18 best art exhibitions in Tokyo right now

Pottery lovers, rejoice. 21_21 Design Sight is holding an exhibition of dozens of donburi (ramen bowls) from now until June 15. Most of them hail from the Tono region of Gifu prefecture, which accounts for a whopping 90% of Japan's ramen bowls.

The exhibition features the wares of ramen bowl collector Yasuyuki Kaga, as well as an 'Artist Ramen Bowls' exhibit: a colourful mix of 40 unique bowls designed by 40 different artists, designers, food experts and more. Each artist's bowl includes a bilingual synopsis from the creator themselves, detailling the thoughts and intentions behind their design.

Those interested in sustainability can learn more about the bowl-making process and efforts to recycle unwanted pottery into raw materials. If you're feeling artsy, hit up the 'Donburi Pride' workshop, where you can draw your own bowl design to take home or submit to the exhibition. Selected drawings will be temporarily displayed.

The exhibit is open every day except Tuesday, and runs from 10am to 7pm (entry until 6.30pm). Tickets are ¥1,600 for adults, ¥800 for university students and ¥500 for high school students. Junior high students and younger enter free of charge. You can purchase tickets here.

Finnish designer and sculptor Tapio Wirkkala (1915–1985) was a major figure in post-war design. Influenced by his stays in Lapland, the northern part of Finland, his work encompasses a wide range of fields, including product design, sculpture, graphic design and architecture. The breadth of his talent is reflected in the diversity of materials he used, especially glass, which made him known internationally.

Wirkkala’s most famous creations include the design for Finlandia vodka and the Ultima Thule kitchen glass collection for Iittala. Both glass creations required thousands of hours of work to develop a glassblowing technique capable of producing the appearance of dripping ice cubes.

The artistry involved in these masterpieces can be studied at the artist’s first major solo exhibition in Japan, being held at the Tokyo Station Gallery from April 5 to June 15. The retrospective celebrates the 110th anniversary of Wirkkala’s birth and focuses on his creative process and the environments that inspired him. The exhibition brings together approximately 300 works, including rarely exhibited plywood sculptures, design objects, and prototypes.

Swedish-born artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was a pioneer of abstract painting, whose work prefigured that of such revered figures as Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky. Yet, for decades, her work was known only to a handful of people. The 21st century, however, has seen Klint receive some long overdue global recognition. A 2018 retrospective at New York's Guggenheim Museum attracted the largest visitor numbers in that venue's history, and now the prestigious National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo presents her first career overview to be held in Asia.

The exhibition centres upon selections from "The Paintings for the Temple", a series which Klint, who was involved in the then-booming spiritualist movement, produced between 1906 and 1915 after believing the project to have been 'commissioned' from another dimension during a seance. The artist perceived these works which combine abstract and figurative elements, and organic and geometric forms, to have been created 'through' her by some external spiritual force.

Advance tickets are sold until March 3. This exhibition is closed on Mondays (except March 31 and May 5) as well as May 7.

Few figures in Edo-period (1603–1867) Japan left as indelible a mark on the world of publishing and art as Tsutaya Juzaburo (1750–1797). A masterful entrepreneur with a keen eye for talent, Tsutaya revolutionised the ukiyo-e industry by transforming woodblock prints from ephemeral entertainment into recognised works of art. His collaborations with the leading artists of the day set new standards for craftsmanship and aesthetic refinement, while his publishing ventures produced literature – especially satire – that captivated the urban population of Edo. 

With ‘Tsutaya Juzaburo: Creative Visionary of Edo’, the Tokyo National Museum pays tribute to this pioneering man of letters, showcasing a sweeping selection of prints, books and rare documents that illustrate Tsutaya’s profound influence on Japanese culture.

The exhibition explores Tsutaya’s early ventures in the red-light district of Yoshiwara, his ground-breaking work in multicolour nishiki-e printing, and his role in elevating the status of ukiyo-e as a respected art form. Visitors can step into the bustling streets of Edo, experiencing the artistic innovation and cultural vibrancy that defined Tsutaya Juzaburo’s legacy.

After celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2024, the legendary kaiju takes center stage at the Mori Arts Center Gallery with ‘Godzilla: The Art’, an exhibition highlighting the still-evolving legacy of the world’s most famous monster. Running from April 26 to June 29, this fifth installment in the acclaimed ‘Godzilla: The Art’ series invites visitors to experience the beast through a new artistic lens.

Since its cinematic debut in 1954, Godzilla has embodied themes of destruction, rebirth, and the ever-evolving relationship between humanity and nature. As a true international icon, the King of the Monsters continues to inspire wonder and dread in fans of all generations in search of symbolism and entertainment alike. 

