Recommended Art Gallery and Museum Exhibitions Across Japan in June 2026

NPO Aoyama Design Forum presents the recommended exhibitions of art galleries and museums in June 2026. In addition to the schedule of events, we will provide you with detailed information such as the works on display. Please check the website of each museum for current opening hours before visiting.

21_21 DESIGN SIGHT “Gaudí: Windows on the Future”

The exhibition "Gaudí: Windows Opening to the Future" explores the creative world of architect Antoni Gaudí. Guided by his unique architectural philosophy and his interest in art and technology, Gaudí designed a wide variety of windows. The exhibition presents research findings, models, and selected collaborative studies collected over many years by window manufacturer YKK AP. While inheriting the concept of the exhibition previously held at the World Heritage site Palau Güell in Barcelona, it is reimagined through a display unique to 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT. Visitors can experience Gaudí’s ideas and the appeal of innovative windows through the lens of his pursuit of “integration” and “harmony” in architecture.

Dates: May 16 (Sat) – July 12 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Gallery 3, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT
Hours: 10:00–19:00
Closed: May 26 and June 23, 2026
Admission: Free
URL：https://tinyurl.com/4emws36s

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Collection Exhibition “MOMAT Collection”

萬鉄五郎《裸体美人》1912年、重要文化財

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo presents “MOMAT Collection,” an exhibition drawn from its extensive holdings. This edition introduces the “Sugimoto Note,” shown publicly for the first time in connection with the special exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto: Lost Human Genetic Archive. Newly acquired works by On Kawara, Urushibara Hideko, Maemoto Shoko, and Yokomizo Shizuka will also be on view. A special feature highlights Hasegawa Saburo on the 120th anniversary of his birth, focusing not only on his artistic achievements but also on his role as a curator. The exhibition’s “masterpieces” section includes masterpieces such as Tsuguharu Foujita’s Five Nude Women alongside works by Cézanne, Bonnard, Klee, and Yoshitomo Nara. With major rotations throughout the exhibition period, MOMAT Collection offers a rich and diverse exploration of modern and contemporary art.

Dates: May 26 (Tue) – September 13 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Gallery of the MOMAT Collection, Floors 2–4, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (Fridays and Saturdays until 20:00; admission until 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (except July 20), and July 21, 2026
URL：https://www.momat.go.jp

Towada Art Center Special Exhibition “Tsubaki Noboru: FREEDOM–Living with ‘the Elephant in the Room’”

メインビジュアル デザイン：美山有

Towada Art Center presents a major solo exhibition by contemporary artist Tsubaki Noboru, whose work has long explored the contradictions of contemporary society through monumental representations of living creatures. Centered on a newly created elephant—the largest land mammal on Earth—the exhibition examines the habits, assumptions, and behaviors that people often choose to overlook in everyday life. A giant inflatable installation, the Elephant in the Room, will occupy the museum galleries, while a special presentation tracing the history of ATTA unfolds throughout the city of Towada. Through these works, the exhibition invites visitors to consider what it truly means to be free in today’s society.

Dates: June 6 (Sat) – November 8 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Towada Art Center
Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (or the following day when Monday is a national holiday); open on August 3 and August 10
Admission: Adults 1,800 (includes collection exhibition), Groups of 20 or more 1,600, Free for high school students and younger
URL：https://towadaartcenter.com

POLA Museum Annex Exhibition “Worlding – No Oars, No Shore,”

POLA Museum Annex presents Worlding – No Oars, No Shore, a group exhibition featuring Akiko Ueda, Gentaro Ishizuka, and Keita Morimoto. Taking the question “How does the world come into being?” as its point of departure, the exhibition explores three distinct artistic approaches to perception and reality. Ueda depicts images that emerge and dissolve through shifts in color and form. Ishizuka expands photographic expression through experiments with light and materials, creating layered experiences of time and space. Morimoto draws upon classical painting traditions while portraying contemporary urban scenes, using light as a means of connecting present realities with historical depth. By encountering these three perspectives together, visitors are invited to discover new relationships and ways of seeing the world.

