Best Exhibitions to See in Tokyo in Winter 2022-2023

Tokyo Art Beat presents a selection of exhibitions in Tokyo and 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 outside Kanto edition.

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams

After traveling to Paris, London, and New York, the “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” exhibition is coming to Tokyo. Commemorating the 70th anniversary of Dior, the exhibition features accessories and haute couture models from past and present, a section focusing on past artistic directors such as Yves Saint Laurent and Raf Simons, and works by photographer Yuriko Takagi. Don’t miss the opportunity to see “Wendelien Van Oldenborgh, Unset on-set” at the same venue. 

Venue: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Kiyosumi-shirakawa)
Schedule: December 21, 2022 - May 28, 2023 
Exhibition details

Roppongi Crossing 2022: Coming & Going

The “Roppongi Crossing” exhibition is held every three years by the Mori Art Museum to provide an overview of the contemporary art scene in Japan. The subtitle “Coming & Going” reacknowledges the changes brought by the pandemic and aims to bring back human interaction and reflect on the coexistence of diverse cultures and people in Japan. The featured artists are AKI INOMATA, Aoki Chie, Aoki Noe, Han Ishu, Ichihara Etsuko, Iha Linda, Ikeda Hiroshi, Inose Naoya, Ishigaki Katsuko, Ishiuchi Miyako, Kanagawa Shingo, KYUN-CHOME, Matsuda Osamu, Oh Haji, O JUN, Orimoto Tatsumi, Shindo Fuyuka, SIDE CORE / EVERYDAY HOLIDAY SQUAD, Takeuchi Kota, Tamayama Takuro, yang02, and Yokoyama Nami. Check the announcement news and photo report for more information.

Venue: Mori Art Museum (Roppongi)
Schedule: December 1, 2022 - March 26, 2023 
Exhibition details

Shinro Ohtake

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, which marks its 70th anniversary this year, is holding a major retrospective exhibition of Shinro Ohtake. Ohtake has earned an international reputation as a contemporary Japanese art leader after participating in the 2012 Documenta and the 2013 Venice Biennale. The long-awaited exhibition presents approximately 500 items, including works shown at international exhibitions. 

Venue: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (Takebashi)
Schedule: November 1, 2022 - February 5, 2023 
Exhibition details

Picasso and His Time: Masterpieces from Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin

The National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo, presents an exhibition featuring masterpieces from the Berggruen Kunstmuseum in Berlin. At the core of Heinz Berggruen’s collection are the works of Picasso, Klee, Matisse, and Giacometti. This is the first time Berggruen Kunstmuseum’s significant works have been loaned outside, and of the 97 works on display, 76 are being shown for the first time in Japan. 

Venue: National Museum Of Western Art, Tokyo (Ueno)
Schedule: October 8, 2022 - January 22, 2023 
Exhibition details

Taro Okamoto: A Retrospective

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum presents a major retrospective exhibition of artist, art theorist, and writer Taro Okamoto. When asked, “what do you call yourself?” he answered, “just a human - a human that lives fiercely.” This exhibition traces the life of Okamoto, covering his significant works and introducing some of his later works that have not received much attention until now.

Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Ueno)
Schedule: October 18, 2022 - December 28, 2023 
Exhibition details

The Polyphony of Function and Decoration

The exhibition “Polyphony of Function and Decoration,” previously held at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and the Iwami Art Museum, is now on display at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum. From the 1910s to the 1930s, various forms of modernism emerged in different parts of the world, including Japan. Featuring Wiener Werkstätte, Sonia Delaunay, and Bauhaus, the exhibition introduces multiple forms of “modernity” developed by artists who crossed paths, resonated with each other, and explored the rapidly changing society. The exhibition requires advance reservation.

Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum (Shirokanedai)
Schedule: December 17, 2022 - March 5, 2023 
Exhibition details

Poison

Poisons are understood as substances that cause harm to living beings. However, some poisons also have medicinal effects. The National Museum of Nature and Science presents an exhibition in which zoology, botany, geology, anthropology, science, and engineering specialists will present poisons existing everywhere in nature, including animals, plants, fungi, minerals, and manufactured poisons.

Venue: National Museum of Nature and Science (Ueno)
Schedule: November 1, 2022 - February 19, 2023 
Exhibition details

Hoshino Michio: The Eternal Journey

Michio Hoshino is a nature photographer whose works capture the wilderness of Alaska and the animals and people who live there. He was killed in an accident on the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, but his works continue to attract many fans more than 25 years later. This exhibition reconstructs the show of the same title held at Fuji Film Square in 2012, adding new representative work and delving deeper into the world of Hoshino. Don’t miss the opportunity to see Rika Noguchi’s solo exhibition, “Small Miracles,” at the same venue.

Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (Ebisu)
Schedule: November 19, 2022 - January 22, 2023 
Exhibition details

Dialogues of the Muses: The Paris Opera House and the Arts

Artizon Museum presents an exhibition exploring the history of the Paris Opera House from the seventeenth century to the present. Founded in 1669 by Louis XIV, the Paris Opera always supported new forms of expression by scriptwriters, composers, and artists. The exhibition introduces the multifaceted appeal of the Paris Opera House from artistic, cultural, and sociological perspectives and reveals its historical significance. The focus is mainly on the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the age of romantic ballet, grand opera, and the Ballets Russes. 

