Tokai

[Autumn/Winter 2026] Gifu Park Art Guide: Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition, Gifu Light Story and the Reopened Museum of History

At Gifu Park at the foot of Mount Kinka, an immersive ukiyo-e exhibition and a light event follow one after the other from November to February. We put together a route that also takes in the Gifu City Museum of History, which reopens on November 3, and the Gifu Great Buddha, along with the closure of Gifu Castle and the ropeway’s suspension dates.

Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU Teams Up with Gifu Park’s Gifu Castle Rakuichi: Ukiyo-e Set Meal and Tea, Plus ¥200 Off for Visitors in Kimono

The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU,” opening November 6, has announced four collaboration products with the neighboring Gifu Castle Rakuichi in Gifu Park, including a set meal inspired by Hokusai’s “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” and tea with sweets. Visitors coming in kimono or showing the JAF app get ¥200 off same-day tickets.

[2026–2027] Illuminations and Light Events in the Tokai Region: Nabana no Sato, LAGUNA TEN BOSCH, Shirakawa-go and More

Nabana no Sato’s illumination runs until Monday, May 31, 2027, and the Shirakawa-go Light-Up takes place on four days in January. Including LAGUNA TEN BOSCH, Higashiyama Zoo and Botanical Gardens and Izu’s Gran Illumi, we have compiled 17 light events across the four Tokai prefectures from official announcements.

MOA Museum of Art to Show National Treasure “Red and White Plum Blossoms” Screens: Three National Treasures from January 2027, Followed by All 46 Hokusai Prints

To mark the 10th anniversary of its renovation, the MOA Museum of Art in Atami will hold a masterpieces exhibition bringing together its three National Treasures, including Ogata Korin’s “Red and White Plum Blossoms” screens. From February 26, it will be followed by an exhibition of all 46 prints of Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.”

Shirakawa-go Light-Up 2027 Is Reservation-Only, on Four Days from January 11; Second Round of Parking Sales Starts December 1

The winter light-up of the World Heritage site Shirakawa-go takes place on four days in January 2027, from 17:30 to 19:30 each day. It is by advance reservation only with no same-day tickets; accommodation is allocated by lottery, and the second round of parking sales starts December 1.

“Van Gogh’s Drawbridge and the Impressionists” at Nagoya City Art Museum Until November 29; 70 Works from a Cologne Museum

A touring exhibition timed to the renovation closure of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, Germany. Starting with Van Gogh’s “The Drawbridge,” it presents 70 works by 42 artists in six chapters, from the Barbizon School to 20th-century colorists.

“The World of Kawanabe Kyosai” at Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art Until December 6; About 110 Works from the Goldman Collection

About 110 works from the Kyosai collection of the London collector Israel Goldman, more than half of them shown in Japan for the first time. The Shizuoka showing, following Tokyo and Kobe, adds the newly acquired “Momotaro Subjugating the Demons” and works by Kyosai’s teachers.

[Autumn/Winter 2026] Art and Light Events in Nagoya, Aichi, Gifu and Mie: Arte Museum and More

Arte Museum, which originated in South Korea, opens in Chita on November 18, and the Bigelow exhibition is on at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art. Nine events in the Tokai region are introduced with their dates and prices.

Nabana no Sato Illumination 2026–2027 Runs Until May 31; New Theme “Paradise of the Wild” and Prices

The illumination at Nabana no Sato in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, runs until May 31, 2027, with the new “Paradise of the Wild” in its theme area. This guide summarizes the admission fees, which vary by period, and the date-specified tickets for December 23 to 25.

Bigelow Exhibition Opens October 30 at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art; Kano Hogai’s “Merciful Mother Kannon” Shown Only December 1–13

An exhibition marking 100 years since the death of Bigelow, who laid the foundation of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s Japanese art collection. It presents works from his former collection that returned to Japan in the early Showa era, painters of the Kangakai he supported and Nagoya woman painter Maeda Kinpu.

“Sekai no Kotowari” Exhibition at the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art from January 2027; 20 Japanese Artists Since the 1990s

A contemporary art exhibition held at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, travels to the Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art in January 2027. It reads the work of 20 Japanese artists active since the 1990s, as globalization advanced, through four keywords.

“Shigeru Hasegawa: Pain Tengu” Opens October 24 at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art; From Unpublished Works of His German Years to New Paintings

A solo exhibition of painter Shigeru Hasegawa, who moved to Germany in 1989, then to the Netherlands, stopped exhibiting in 2013 and resumed in 2019. Billed by the museum as his first large-scale solo exhibition at a museum, it presents about 120 oil paintings and more.

Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU from November 6 at the Gifu City Museum of History; Venue-Exclusive Scenes of Nobunaga and Cormorant Fishing

An exhibition that animates more than 300 ukiyo-e prints by Hokusai, Hiroshige and others with 3DCG and projection mapping runs until January 11, 2027, at the museum in Gifu Park. The admission fee also covers the permanent exhibition.

Projection Mapping at the Aichi Prefectural Government Office and Nagoya City Hall Ran Until October 24, Coloring Important Cultural Properties with Light

“AICHI NAGOYA ART & LIGHTS” projected images inspired by local history and culture onto the west walls of two Imperial Crown-style government buildings, alternating with light-ups. Held daily from September 17, 2026, it ran until October 24.

Arte Museum Nagoya Opens November 18, with Details of Its Works Released in Five Installments from November 4

The Korean-born immersive museum opening in Shinmaiko, Chita, Aichi Prefecture, has listed the names of its works on its official website. Details will be released in five installments from November 4 to 15. The Chunichi Shimbun has invested in the joint venture that operates it.

Gifu Light Story 2027 from January 30 at Gifu Park and Shohoji: The Light of Gifu Umbrellas and Lanterns, and a Sea of Clouds

The seventh “Gifu Light Story” since 2020 is produced by HITOHATA, INC. from this edition. Images with motifs such as cormorant fishing and clear streams are projected onto the rock face at the site of Nobunaga’s residence, and a sea-of-clouds effect is staged for the first time in the series.