Curated under the direction of renowned anatomist Takeshi Yoro, the exhibition breaks free from the confines of cinema to explore Godzilla as an artistic and cultural phenomenon. Featuring works by 15 contemporary artists, it showcases sculptures, paintings and multimedia pieces that reinterpret the essence and impact of Godzilla.

Soundwalk Collective, led by Stephan Crasneanscki and Simone Merli, is a Berlin-based sonic arts platform known for its experimental, interdisciplinary approach to sound. The group has collaborated with artists such as Jean-Luc Godard, Nan Goldin and Charlotte Gainsbourg, creating narratives that explore themes including time, memory and loss.

This spring, they’re bringing an auditory spectacle to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in the form of a collab with none other than Patti Smith. A musician, poet and visual artist, the inimitable Chicago native has shaped cultural history through her fusion of literature, music and activism, inspiring generations since her groundbreaking 1975 album Horses.

Fusing sound, poetry and film, ‘Correspondences’ takes over the MOT from April 26 to June 29. Through eight films, lightboxes, and sound installations, the exhibition explores themes such as environmental destruction and human resilience. Sonic memories collected from landscapes in Chernobyl and fire-ravaged forests are interwoven with Smith’s poetry and archival visuals, which feature cinema greats such as Pasolini and Godard. 

Presented for the first time in Japan, the exhibition marks the launch of MOT Plus, a platform for experimental art. A special artist talk with Smith and Crasneanscki will be held on April 26.

Spanish-born Joan Miró (1893-1983) has long been considered one of the most important artists of the twentieth century; revered for his poetic transformation of nature-derived shapes such as the moon and stars into abstract symbols. In this major retrospective, the various phases of Miró's career are presented together in Japan for the first time. Overseen by the Fundació Joan Miró, based in the artist's birthplace of Barcelona, this exhibition sees masterpieces held in collections across the world brought to Tokyo, to form a comprehensive overview of an artistic practice that encompassed painting, ceramics, sculpture and more.

Post-impressionistic early works, such as the 1919 self-portrait, give way to a resolutely surrealist approach as Miró becomes involved in the artistic current then sweeping Paris, where he spent much of the 1920s and '30s. The subsequent three decades then see the artist develop and hone the singular style with which he is most associated, exemplified here by exhibition highlight 'The Morning Star' (1940) and other selections from his 'Constellations' series. Finally, the show highlights how, even in his final years, Miró continued his lifelong search for new modes of expression.

The exhibition is closed on Mondays (except April 28, May 5) as well as May 7.

Kenjiro Okazaki (b. 1955) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, sculpture, architecture, landscape design and even robotics. His artistic practice defies categorisation, blending visual abstraction with conceptual depth. Internationally recognised, he directed the Japanese pavilion at the Venice Biennale’s Architecture Exhibition in 2002 and collaborated with choreographer Trisha Brown for the performance I Love My Robot (2007).

‘Time Unfolding Here’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art is the first large-scale retrospective of Okazaki’s work in Tokyo. By presenting his interdisciplinary approach, which bridges art, architecture and philosophy, the exhibition seeks to reveal how artistic creation can serve as a method of understanding the world. A must-see for anyone interested in the intersection of art and critical thinking, the show will feature new works as well as landmark pieces from Okazaki’s long career, illustrating the evolution of his exploration of form, perception and space.

Japanese game auteur Hideo Kojima, the mind behind Death Stranding and the Metal Gear series, has revolutionised interactive storytelling with his cinematic sensibility. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, celebrated for Drive and Only God Forgives, is known for his stylised, meditative explorations of violence and human nature. Bound by mutual respect and a fascination with the convergence of their mediums, the two artists share a decade-long friendship that has sparked artistic collaborations across film and video games. 

The two visionary creators now reunite in Tokyo for an ambitious installation. From April 18 to August 25, Prada Aoyama hosts ‘Satellites: Nicolas Winding Refn with Hideo Kojima’, an exhibition that invites visitors into a retro-futuristic space where Refn and Kojima appear across six exposed television screens together shaped like a spaceship, engaging in dialogue on identity, death and creativity.

The journey continues in an adjacent dressing room filled with cassette tapes, interweaving AI-translated soundbites and film soundtracks, allowing guests to craft their own narrative from fragments of conversation. Blurring the lines between analogue and digital, film and games, ‘Satellites’ explores human connection in an age of technological fusion.

Space cats have landed in Saitama. From now until August 31, Hyper Museum Hanno presents 'Ship's Cat Island', a new exhibition from contemporary artist Kenji Yanobe. The exhibit consists of 80 of Yanobe's works, namely sculptures and drawings of cats decked out in space gear. For a family-friendly affair, check out the 'Hyper Kids Program', an experiential workshop for parents and kids to enjoy together.

Tickets can be purchased through various channels found on the Hyper Museum Hanno website here (info in Japanese).