Twenty Five Recommended Exhibitions for Kids and Families to See in Summer 2024
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Summer holidays are an excellent opportunity for kids to explore and learn about the world through art exhibitions and events. Here are our top picks for the best summer holiday exhibitions for families and children all over Japan. In addition to the events featured in this article, check out the "For Families" tag for even more exhibitions near you.
*Please check the official websites before your visit, as the exhibition period and contents are subject to change without notice.
- 【Hokkaido】Shigeru Mizuki's Monsters: One Hundred Demon Nights Exhibition - This is How the Ghosts Were Born (Sapporo Art Park)
- 【Aomori】Tupera Tupera Faces Exhibition (Hachinohe Art Museum)
- 【Tokyo】TeamLab Borderless (TeamLab Borderless: Mori Building Digital Art Museum)
- 【Tokyo】Future Elements: Experimental Laboratory for Prototyping in Science and Design (21_21 Design Sight)
- 【Tokyo】ICC Kids Program 2024: You( ).Code( ).World( ) (NTT ICC Inter Communication Center)
- 【Tokyo】Audio Game Center + CCBT (Civic Creative Base Tokyo)
- 【Tokyo】Ghosts? (Play!Museum)
- 【Tokyo】Insect Maniac (National Museum of Nature and Science)
- 【Tokyo】Ukiyo-e Haunted House (Ota Memorial Museum of Art)
- 【Kanagawa】Giant Dinosaurs 2024 (Pacifico Yokohama)
- 【Kanagawa】Journey to the World of Edward Gorey (Yokosuka Museum of Art)
- 【Kanagawa】The Cabin Company "Grand Picture Book Art Exhibition: Ode to Childhood" (Hiratsuka Museum of Art)
- 【Yamanashi】Toshitaka Nabata Exhibition (Minami Alps City Museum of Art)
- 【Shizuoka】Pokémon × Kogei – Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft (MOA Museum of Art)
- 【Nagano】50th Anniversary of the Passing of Chihiro Iwasaki: Dear Children, We Are All Friends (Chihiro Art Museum Azumino)
- 【Aichi】Poison (Nagoya City Science Museum)
- 【Aichi】Escher. Behind the Paradox (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art)
- 【Hyogo】2024 Bologna Children's Book Fair Bologna Illustrators Exhibition (Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City)
- 【Okayama】Toshio Suzuki and Ghibli (Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art)
- 【Tottori】What's Art? - Summer Break: Spending Time Seeing, Learning, and Playing at Museum (Tottori Prefectural Museum)
- 【Hiroshima】Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition (Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art)
- 【Yamaguchi】Tatsuya Miyanishi's Miracle World (Shunan City Museum of Art and History)
- 【Fukuoka】Exhibition of Father's Dragon - Vol. 1 Welcome! Summer Art Museum (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum)
- 【Nagasaki】Junaida "Imaginarium" (Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum)
- 【Okinawa】TeamLab Future Park Okinawa (T Galleria by DFS, Okinawa)
【Hokkaido】Shigeru Mizuki's Monsters: One Hundred Demon Nights Exhibition - This is How the Ghosts Were Born (Sapporo Art Park)
Japanese manga artist Shigeru Mizuki is well-known for the iconic series GeGeGe no Kitaro and his role in popularising yokai culture. In celebration of the artist's 100th birthday, this exhibition highlights Mizuki's unique technique and features over 100 yokai paintings and previously unseen yokai-related materials that influenced the artist.
Venue: Sapporo Art Park
Schedule: June 29 - August 25
Fee: Adults ¥1500; University and High School Students ¥1100; Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥700; Infants, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion free
【Aomori】Tupera Tupera Faces Exhibition (Hachinohe Art Museum)
Themed around "faces," this exhibition features experiential works, original picture book illustrations, and video works created by the creative unit Tupera Tupera. Visitors can also participate in the exhibition by using their bodies to create shapes and faces.
