“As We Approach 100th Anniversary of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum”

In my message last year, “In Time of Turmoil,” I wrote: “In these circumstances, culture and art are taking an increasingly significant role in our lives. This is because, when faced with adversity, we are most able to find joy and reason to live in culture and art, as well as reassess our lives and discover the strength to move forward again.” In the year since, turmoil has further deepened and the numbers of people seeking culture and art, and the level of their passion, seem to be increasing in inverse proportion.

Continuing from the end of fiscal 2024, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum is presenting the special exhibition “Joan Miró” in collaboration with the Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona until July 6 in fiscal 2025. This major retrospective offers an unprecedented opportunity to experience the essence of Miró’s art through numerous masterpieces drawn from collections around the world. It will be followed by a special exhibition highlighting the Van Gogh family collection, “Van Gogh’s Home: The Van Gogh Museum. The Painter’s Legacy, the Family Collection, the Ongoing Story.” Primarily featuring pieces from the Van Gogh Museum, this landmark exhibition will assemble 30 works by Van Gogh preserved and passed down to posterity by the Van Gogh family, along with four letters by the artist that will appear in Japan for the first time. Thereafter, with the full cooperation of the Swedish National Museum, we will present the special exhibition “Masters of Swedish Painting from Nationalmuseum, Stockholm” in January 2026. Through vibrant paintings created from the late 19th and early 20th century—a golden era for the arts in Sweden—the exhibition will examine the unique sensibilities of Scandinavia, where people live in rich harmony with nature.

DIY (Do It Yourself)—an approach that transcends boundaries between art and daily life, guided by people’s desire to “live better.” This year’s Thematic Exhibition, “Pleasure in Making: The Creative Spirit of DIY for Living,” will explore the possibilities of DIY through the perspectives of four artists, one artist duo, and two architect teams.

Public Entry Exhibitions, an important fountainhead of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s continued development, will again be held in large numbers this fiscal year. Based on our history and traditions as a museum closely partnered with the Public Entry Exhibitions, we annually offer our attractive “Ueno Artist Project” as a showcase for contemporary artists whose careers have developed with them as a stage. This year, we host our 9th annual “Ueno Artist Project,” featuring creators who push creative boundaries using shishu (embroidery) and sashiko (quilting) techniques.

In line with the “Ueno Art Project,” furthermore, the concurrently held “Collection Exhibition” will exhibit materials of diverse genres under the theme of “embroidery” in order to demonstrate the Tokyo Metropolitan Collection’s wide range to art lovers visiting Ueno.

Wishing to enable everyone to creatively enjoy the Museum regardless of age or disability, we will continue to offer diverse Art Communication (AC) programs as well, this fiscal year, including the “Tobira Project” conducted in collaboration with citizens and the Tokyo University of the Arts. We will also hold “Welcome to Art Communication Programs – Showcase 2025,” a special summertime program allowing visitors to grasp the 12-year history and content of the AC programs, and actually experience many of the programs.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, founded in 1926 as Japan's first public art museum, will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2026. Because of its high profile as a major Tokyo art museum, the Museum is widely known not only to Tokyo residents but increasingly to Japan’s many overseas visitors as well. In addition to the exhibitions and AC projects I mention above, the Museum offers well-furnished facilities including a library and archives, art lounge, restaurants and a café, and a shop filled with attractive items of all varieties. Along with your experience strolling in Ueno’s beautiful woods amid greenery and flowers, we wish you also to fully enjoy your time at the Museum. I pray that our activities as a museum will avail you of the enchantment and healing that art can awaken, as well as hope for the new world of tomorrow.

April 2025
TAKAHASHI Akiya, Director
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum