8 best art exhibitions showing in Osaka right now

After captivating visitors in Tokyo, Nagoya, Taipei and Milan, the popular Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition is finally coming to Osaka. This digital art experience projects iconic Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints into physical spaces, allowing you to quite literally walk into the worlds depicted in the art.

Expect to see over 300 works by Japan’s most celebrated ukiyo-e artists including Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku and, of course, Katsushika Hokusai, creator of the iconic ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’, which recently fetched a record-breaking USD2.8 million at a Hong Kong auction. These masterpieces will be brought to life through 3D animation and large-scale projection mapping across multiple walk-in spaces.

The exhibition will also showcase original Edo-period (1603–1868) prints and high-quality reproductions. Additionally, exclusive to this Osaka run, you’ll get to examine up close ukiyo-e connected to the city itself. Together, these displays offer a rich insight into the art form’s history as well as the culture and daily life of Edo-period Japan.

Sarah Morris is one of the most incisive observers of the contemporary metropolis. Born in the UK in 1967 and based in New York, she has since the 1990s developed a distinctive visual language that moves fluidly between painting, film and large-scale architectural interventions. 

Known for her glossy geometric abstractions structured by diagrammatic grids, Morris translates systems of power (corporate, political and urban) into vivid compositions that oscillate between order and instability. Her parallel film practice extends this inquiry into moving images, probing the psychological and political undercurrents of cities in constant flux.

For about two months, the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka presents ‘Sarah Morris: Transactional Authority’, the artist’s first retrospective exhibition in Japan and one of the most comprehensive surveys of her work in Asia. Featuring nearly 100 works spanning more than three decades, the exhibition brings together around 40 paintings, all 17 of Morris’s films, drawings and a newly commissioned large-scale wall painting created specifically for the museum...

Step into the world of Gustav Klimt, the celebrated Austrian symbolist painter and a key figure in both the Vienna Secession and the Art Nouveau movements. The ‘Klimt Alive’ exhibition offers a breathtaking and immersive journey through Klimt’s iconic masterpieces, where projection mapping and classical music bring his vibrant works to life.

Experience the stunning beauty of The Kiss, one of the art world’s most renowned paintings, as it’s projected onto the walls and floor to create a 360-degree multisensory environment. At this cutting-edge exhibition, you’ll be literally stepping inside his art. Additionally, the exhibition also features captivating photo spots and exclusive merchandise.

Cute as they are, folk toys can reveal a great deal about the cultures and environments from which they originate. Often made from simple materials like paper and wood, they are deeply connected to local folk beliefs and customs. This exhibition at the Osaka Museum of History explores the museum’s folk toy collection, highlighting their materials and designs, as well as the symbolism, prayers and superstitions associated with them.

Key exhibits include an inuhariko, or papier-mâché dog, from the Taisho era (1912–1926). Such figurines, often decorated with floral patterns, were traditionally gifted to children to wish for their health and happiness. Here you'll also see a clay ox, a type of Fushimi doll sold along the approach to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in Kyoto, which was historically floated down the river to ward off smallpox.

The exhibition also features a Shinno’s Tiger, an Osaka Hariko papier-mâché craft and a cherished traditional art of the region, said to have originated during a cholera outbreak in the 19th century.

Generally speaking, surrealism has become synonymous with Salvador Dali and his iconic images of melting clocks, ants and elephants with long, spindly legs. However, the movement has evolved far beyond those otherworldly motifs since Andre Breton first defined the term in 1924.

Characterised by dream-like atmospheres and unsettling imagery, surrealism was initially an artistic expression focussed on exploring the subconscious mind, spurred on by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theories. But over the decades, its influence has penetrated many aspects of everyday life.

A century after its emergence, this exhibition at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka brings together a comprehensive selection of masterpieces from collections across Japan to showcase surrealism’s wide-ranging reach. These works allow you to explore how the movement has shaped everything from advertising and fashion to interior design, and witness its enduring impact on culture.

Since opening in 1982 with the renowned Ataka Collection of Chinese and Korean ceramics, the Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka has expanded steadily over the past forty years. The museum owes much of this growth to the generosity of donors, among them Dr. Lee Byeong-Chang, who gifted a significant assemblage of Korean works. This expansive exhibition highlights both the depth and quality of these contributions.

The main highlight is the Shokei Collection, which is being exhibited for the first time ever. This remarkable array of tea utensils from China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan includes scoops, kettles, hanging scrolls and a rare 12th-century waka (a traditional form of Japanese poetry) manuscript fragment, along with many other implements essential to the tea ceremony.

Also on display are exceptional Chinese ceramic wine vessels from the Iriye Masanobu Collection, and a comprehensive historical grouping of Chinese ceramics from the Hakutoro Collection. Additionally, the series of burial figurines and mingqi (spirit objects) from the Umino Nobuyoshi Collection dates from the Han to the Tang dynasties.

The exhibition further includes a selection of Korean ceramics and related materials formerly owned by Asakawa Noritaka, an influential scholar who helped introduce the beauty of Korean ceramics to Japan.