Venue: Hachinohe Art Museum
Schedule: July 6 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1000, High School and Junior High School Students ¥600, Elementary School Students and Under ¥500, Infants Under 2 free
【Tokyo】TeamLab Borderless (TeamLab Borderless: Mori Building Digital Art Museum)
TeamLab Borderless is a "museum without a map." Here, art moves out of rooms, interacts with other works, influences and is influenced by them, without boundaries or borders, and sometimes blends. In the new TeamLab Borderless at the Azabudai Hills, borderless art evolves further, travels to more places, and intricately relates to each other, creating an eternal and ever-changing world without boundaries.
Venue: TeamLab Borderless: Mori Building Digital Art Museum
Schedule: Permanent exhibition
Fee: Adults ¥3800~; Students between 13-17 ¥2800; Children between 4-12 ¥1500; Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion ¥1900 (*+200 yen if purchased on site)
【Tokyo】Future Elements: Experimental Laboratory for Prototyping in Science and Design (21_21 Design Sight)
What kind of future do we see? This question may sound too vague, but that is why creators dream of so many possibilities. The exhibition's director, Shunji Yamanaka, is a design engineer who works on a wide range of industrial products and studies prototypes created using cutting-edge technologies. The exhibition centers on Yamanaka's prototypes and robots created in collaboration with fellow researchers.
Venue: 21_21 Design Sight
Schedule: March 29 - September 8
Fee: Adults ¥1400; University Students ¥800; High School Students ¥500; Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion, Junior High School Students and Under free
【Tokyo】ICC Kids Program 2024: You( ).Code( ).World( ) (NTT ICC Inter Communication Center)
In a world where the relationships between people, society, information, and various other "things" are intertwined and complex, the NTT ICC Inter Communication Center summer program attempts to "code" and experience art as a systematic approach to the world where we exist together.
Venue: NTT ICC Inter Communication Center
Schedule: July 23 - August 25
Fee: Free
【Tokyo】Audio Game Center + CCBT (Civic Creative Base Tokyo)
Audio games are similar to video games except that they have no visual component: they are created and played through sound. Audio Game Center + CCBT is a laboratory for exploring how to make and play with sound by creating, playing, and enjoying audio games. The game center offers opportunities not only for visitors to play a wide variety of audio games but also to experience what it is like to make an audio game.
Venue: Civic Creative Base Tokyo (CCBT)
Schedule: July 13 - September 16
Fee: Free
【Tokyo】Ghosts? (Play!Museum)
"Wanting to avoid, yet curious to meet." People have created this concept of ghosts throughout history and across cultures. However, ghosts exist here and there, sometimes unseen, while others have become familiar presences. This exhibition features special exhibits using three-dimensional displays and videos, as well as the "Ghost Research Institute," where ghost researchers investigate and present picture books, paintings, literature, and even undiscovered ghosts and various other intriguing and amusing discoveries.
Venue: Play!Museum
Schedule: July 13 - September 29
Fee: Adults ¥1800, University Students ¥1200, High School Students ￥1000, Junior High and Elementary School Students ￥600
【Tokyo】Insect Maniac (National Museum of Nature and Science)
This special exhibition offers a glimpse into the world of diverse and surprising insects and features meticulously selected specimens from the museum's collection along with the latest research.
Venue: National Museum of Nature and Science
Schedule: July 13 - October 14
Fee: Adults and University Students ¥2100; High School, Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥600; Infants, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion free
【Tokyo】Ukiyo-e Haunted House (Ota Memorial Museum of Art)
Ukiyo-e's depictions of spirits can sometimes frighten viewers but often also make them laugh with their comical portrayal. The Ota Memorial Museum of Art presents a special exhibition featuring approximately 170 ukiyo-e prints depicting yokai and ghosts, including masterpieces by Kuniyoshi Utagawa and Yoshitoshi Tsukioka.
Venue: Ota Memorial Museum of Art
Schedule: August 3 - September 29
Fee: Adults ¥1200, University and High School Students ¥800, Junior High School Students and Under free
【Kanagawa】Giant Dinosaurs 2024 (Pacifico Yokohama)
Supervised by the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum and the Fukui Prefectural University Dinosaur Research Institute, this exhibition features specimens of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures, providing insights into the evolutionary history and gigantism of life on Earth.
