December 17, 2022 - January 22, 2023 
Exhibition details