Japan's Captivating Museums and Contemporary Art
YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM (3F Gallery Installation View © YAYOI KUSAMA)
Japan has a rich contemporary art culture, with countless artists working at the forefront of their fields and many excellent museums where both Japanese people and foreign tourists flock to view their work. With art museums increasingly becoming popular travel destinations around the world, let’s take a look at just a handful of the many museums where you can experience Japan’s innovative contemporary art scene.
Exploring Art in Japan’s Capital
Tokyo is home to museums for every kind of art imaginable, from Japanese to Western, from traditional folk craft to the avant-garde. Recently, contemporary art has been growing in popularity among young people. For the past several years, Art Week Tokyo has brought the city’s art scene to life each November by showcasing all the exciting art and art venues the city has to offer. During Art Week Tokyo 2024, visitors used free shuttle buses to access over 50 of the city’s leading art spaces and enjoyed special programming like artist talks, a pop-up bar, and a digital stamp rally. Tokyo is also a major hub for art research. At the National Center for Art Research, Japan, efforts are underway to activate the value of art to society through art research and conservation as well as public awareness and educational initiatives. With so much happening in the Tokyo art scene, let’s explore a few of Tokyo’s captivating art museums.
Left: Promotional design for Art Week Tokyo 2024.
Right: During Art Week Tokyo, visitors can ride the “AWT Bus” to various art spots around the city for free.
Top: Promotional design for Art Week Tokyo 2024.
Bottom: During Art Week Tokyo, visitors can ride the “AWT Bus” to various art spots around the city for free.
Left: Exterior view of the Okura Museum of Art, the venue for the AWT FOCUS event “Earth, Wind and Fire: Visions of the Future from Asia.” AWT FOCUS is Art Week Tokyo’s curated sales platform for contemporary art. (Photo by Kei Okano. Courtesy Art Week Tokyo.)
Right: TOMURA Eiko’s “Landscape as Bar,” a pop-up bar space specially designed for AWT participants. (© eiko tomura landscape architects)
Top: Exterior view of the Okura Museum of Art, the venue for the AWT FOCUS event “Earth, Wind and Fire: Visions of the Future from Asia.” AWT FOCUS is Art Week Tokyo’s curated sales platform for contemporary art. (Photo by Kei Okano. Courtesy Art Week Tokyo.)
Bottom: TOMURA Eiko’s “Landscape as Bar,” a pop-up bar space specially designed for AWT participants. (© eiko tomura landscape architects)
The National Art Center, Tokyo. Located in the Roppongi district of Minato Ward, this center lacks a permanent collection, instead showcasing ever-changing exhibitions featuring cutting-edge artwork by artists from Japan and around the world. (©The National Art Center, Tokyo)
One fascinating museum you can find in Tokyo is the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum. OKAMOTO Taro was an iconic figure in the Japanese avant-garde movement. He received training in Japan and then in Europe, where he lived for around a decade before returning to Japan.
One of Okamoto’s most famous creations, Tower of the Sun in Osaka. In Okamoto’s work, polar opposites collide, such as the primitive and the modern. (Photo courtesy of Osaka Prefectural Government)
What is particularly special about the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum is that it was created on the site of Okamoto’s former home and studio. In addition to two galleries and a sculpture garden, guests can step into Okamoto’s perfectly preserved studio and see how he worked.
Left: One of the two galleries where you can view Okamoto’s works up close. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Middle: In the garden, plants grow wildly in and around haphazardly placed sculptures, resembling an ancient ruin. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Right: Visitors can step into Okamoto’s perfectly preserved studio and see how he worked. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Top: One of the two galleries where you can view Okamoto’s works up close. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Middle: In the garden, plants grow wildly in and around haphazardly placed sculptures, resembling an ancient ruin. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Bottom: Visitors can step into Okamoto’s perfectly preserved studio and see how he worked. (Photo courtesy of the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum)
Another museum dedicated to a highly influential figure is the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward. Kusama is famous for her fondness for bold colors and polka dots. She has worked in many media over the years, including painting, sculpture, film, fashion, and more. Through the repetitive use of thousands of polka dots, Kusama’s work transports viewers to a timeless and infinite place.