Venue: Pacifico Yokohama
Schedule: July 13 - September 13
Fee: [Weekdays] Adults ¥2400, University and High School Students ¥1800, Middle and Elementary School Students ¥1200, Children Under 3 ¥700
[Weekends and Holidays] Adults ¥2700, University and High School Students ¥2100, Middle and Elementary School Students ¥1400, Children Under 3 ¥900
【Kanagawa】Journey to the World of Edward Gorey (Yokosuka Museum of Art)
Children's book author Edward Gorey is well-known for his unique worldview and meticulous monochrome line drawings, but he also demonstrated his multifaceted talents in illustration, stage and costume design, and theatre and ballet posters. This exhibition invites visitors to Gorey's enigmatic world and showcases approximately 250 works and related documents.
Venue: Yokosuka Museum of Art
Schedule: July 6 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1300; University and High School Students, Seniors 65 & Over ¥1100; Junior High School Students and Under free
【Kanagawa】The Cabin Company "Grand Picture Book Art Exhibition: Ode to Childhood" (Hiratsuka Museum of Art)
Artist duo Cabin Company has transformed a closed school in Yufu City, Oita Prefecture, into their studio, where they create a variety of works, including picture books, paintings, three-dimensional sculptures, and illustrations. This exhibition commemorates the 15th anniversary of the unit's formation and showcases 400 original picture book illustrations, three-dimensional sculptures, and video works.
Venue: Hiratsuka Museum of Art
Schedule: July 6 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥800, University and High School Students ¥500, Junior High School Students and Under free
【Yamanashi】Toshitaka Nabata Exhibition (Minami Alps City Museum of Art)
The picture book Kobito Zukan, illustrated by Toshitaka Nabata, a researcher of kobito (tiny beings), has captivated a wide range of audiences from children to adults since its publication in 2006 with its unique art style and worldview. The exhibition traces Nabata's artistic development through original drawings, sketches, and kobito figures.
Venue: Minami Alps City Museum of Art
Schedule: July 20 - September 29
Fee: Adults ¥500, University Students ¥300, High School Students and Under free
【Shizuoka】Pokémon × Kogei – Playful Encounters of Pokémon and Japanese Craft (MOA Museum of Art)
What kind of "chemical reaction" would occur if Pokemon and traditional crafts were to meet head-on? Twenty artists, ranging from Living National Treasures to up-and-coming talents, tackled this challenge and created works that evoke Pokémon shapes, gestures, and touch.
Venue: MOA Museum of Art
Schedule: July 6 - September 9
Fee: Adults ¥1760; University and High School Students ¥1100; Seniors 65 & Over ¥1540; Junior High School Students and Under, Persons with Disability Certificates + 2 Companion free
*Entry is by reservation only from July 6 to September 9.
【Nagano】50th Anniversary of the Passing of Chihiro Iwasaki: Dear Children, We Are All Friends (Chihiro Art Museum Azumino)
This year marks 50 years since the passing of picture book artist Chihiro Iwasaki. Throughout the year, Chihiro Art Museum Azumino will explore Chihiro's paintings with a modern scientific perspective. Directed by the art unit Plaplax, the exhibitions offer a new experience that will appeal to children and adults.
Venue: Chihiro Art Museum Azumino
Schedule: June 8 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1200; University Students, Seniors 65 & Over ¥900; High School Students and Under, Under Age 19, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion free
【Aichi】Poison (Nagoya City Science Museum)
Poisons are generally understood as harmful substances. However, among poisons, there are substances that also have medicinal effects. This exhibition explores poisons found in the natural world, along with explanations from specialists from various fields, such as zoology, botany, geology, anthropology, and engineering.
Venue: Nagoya City Science Museum
Schedule: July 13 - September 23
Fee: Adults ¥1800, University and High School Students ¥1000, Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥500
【Aichi】Escher. Behind the Paradox (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art)
Maurits Cornelis Escher pursued geometric compositions and created unique works that delve into the essence of visual arts. He found the key to shaping his creative world not only in the realms of numbers, geometry, and mathematics but also as a whimsical genius who adeptly wielded artistic language, blending them to carve out captivating new paths. On display are approximately 160 works, including pieces inspired by Art Nouveau and works from his time in Italy.