Venue: Artizon Museum (Kyobashi)
Schedule: November 5, 2022 - February 5, 2023 
Exhibition details

Félix Vallotton - Noir et Blanc

Felix Vallotton, a Navier School artist active in Paris at the end of the 19th century, gained fame for his innovative woodcuts in all black. The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum owns one of the world’s largest collections of Vallotton prints. In addition to the rare series “Intimite,” “Musical Instruments,” “World’s Fair,” “This is War!” and approximately 180 other prints will be on display for the first time. The exhibition also features a special display of works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Venue: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo (Marunouchi)
Schedule: October 29, 2022 - January 29, 2023 
Exhibition details

Mary Quant

Marie Quant is one of England’s most beloved fashion designers. She pioneered innovative fashion for young women in the 1960s and popularized mini-skirt and tights. This exhibition, which will be on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in Tokyo, traces Quant’s achievements as a designer from 1955 to 1975 and her journey as an entrepreneur who pioneered an era with approximately 100 garments, accessories, photographic materials, videos, and more.

Venue: Bunkamura Museum of Art (Shibuya)
Schedule: March 19, 2022 - January 9, 2023
Exhibition details

Atsushi Suwa Exhibition

Although labeled a realist painter, Atsushi Suwa also presented works based on thorough research and interviews. The exhibition at the Fuchu Art Museum features Suwa’s works based on historical events and portraits of deceased people, the project focusing on his grandmother, who passed away from illness in Manchuria just after the war, and the newest works created during the pandemic. 

Venue: Fuchu Art Museum (Fuchu)
Schedule: December 17, 2022 - February 26, 2023 
Exhibition details

Junaida “Imaginarium”

Junaida (1978-) has attracted significant public attention with his recently published picture books. In his enigmatic worlds reminiscent of Europe, detailed figures and scenery create a mysterious world where lightness and darkness coexist. His first large exhibition will feature over 400 works, including the original illustration and the newest works created for the show.

Venue: Play! (Tachikawa)
Schedule: October 8, 2022 - January 15, 2023 
Exhibition details

Izumi Kato “Parasitic Plastic Models”

Watari-um, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, presents an exhibition of Izumi Kato, a contemporary artist known for his mysterious humanoid wood carvings and paintings. The exhibition features plastic models of animals and insects, which Kato made during the pandemic.

Venue: Watari-um, The Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (Jingumae)
Schedule: November 6, 2022 - March 12, 2023 
Exhibition details

Affections: Objects of Man Ray

Man Ray was an artist active in the 20th century in the United States and Paris who created works in a range of media, beginning with paintings and going on to include photographs, objects, films, and more. This exhibition focuses on displaying the objects he is known to have referred to as “Objects of My Affection.” Approximately 150 objects, including about 50 items from the Japanese collection, are displayed along with related works and materials.

Venue: Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art (Chiba)
Schedule: October 8, 2022 - January 15, 2023 
Exhibition details

Naito Rei, Tout animal est dans le monde comme de l’eau à l’intérieur de l’eau, 2022 From the Museum Collection

Rei Naito’s “Grace” is on view for the first time in seven years at the Museum of Modern Art, Hayama. The work was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, and put on permanent display overlooking the Heike Pond until the main building was closed in 2016. With previous and new pieces, a unique expression of “existence within the world, just like water within the water” will emerge in Hayama. Don’t miss the opportunity to see “Man Ray and the Women” at the same venue.

Venue: Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (Hayama)
Schedule: October 22, 2022 - January 22, 2023 
Exhibition details

Oki Junko: The Exposed

Junko Oki, known for her embroidery works, is currently holding her first solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Annex. Oki taught herself to embroider with a thread left by her mother. After working on clothing, bags, and other items in her early years, she expanded her work beyond painting and sculpture, showing her works in Japan and abroad. This exhibition will display the full range of Oki’s creative process through rare early work, representative embroidered work, new work, and installations.

Venue: Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura Annex (Kamakura)
Schedule: September 17, 2022 - January 9, 2023 
Exhibition details

Picasso “The Blue Period and Beyond”

Pablo Picasso is one of the most famous painters of the 20th century. This exhibition is a joint project of the Pola Museum of Art, which owns one of the best Picasso collections in Japan, and the Hiroshima Museum of Art. It explores the creative path left behind by the 20th-century master through the latest scientific technology and research on his works, as well as rare works of art from Japan and abroad, including paintings from the collections of the two museums.

Venue: Pola Museum of Art (Hakone)
Schedule: September 17, 2022 - January 15, 2023
Exhibition details

Tohru Nakazaki “Fiction Traveler”

Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, is currently holding a solo exhibition by local artist and resident Tohru Nakasaki. This autobiographical project traced Nakazaki’s personal history, his encounter with contemporary art, and his activities as an artist up to the present. The exhibition features his early representative works inspired by billboards, three-dimensional works created using colorful acrylics and fluorescent lights, and his installations based on research and interviews.

Venue: Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito (Mito)
Schedule: November 5, 2022 - January 29, 2023 
Exhibition details