Tokyo National Museum

This spring and summer, Japan’s ancient aesthetic heritage meets the cutting edge of animation. On at the Tokyo National Museum from March 25 to August 3, ‘Immersive Theater on Neo-Japonism: From Ancient Art to Anime’ is an ambitious 24-minute visual experience that journeys through 10,000 years of Japanese creativity. Projected across four massive walls fitted with towering 7-metre screens, the ultra-HD installation explores the evolution of Japanese artistic expression from the clay figures of the prehistoric Jomon period to the ink paintings of the Edo period (1603–1867), culminating in the vibrant dynamism of contemporary anime. Brought to life by the innovative minds at digital art outfits Panoramatiks and Cekai, the experience highlights how Japan’s animist worldview and refined sense of space continue to influence global pop culture. The exhibition draws poignant connections between ancient scrolls, classical motifs, and works by anime legends like Osamu Tezuka, Isao Takahata and Mamoru Hosoda, serving up a distinctive blend of history, art and imagination.

Head to the Tokyo National Museum’s Heiseikan this summer for a sweeping exploration of the secretive inner chambers of the Tokugawa shogunate. On show from July 19 to September 21, ‘Ooku: Women of Power in Edo Castle’ takes viewers into the secluded quarters that housed the wives, concubines and ladies-in-waiting of the shoguns – women who navigated a world of rigid hierarchy, political intrigue and quiet resilience behind locked doors and copper-clad walls. Though immortalised in popular culture through kabuki, television dramas and manga, the real ooku was far more nuanced than fiction suggests. The exhibition sheds new light on reality through approximately 180 rarely seen artefacts, including historical documents, architectural diagrams, exquisite kimonos, personal effects and intricate ceremonial textiles. Highlights include 31 embroidered cloths (kakefukusa), which were placed upon important gifts exchanged in the palace, from the Genroku era (1688–1704); elegant garments worn by women from samurai families; and the complete Chiyoda no Ooku (1894–1896) series of ukiyo-e prints by Toyohara Chikanobu, which depict daily life in Edo Castle as imagined by the artist some 30 years after the fall of the shogunate. Visitors can also view kabuki costumes worn by women actors who performed within the Ooku itself. Highlighting personal stories and treasured objects alike, the exhibition reveals the complexities of life within the shogun’s harem, where power, duty and emotion...