Venue: Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
Schedule: July 13 - September 23
Fee: Adults ¥1700; University and High School Students ¥1200; Junior High School Students and Under, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion free
【Hyogo】2024 Bologna Children's Book Fair Bologna Illustrators Exhibition (Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City)
The Bologna Children's Book Fair, the world's only international fair dedicated exclusively to children's books, was established in Bologna in 1964. Each year, the fair hosts a competition for original illustrations, attracting numerous illustrators from around the globe. This exhibition features the selected works from the 3,520 submissions from 81 countries and regions.
Venue: Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City
Schedule: August 17 - October 14
Fee: Adults ¥1300, University and High School Students ¥600, Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥400
【Okayama】Toshio Suzuki and Ghibli (Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art)
Toshio Suzuki has produced many of the world's top animated films with Isao Takahata and Hayao Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli. This exhibition features a wide array of valuable materials, such as films and books Suzuki encountered, as well as project proposals related to Ghibli.
Venue: Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Schedule: July 9 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1800, High School and Junior High School Students ¥1500, Elementary School Students ¥1000
【Tottori】What's Art? - Summer Break: Spending Time Seeing, Learning, and Playing at Museum (Tottori Prefectural Museum)
Drawing from the diverse activities the museum's art department has engaged in for over 50 years, Tottori Prefectural Museum introduces various artworks from the collection. Visitors are welcome to wander through the exhibition space and experience the fascination of art and the museum as a place, regardless of their prior knowledge.
Venue: Tottori Prefectural Museum
Schedule: June 29 - August 25
Fee: Adults ¥1000; University Students, Seniors 70 & Over ¥800; High School Students and Under free
【Hiroshima】Friday Road Show and Ghibli Exhibition (Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art)
Starting with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the NTV's "Friday Road Show" has broadcasted numerous Studio Ghibli works. This exhibition introduces the charm of Studio Ghibli's works through immersive installations and photo spots.
Venue: Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art
Schedule: July 13 - September 23
Fee: Adults ¥1800, University and High School Students ¥1500, Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥1100
【Yamaguchi】Tatsuya Miyanishi's Miracle World (Shunan City Museum of Art and History)
Picture book author Tatsuya Miyanishi has dedicated 40 years to creating picture books with a profound mission: to impart dreams, hopes, and, above all, kindness and compassion to children. This exhibition showcases the captivating world of Miyanishi's work, featuring unique characters and heartwarming stories. It includes original illustrations from Miyanishi's popular picture books, as well as works from student days that laid the foundation for Miyanishi's career.
Venue: Shunan City Museum of Art and History
Schedule: June 28 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1200, University Students ¥1000, Under Age 19 free
【Fukuoka】Exhibition of Father's Dragon - Vol. 1 Welcome! Summer Art Museum (Fukuoka Asian Art Museum)
My Father's Dragon is the story of a boy named Elmer who embarks on a journey to rescue a baby dragon trapped on Wild Island. This exhibition showcases over 130 valuable original drawings and dummy books created over 70 years ago. Additionally, to enjoy Elmer's adventures within the exhibition space, four interactive displays will allow visitors to immerse themselves in the world of the picture books.
Venue: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum
Schedule: July 16 - August 25
Fee: Adults ¥1400, University and High School Students ¥1000, Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥700, Infants free
【Nagasaki】Junaida "Imaginarium" (Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum)
Artist Junaida has attracted public attention with his unique picture books. In the enigmatic worlds reminiscent of Europe, detailed figures and scenery create a mysterious world where lightness and darkness coexist. This large-scale exhibition will feature over 400 works, including the original illustrations and the newest works created for the show.
Venue: Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum
Schedule: July 20 - September 1
Fee: Adults ¥1400; University Students, Seniors 70 & Over ¥1200; High School Students and Under free
【Okinawa】TeamLab Future Park Okinawa (T Galleria by DFS, Okinawa)
Permanents exhibition TeamLab Future Park Okinawa features the Animals of Flowers, Symbiotic Lives II, and other significant works of the world-renowned art collective. This project focuses on the concept of "co-creation" and aims to provide an educational experience for both children and adults.
Venue: T Galleria by DFS, Okinawa
Schedule: Permanent exhibition
Fee: Adults ¥2000, High School and Junior High School Students ¥1400, Elementary School Students and Under ¥1200, Infants free
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