Tattooed Lady (detail) by Paul Binnie (1997).In numbers of eyeballs on artworks the great "Mega City" of Tokyo is the unchallenged capital of the art world. So, what are the best things to see in our galleries, museums, and exhibition spaces as we enter the portals of Summer through the gateway of Golden Week?
Here, then, are our unbeatable art picks for the month ahead, with hyperrealism, surrealism, radical abstraction, 80s kitsch, seasonal Nihonga, and French Impressionism (x2) all on offer.
"Mass" (2016-2017) Synthetic polymer paint on fiberglass, installation view: Ron Mueck, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, 2025, photo: Nam Kiyong
René Magritte The Museum of the King (1966) Yokohama Museum of Art
Daniel Buren, “Third Eye, situated works” 2026, SCAI THE BATH HOUSE, photo by Nobutada Omote
Here, then, are our unbeatable art picks for the month ahead, with hyperrealism, surrealism, radical abstraction, 80s kitsch, seasonal Nihonga, and French Impressionism (x2) all on offer.
"Mass" (2016-2017) Synthetic polymer paint on fiberglass, installation view: Ron Mueck, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, 2025, photo: Nam KiyongRON MUECK
One of the sure-fire ways to have artistic impact is to "GO BIG." Few artists have made more of this clever ploy than Ron Mueck, the 68-year-old Australian artist based in the UK, who is now the subject of a major show at Roppongi's MORI ART MUSEUM. What makes Mueck worthwhile as an artist, however, is that he uses this "giantist" technique to focus, in a hyper-realistic and ironically microscopic manner, on the human condition. The exhibition presents eleven works that dot the artist’s trajectory from early masterpieces to more recent works, including the "Mass" (2016-2017), a work which has obvious affinities with Japanese Buddhist and yokai art.
N0w – September 23rd
PRICE: ¥2300
René Magritte The Museum of the King (1966) Yokohama Museum of ArtSURREALISM: EXPANDING FROM THE VISUAL ARTS TO ADVERTISING
The Japanese have long felt a close affinity with mid-20th-century European Surrealism. The result of this is that many works by the likes of Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Salvador Dali, and others are awkwardly scattered around in dribs and drabs, taking up space in various museum and private collections. Occasionally, however, someone has the bright idea of gathering these works together and putting on a proper show, like the one at the TOKYO OPERA CITY ART GALLERY which has collected around 150 items in a variety media. The show attempts to show how the movement fed into advertising, fashion, and interior design.
Now – 24th June
PRICE: ¥1800
Daniel Buren, “Third Eye, situated works” 2026, SCAI THE BATH HOUSE, photo by Nobutada OmoteDANIEL BUREN (SCAI)
With its commitment to providing free artistic experiences, SCAI THE BATHHOUSE, an art gallery in an old bathhouse, is always worth a visit if you are in the Nippori area. Right now (until the 16th) they have a show by French artist Daniel Buren, who is something of a relic of the radical spirit of the 1960s. Buren uses 8.7 cm-wide vertical stripes to create artistic installations that "enter into a dialogue" with the spaces in which they are located. Another key concept is the Japanese concept of shakkei, or "borrowed scenery." something more typical of traditional Japanese gardens. Buren's work here is effectively a visual "re-plumbing" of the venue.
Now – 16th May
PRICE: FREE
Hajime Sorayama, Untitled (1982), acrylic on illustration board H36.4 x W51.5 cm
SORAYAMA: LIGHT, REFLECTION,
TRANSPARENCY - TOKYO -
TRANSPARENCY - TOKYO -
Hajime Sorayama's gauche "hyper-modernist" ad artwork perfectly summed up the commercialistic excesses and economic alienation of Japan's 1980s "Bubble Economy." As such, there was something frankly kitschy, cringe, over-obvious, and even off-putting about it at the time that fed into the "Weird Japan" meme. However, from the much more jaded and ironic perspective of 2026, there is now something strangely prescient and profound about Sorayama's sexualised, shiny, chrome mannequins, which have influenced everything from Robocop to Thierry Mugler. It seems that the passage of time, through the agency of retro-futurism, has bestowed a backdoor authenticity on these garish but now compelling creations. Whatever your take, the exhibition at the CREATIVE MUSEUM is well worth the thrill of seeing yourself reflected in the androgynous curves of our future AI masters and mistresses.
Now – 31st May
PRICE: ¥2,500.
Shōen Uemura, Spring Evening (1936)JOYFUL OVERFLOW: SELECTIONS OF JAPANESE PAINTINGS - SPRING & SUMMER
I'm not sure how many of you are here for the pot noodles and the manga and how many are here for the "deep culture," but if you're part of the latter group, then visits to THE MATSUOKA MUSEUM OF ART are definitely on the itinerary, along with its current season-themed show, as Japan is all about living by the seasons, even when the weather doesn't quite cooperate. This venue a quiet private museum in the upscale Shirokanedai neighbourhood dedicated to the refined taste of its founder real estate developer Seijiro Matsuoka (1894–1989). The show brings a selection of works built around a haiku inspired by an ancient Chinese painting. Really, it doesn't get more Japanese than that! "The spring mountains are like a smile, and the summer mountains are green and dripping." Among the works on display are Ikeda Shoen's "Sakura Boat," Yokoyama Taikan's "Plum Blossoms," Uemura Shoen's "Spring Night," and Kaburagi Kiyokata's "Spring Sea", among many others.
Now - 31st May
Now - 31st May
PRICE: ¥1,400.
Marée basse (1884) Musée d’art et d’histoire de Saint-Lô© Musée d’art et d’histoire de Saint-Lô, Pierre-Yves Le Meur
EUGENE BOUDIN
With a big Monet exhibition now on at the Artizon, it is appropriate that the SOMPO MUSEUM is hosting a show by one of his mentors, namely Eugene Boudin (1824-1898). Often described as a "Precursor of Impressionism," Boudin was renowned for his proactive techniques to capture the look and feel of the ever-changing skies above his native Normandy, something that helped set the template for Monet. This is the first major exhibition of Boudin's work in Japan in approximately 30 years, with around 100 works, primarily oil paintings, drawings, pastels, and prints, from the artist known as the "King of the Skies."
Claude MONET, Irises in Monet’s Garden, 1900, Oil on canvas, Musée d’Orsay Photo © GrandPalaisRmn (musée d’Orsay)/ Adrien Didierjean / distributed by AMFMONET: QUESTIONING NATURE
Claude Monet is possibly the world's favourite artist, creating lush impressionist works that evoked nature as much as they depicted it. With 2026 marking the centenary of his death, the ARTIZON is rolling out its big guns, bringing together its own collection of 41 Monets with 90 more flown in from Paris's Musée d’Orsay. This is a serious, heavy-hitting exhibition that pulls out all the stops. The only problem is this makes it the artistic equivalent of catnip to Tokyo's art lovers, so expect company. My informants at the museum suggest the times between 12:00 and 13:00, or after 16:00 may be less buy.
Now – 24th May.
PRICE: ¥2500.
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