Left: Kusama poses among her works, showing off her signature style of bold colors and polka dots. (Portrait of KUSAMA Yayoi by Yusuke Miyazaki © YAYOI KUSAMA)
Right: Great Gigantic Pumpkin (2024). In addition to her love of polka dots, Kusama is also famous for creating giant pumpkins. (© YAYOI KUSAMA)
Top: Kusama poses among her works, showing off her signature style of bold colors and polka dots. (Portrait of KUSAMA Yayoi by Yusuke Miyazaki © YAYOI KUSAMA)
Bottom: Great Gigantic Pumpkin (2024). In addition to her love of polka dots, Kusama is also famous for creating giant pumpkins. (© YAYOI KUSAMA)
The YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM was created to help spread Kusama’s message of world peace and love for humanity. At the museum, you can enjoy Kusama’s latest work, as well as major works from throughout her long career.
Left: A scene from a recent exhibition at the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM. Here you can get lost in Kusama’s infinite world of dots and patterns. (Tickets for the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM are sold on a time-specified, advance reservation basis only through the museum's website.) (1F Gallery Installation View © YAYOI KUSAMA)
Right: Brilliance of Life (1987). At the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM you can view works from across Kusama’s decades-long career. (© YAYOI KUSAMA)
Top: A scene from a recent exhibition at the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM. Here you can get lost in Kusama’s infinite world of dots and patterns. (Tickets for the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM are sold on a time-specified, advance reservation basis only through the museum's website.) (1F Gallery Installation View © YAYOI KUSAMA)
Bottom: Brilliance of Life (1987). At the YAYOI KUSAMA MUSEUM you can view works from across Kusama’s decades-long career. (© YAYOI KUSAMA)
Contemporary Art in a Land Steeped in Tradition
Ishikawa Prefecture, located in the middle of the archipelago along the Sea of Japan coast, is famous for its rich history of traditional arts and crafts, from ceramics, to silk, to lacquerware. Here, in Ishikawa’s capital city of Kanazawa, against the backdrop of the lush sprawling greenery of Kenroku-en garden, is one of Japan’s premier art museums: The 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.
Left: Exterior, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The museum is a giant circle of glass, welcoming people from all directions. (Photo by Koji Ishikawa, courtesy of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
Right: Exterior, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The museum has a low profile so as not to overwhelm its beautiful surroundings. (Photo by Osamu Watanabe, courtesy of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
Top: Exterior, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The museum is a giant circle of glass, welcoming people from all directions. (Photo by Koji Ishikawa, courtesy of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
Bottom: Exterior, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. The museum has a low profile so as not to overwhelm its beautiful surroundings. (Photo by Osamu Watanabe, courtesy of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa)
The museum was created with the goal of generating new culture and revitalizing the community. Its collection features world-renowned Japanese artists like NARA Yoshitomo and MURAKAMI Takashi, acclaimed international artists, and local Kanazawa artisans who are breathing new life into traditional crafts. It is a place where art can be not only viewed but also explored and interacted with.
Left: Hoshi, Tobichiru (Stars Fly Away)/Taiyo no Ichiban Chikaku e (Closest to the Sun) (2024) by ASAI Yusuke. Asai creates massive paintings using materials like soil and tape. You can even walk on top of some of his works and feel the soil for yourself. From April to September 2025, these works will be on display at the museum as part of an exhibition that will focus on the theme of overlapping layers of time. (Photo by Maki Taguchi)
Right: Ichi: BOSE Ver. (2011) by KAKINUMA Koji. This larger-than-life calligraphic piece features the kanji character for the word “one.” It is perhaps the simplest of all kanji characters, yet in this one stroke we can feel the power of this master calligrapher. It will be featured in a new exhibition at the museum starting in September 2025 that will focus on the possibilities of written language. (From the collection of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Mareo Suemasa, © KAKINUMA Koji)
Top: Hoshi, Tobichiru (Stars Fly Away)/Taiyo no Ichiban Chikaku e (Closest to the Sun) (2024) by ASAI Yusuke. Asai creates massive paintings using materials like soil and tape. You can even walk on top of some of his works and feel the soil for yourself. From April to September 2025, these works will be on display at the museum as part of an exhibition that will focus on the theme of overlapping layers of time. (Photo by Maki Taguchi)
Bottom: Ichi: BOSE Ver. (2011) by KAKINUMA Koji. This larger-than-life calligraphic piece features the kanji character for the word “one.” It is perhaps the simplest of all kanji characters, yet in this one stroke we can feel the power of this master calligrapher. It will be featured in a new exhibition at the museum starting in September 2025 that will focus on the possibilities of written language. (From the collection of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Photo by Mareo Suemasa, © KAKINUMA Koji)
Left: Exciting events are held throughout the year at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. At this 2024 event, local community members of all ages were invited to decorate the museum itself by drawing on the iconic glass windows that encircle it. (Photo by Akifumi Nakagawa)
Right: At a 2024 workshop, local junior high school students create art inspired by sea cucumbers and soybeans, two local specialty products, encouraging the students to examine the nature and culture that surrounds them.
Top: Exciting events are held throughout the year at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. At this 2024 event, local community members of all ages were invited to decorate the museum itself by drawing on the iconic glass windows that encircle it. (Photo by Akifumi Nakagawa)
Bottom: At a 2024 workshop, local junior high school students create art inspired by sea cucumbers and soybeans, two local specialty products, encouraging the students to examine the nature and culture that surrounds them.
An Island as a Canvas for Contemporary Art
In the Seto Inland Sea, just off the coast of Okayama, hides an art lover’s paradise. Naoshima is an entire island brimming with contemporary art museums and installations. The project began in the 1980s when a Japanese businessman met the mayor of Naoshima. Together they shared a vision of revitalizing the sparsely populated island. The famous architect ANDO Tadao has been involved in the project since the beginning, designing many of the island’s museums and other structures over the years and making the Naoshima a destination for architecture as well as art.
Left: Chichu Art Museum, one of ANDO Tadao’s architectural designs for Naoshima. The word “chichu” meaning “underground,” the museum features various shapes recessed into the earth with open ceilings for sunlight to pour in. (Photo by FUJITSUKA Mitsumasa)
Right: Benesse House Oval, a hotel where you can enjoy a fusion of the beauty of the Seto Inland Sea and Ando’s striking architecture.
Top: Chichu Art Museum, one of ANDO Tadao’s architectural designs for Naoshima. The word “chichu” meaning “underground,” the museum features various shapes recessed into the earth with open ceilings for sunlight to pour in. (Photo by FUJITSUKA Mitsumasa)
Bottom: Benesse House Oval, a hotel where you can enjoy a fusion of the beauty of the Seto Inland Sea and Ando’s striking architecture.
Exploring the island, one can discover otherworldly sights and experiences waiting around every turn. Here the lush green mountains and gorgeous sea vistas of one of Japan’s islands serve as a canvas for art. Naoshima is a place unlike anywhere else in the world where art, architecture, and nature converge.
Left: SUGIMOTO Hiroshi’s Glass Tea House ‘Mondrian’ (2014). Japanese teahouses often have poetic names, and Sugimoto chose the name “Mondrian” after finding that in his quest to abstract the traditional teahouse, he created something reminiscent of the abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian. (©Sugimoto Studio. Originally created for LE STANZE DEL VETRO, Venice by Pentagram Stiftung)
Middle: In KUSAMA Yayoi’s Narcissus Garden (1966/2022), hundreds of mirror balls reflect their surroundings outside and in a small shrine-like structure designed by ANDO Tadao. (Photo by Masatomo MORIYAMA, ©YAYOI KUSAMA)
Right: Naoshima Bath “I Love Yu” (“yu” meaning “hot bath”) is an art installation by OHTAKE Shinro that doubles as a functioning public bathhouse. Every inch of the bathhouse is reflective of the artist’s dense collage style, being covered inside and out with paintings, mosaics, sculptures, and more. (Photo by Osamu Watanabe)
Top: SUGIMOTO Hiroshi’s Glass Tea House ‘Mondrian’ (2014). Japanese teahouses often have poetic names, and Sugimoto chose the name “Mondrian” after finding that in his quest to abstract the traditional teahouse, he created something reminiscent of the abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian. (©Sugimoto Studio. Originally created for LE STANZE DEL VETRO, Venice by Pentagram Stiftung)
Middle: In KUSAMA Yayoi’s Narcissus Garden (1966/2022), hundreds of mirror balls reflect their surroundings outside and in a small shrine-like structure designed by ANDO Tadao. (Photo by Masatomo MORIYAMA, ©YAYOI KUSAMA)
Bottom: Naoshima Bath “I Love Yu” (“yu” meaning “hot bath”) is an art installation by OHTAKE Shinro that doubles as a functioning public bathhouse. Every inch of the bathhouse is reflective of the artist’s dense collage style, being covered inside and out with paintings, mosaics, sculptures, and more. (Photo by Osamu Watanabe)
Over the years the project has grown larger, spreading across the island and becoming more integrated into the lives of the locals, who have embraced the art and become its biggest advocates. The Art House Project brought art out of the museums and into the neighborhoods by restoring old local houses and inviting artists to convert them into one-of-a-kind art spaces.
Left: “Kadoya,” the first Art House Project, is a renovated house that is around 200 years old. Inside you can view MIYAJIMA Tatsuo’s Sea of Time ‘98, a pool of water full of LED lights blinking at different paces. Local residents were invited to set the pace at which each light would blink. (Photo by Ken’ichi Suzuki)
Right: Inside the Art House Project “Ishibashi” you can view The Falls, SENJU Hiroshi’s giant waterfall paintings. (Photo by Naoharu Obayashi)
Top: “Kadoya,” the first Art House Project, is a renovated house that is around 200 years old. Inside you can view MIYAJIMA Tatsuo’s Sea of Time ‘98, a pool of water full of LED lights blinking at different paces. Local residents were invited to set the pace at which each light would blink. (Photo by Ken’ichi Suzuki)
Bottom: Inside the Art House Project “Ishibashi” you can view The Falls, SENJU Hiroshi’s giant waterfall paintings. (Photo by Naoharu Obayashi)
In 2025, the latest addition to Naoshima will open. ANDO Tadao’s tenth contribution to Benesse Art Site Naoshima, the Naoshima New Museum of Art will focus on artists from around Asia, including Japan. The inaugural exhibition is set to include the works of renowned contemporary Japanese artists MURAKAMI Takashi and AIDA Makoto, as well as other artists from across Asia.
Left: The Naoshima New Museum of Art. Designed by ANDO Tadao, it will have a sloped roof that fits in naturally with the museum’s hilltop location, and a black plaster exterior reminiscent of burnt cedar. (©Tadao Ando Architect & Associates)
Right: A large staircase extends two floors into the ground, while natural sunlight pours in from the skylight above. (©Tadao Ando Architect & Associates)
Top: The Naoshima New Museum of Art. Designed by ANDO Tadao, it will have a sloped roof that fits in naturally with the museum’s hilltop location, and a black plaster exterior reminiscent of burnt cedar. (©Tadao Ando Architect & Associates)
Bottom: A large staircase extends two floors into the ground, while natural sunlight pours in from the skylight above. (©Tadao Ando Architect & Associates)
Art museums are for more than just looking at art. They are a place to experience the cutting edge of culture. By visiting any of the many art museums located all across Japan, you can experience the vibrant contemporary Japanese art scene for yourself.