Dates: June 12 (Fri) – July 5 (Sun), 2026
Venue: POLA Museum Annex (POLA Ginza Building 3F, 1-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo)
Hours: 11:00–19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Closed: Open daily throughout the exhibition period
Admission: Free
URL：http://www.po-holdings.co.jp/m-annex/

POLA Museum 25th Anniversary Program “COLLECTION CINEMA I”

クリスチャン・マークレー《ドア》2022年 © Christian Marclay

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, POLA Museum presents COLLECTION CINEMA I, showcasing two outstanding video works from its recent acquisitions in separate phases. The first presentation features The Doors by Christian Marclay, exhibited for the first time at the museum. Created from scenes of doors taken from films across different eras and cultures, the work unfolds as a labyrinthine cinematic experience. The second presentation introduces Gerhard Richter’s Moving Picture (946-3) Kyoto Version, an immersive video installation derived from one of the artist’s abstract paintings. Visitors can enjoy these remarkable works alongside the concurrent special exhibition New Eyes: Monet and Art in the 21st Century.

Dates: June 17, 2026 (Wed) – April 7, 2027 (Wed)
Venue: Exhibition Room 3, POLA Museum of Art
Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Closed: December 1, 2026 / December 2–3, 2026 (closed for exhibition changeover; COLLECTION CINEMA only)
Admission: Adults 2,200 / University & High School Students 1,700 / Free for Junior High School Students and Younger
URL：https://tinyurl.com/k9vxcrhh

The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Kamakura Annex “Yamamuro Shinji’s Potato Prints: Histoires Naturelles in Kamakura” / From the Museum Collection: In Everyday Life

山室眞二《ツバメ》2025年 薯版、紙 作家蔵 撮影：鈴木静華

For more than fifty years, Yamamuro Shinji (born 1939) has developed a unique printmaking practice using potatoes as printing blocks. Created through a meticulous process in which the fragile blocks can only be used for a few hours, his works capture plants, insects, birds, and other subjects encountered in and around Kamakura. This exhibition presents a broad survey of Yamamuro’s potato prints, together with books for which he provided cover designs. Also on view is his new series Words of Shimura Fukumi: Hyakuyōbako (100 works), offering visitors an opportunity to experience the remarkable range of expression that emerges from such a humble medium.

Dates: May 30 (Sat) – September 27 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Kamakura Annex, The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama
Hours: 9:30–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (except July 20 and September 21)
Admission: Adults 700 / Under 20 & Students 550 / Ages 65 and over 350 / High School Students 100
URL：https://tinyurl.com/2k85exha

The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama Exhibition “Unprecedented: Women Photographers from the GDR”

ジビレ・ベルゲマン《アネッテとアンゲラ、ルストガルテン、ベルリン、1982年》1982年

Following the Second World War, Germany was divided into East and West. Although many women in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) established successful careers as photographers and produced outstanding artistic work, their contributions remained largely overlooked in the history of German photography until recent years. Drawing primarily from the collection of Sven Herrmann, this exhibition introduces the work of fifteen women photographers from East Germany. Through their images of everyday life and society, the exhibition explores both the role of photography and the distinctive perspectives these artists brought to documenting a country that no longer exists.

Dates: June 13 (Sat) – August 30 (Sun), 2026
Venue: The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, Hayama
Hours: 9:30–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (except July 20)
Admission: Adults 1,200 / Other admission categories available
URL：https://www.moma.pref.kanagawa.jp/

Tokyo Photographic Art Museum Exhibition “Idemitsu Mako: What a Woman Made”

《Still Life》1993–2000年 ミクストメディア 東京都写真美術館蔵 ©Mako Idemitsu

Idemitsu Mako (born 1940) is a pioneering figure in Japanese experimental film and video art. After spending time in the United States during the 1960s, she began creating works that explored themes such as women’s lives, family relationships, and the complex interactions between media and society. Her video works, particularly those produced from the 1970s onward, incorporated the visual language of television melodrama while offering distinctive perspectives on motherhood, marriage, and the social roles assigned to women. In recent years, her practice has attracted renewed international attention amid growing discussions surrounding gender and the body. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum acquired Idemitsu’s complete body of film and video works, along with major installation pieces, between 2016 and 2017. This large-scale retrospective presents a comprehensive overview of her career and includes works being shown publicly for the first time since entering the museum’s collection.

