Takeshi Motai: The Dream Traveler, by Yoshitomo Nara

Built on the spot where beloved painter and illustrator Chihiro Iwasaki used to live, the Chihiro Art Museum is hidden away in residential Shakujii and boasts one of the world's largest collections of picture books and illustrations for children. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the museum has invited contemporary artist Yoshitomo Nara to pick out his favourite works from the over 700-piece collection left behind by illustrator Takeshi Motai (1908-1956), praised as one of the greatest picture book authors of the Showa era. Including sketches from when Motai was travelling around Europe in his 20s, the artist's wartime diaries and picture books with children's doodles in them, in addition to representative works that display Motai's bold but simplistic style, the exhibition is a great opportunity for discovering this pioneering illustrator's work.