[Image: "Namahage" Akita, 1957, photograph by Taro Okamoto]

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In 1998, Taro Okamoto's studio in Minami Aoyama, where he lived and created his work for 42 years, was opened to the public as the Taro Okamoto Memorial Museum. The old building, designed by architect Junzo Sakakura, was retained, and the adjacent two-story wooden study/sculpture studio was rebuilt as a new exhibition building.

This is the place where Okamoto drew pictures, dictated manuscripts, struggled with sculptures, met with people, and conceived and created all kinds of work, including the Tower of the Sun at Expo ’70 in Osaka and other huge monuments and murals. In his studio, where unfinished canvases and paintbrushes still remain, visitors can vividly feel the breath of Taro. The garden, and the salon, which was used for receptions and meetings, are also 100% pure Taro spaces.

In the exhibition building, a variety of special exhibitions are held throughout the year, all with Taro Okamoto as their theme.

Taro Okamoto’s Tohoku