Dates: June 18 (Thu) – September 21 (Mon, Holiday), 2026
Venue: Tokyo Photographic Art Museum
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (Thursdays and Fridays until 20:00)
Admission until 30 minutes before closing.
From August 6–28, Thursdays and Fridays remain open until 21:00.
Closed: Mondays (when Monday is a national holiday, the museum remains open and closes the following weekday)
Admission: Adults 700 / Students 560 / High School Students & Visitors Aged 65 and Over 350
URL：https://topmuseum.jp

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Exhibition “MOT Collection: Art for Starters”

The MOT Collection showcases approximately 6,100 works centered on postwar and contemporary art. Titled Art for Starters, this exhibition explores a variety of “firsts” that shape our encounters with art, incorporating newly acquired works alongside collection highlights. Through themes such as “Starting from What Surrounds Us,” “What Does It Mean to See Something for the First Time?” and “Where Do Artworks Come From?”, the exhibition offers visitors approachable entry points into the world of art. Whether visiting for the first time or returning as a regular museum-goer, audiences are invited to discover new ways of beginning their own journey with art.

Dates: April 28 (Tue) – August 16 (Sun), 2026
Venue: MOT Collection Galleries, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (last admission 30 minutes before closing)
Open until 21:00 on August 7 and August 14.
Closed: Mondays (except May 4 and July 20), May 7, and July 21
Admission: Adults 500 / University & Vocational School Students 400 / High School Students & Visitors Aged 65 and Over 250 / Free for Junior High School Students and Younger
URL：https://tinyurl.com/2ws84xcf

Fukuda Art Museum Exhibition “Jakuchū: Prancing Feathers and Swelling Gourds”

Since opening in 2019, Fukuda Art Museum has built a distinguished collection spanning from the Edo period to the present day. This exhibition brings together two of Ito Jakuchū’s most celebrated masterpieces: Scroll of Fruits and Vegetables, whose existence was confirmed in 2023, and the Important Cultural Property Vegetables and Insects, displayed side by side for the first time following conservation treatment. The exhibition also features approximately forty works by Jakuchū, including newly discovered pieces and important recent acquisitions, tracing the artist’s development from his earliest years through his mature period. In addition, visitors can enjoy outstanding works by Kyoto painters active during Jakuchū’s lifetime, including Yosa Buson, Maruyama Ōkyo, and Nagasawa Rosetsu, as well as newly acquired masterpieces from the Fukuda Collection. Together, these works offer a multifaceted view of Jakuchū’s remarkable artistic world.

Dates: April 25 (Sat) – July 5 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Fukuda Art Museum
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last admission 16:30)
Closed: May 12, June 2, and June 16, 2026
Admission: Adults 1,500 / High School Students 900 / Elementary & Junior High School Students 500 / Other categories available
URL：https://www.fukuda-art-museum.jp

Mori Art Museum Exhibition “Ron Mueck”

ロン・ミュエク《イン・ベッド》（2005） 所蔵：カルティエ現代美術財団

Renowned for his hyperrealistic sculptures of the human body, Australian-born sculptor Ron Mueck explores fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Through works that range from miniature figures to monumental installations, Mueck captures universal emotions such as loneliness, anxiety, vulnerability, and the fear of aging with extraordinary precision and psychological depth. His sculptures invite viewers to confront the complexities of the human condition while experiencing familiar emotions on an unexpected scale. Featuring major works and large-scale installations, this landmark exhibition offers a rare opportunity to encounter one of the most influential sculptors working today.

Dates: April 29 (Wed, Holiday) – September 23 (Wed, Holiday), 2026
Venue: Mori Art Museum
Organized by: Mori Art Museum and Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain
URL：https://tinyurl.com/yse65r7x

rin art association Special Exhibition “Tsuyoshi Higashijima: Sora ni Iku - Painting Paradiso”

A solo exhibition by Tsuyoshi Higashijima, titled “Sora ni Iku - Painting Paradiso,” will be held from June 7 to August 9, 2026. Known for creating paintings under the theme of “the virtue of ambiguity,” Higashijima’s works emerge from the relationship between body and space, capturing fleeting atmospheres and the memories embedded within places and moments. Utilizing the gallery’s three-story structure, the exhibition presents a vertical journey that guides visitors toward the sky. Monumental works born from the struggle between gravity and the body appear on the first floor, while luminous colors and a symbolic thread unfold on the second. On the third floor, paintings liberated from gravity are displayed in natural light. As visitors ascend, the works transition from earth to sky, offering an experience in which paintings evolve from representations into states of presence.

Exhibition Period: June 7 – August 9, 2026
Venue: rin art association
Opening Hours: 11:00–19:00
URL：https://rinartassociation.com/

Artizon Museum Exhibitions “Ettore Sottsass: The Magic Begins” and “Shuzo Takiguchi: Writing and Drawing”

エットレ・ソットサス《カールトン》1981年（デザイン）/1981年（製作：メンフィス・ミラノ）、石橋財団アーティゾン美術館 © Erede Ettore Sottsass

Artizon Museum presents two major exhibitions that explore creativity across design, literature, and visual art. Ettore Sottsass: The Magic Begins is the first large-scale retrospective in Japan devoted to the internationally celebrated Italian designer Ettore Sottsass. Drawing on more than one hundred works from the Ishibashi Foundation Collection, the exhibition traces the development of his groundbreaking approach to design and its lasting influence on contemporary culture. Running concurrently, Shuzo Takiguchi: Writing and Drawing examines the multifaceted career of poet, art critic, and cultural figure Shuzo Takiguchi. Featuring approximately 120 works, including many being shown publicly for the first time, the exhibition revisits Takiguchi’s achievements across poetry, criticism, and visual expression. Together, these exhibitions offer a rich perspective on two visionary figures whose work transcended conventional boundaries.

Dates: June 23 (Tue) – October 4 (Sun), 2026
Venue: Artizon Museum, 6th Floor Galleries and 5th–4th Floor Galleries
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (Fridays until 20:00)
URL：https://tinyurl.com/yy6xexp4

AWASE gallery Special Exhibition “AWASE gallery 1st Anniversary”

Celebrating its first anniversary in June 2026, AWASE gallery presents the group exhibition “AWASE gallery 1st Anniversary,” featuring artists who have contributed to the gallery’s journey since its opening. The exhibition expands across two venues—AWASE gallery and the project space On—each offering a distinct atmosphere and curatorial approach. Participating artists include Lee Eunu, Yuriko Iyanaga, Yoshiyuki Umehara, Momoka Ota, Haruto Kamijo, Yuko Nagayama, Ayano Nishida, Kohei Yamada, and others. Looking back on the gallery’s development while introducing new artistic encounters, the exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to explore a wide range of contemporary expressions. As a milestone event, it celebrates both past achievements and future possibilities.

Exhibition Period: June 6 – June 21, 2026
Venue: AWASE gallery
Opening Hours: 12:00–19:00
URL：https://tinyurl.com/48cfunbv

HERALBONY LABORATORY GINZA Gallery Exhibition “Mebuki (Budding)”

《メブキ》2026 画材｜ポスカ、米袋

The exhibition “Mebuki (Budding),” a solo exhibition by Haruka Asano, the first Grand Prize winner of the HERALBONY Art Prize 2024, will be presented. Held as a traveling exhibition following her previous solo exhibition “Hyoka Evaluation,” the exhibition focuses on Mebuki, a new body of work that emerged beyond her award-winning piece. Making use of traces left in the material itself, such as wrinkles and tears in rice bags, Asano creates a unique world through meticulous drawings. Through a series of works exploring themes of life and illness, the exhibition offers an opportunity to experience the current stage of her creative practice as it continues to expand and unfold like budding growth. A live painting performance is also scheduled for the opening day of the exhibition.

Dates: June 13 – August 10, 2026
Venue: HERALBONY LABORATORY GINZA Gallery
URL：https://artprize.heralbony.jp/