Art Week Tokyo 2026 Ran Until November 8, Linking 56 Museums and Galleries Across Tokyo by Free Bus

Art Week Tokyo (AWT), a contemporary art event in which visitors make their own way around the venues, was held across Tokyo from Wednesday, November 4 to Sunday, November 8, 2026. This annual event presents Tokyo’s contemporary art to audiences in Japan and abroad. It has no main venue; visitors freely tour exhibitions and original programs at museums and galleries. According to the organizer, Contemporary Art Platform, a general incorporated association, a record 56 venues took part. From November 6 to 8, the free shuttle bus “AWT BUS” ran between the venues.

What is Art Week Tokyo? The fifth full-scale edition

AWT had a pre-launch in 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and began full-scale editions in 2022, making 2026 its fifth full-scale edition. It is held in partnership with Art Basel, with special cooperation from the Agency for Cultural Affairs. The director is Atsuko Ninagawa. Its partner Art Basel held Art Basel Paris in Paris from October 21 to 25, where three Tokyo galleries also exhibited.

According to the list on the official website, the participating venues comprise 14 museums and institutions, 32 galleries and 10 venues of the special exhibition “AWT FOCUS.” The May announcement named POLA MUSEUM ANNEX, Ceysson & Bénétière, PARCEL and Shibunkaku Ginza as first-time participants. The bus service and other operations are handled by the “Art Week Tokyo Mobile Project,” a related program organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and others.

What can be seen? Museum exhibitions and AWT FOCUS

Among the participating museums, exhibitions on view during the week include “Mariko Mori: All That Shines” at the Mori Art Museum and “Takehisa Yumeji—An Artist Who Defined His Era” at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. The three-artist shojo manga exhibition at The National Art Center, Tokyo, the Nam June Paik exhibition at the Watari Museum of Contemporary Art (Watari-um) and the Minami Tada exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo are also among the participating museums’ shows.

AWT FOCUS is a special exhibition launched in 2023 as an “exhibition where you can buy the works.” For its fourth edition this year, it is collaborating with “curated by,” a gallery festival in Vienna. The format has been revised so that 10 galleries and art spaces in Tokyo each welcome a curator from Japan or abroad. The venues and contents are as follows (curators in parentheses).

• WAITINGROOM: “Patchwork of Ruffled Wings” (Multiple Spirits)

• XYZ collective: Taro Masushio and Sophie Nys (Olivier Mignon)

• Shibunkaku Ginza: Mary Weatherford, “Komorebi” (Jeremy Strick)

• SCAI THE BATHHOUSE: Nobuko Tsuchiya, “Ace of Hearts” (Martin Clark)

• space Un: Julianknxx, “How Much Light Must I Consume?” (Ekow Eshun)

• Take Ninagawa: Koji Kamoji, “Everyday Life” (Maria Brewińska)

• Misako & Rosen: Erika Verzutti, “Portrait of Sculpture” (Julie Boukobza)

• Misa Shin Gallery: Natsumi Aoyagi, “Possible Words, Possible World” (Jaemin Shin)

• MUJIN-TO Production: “The Constitution of Japan 2026” (Greg Dvorak & Kenji Ono)

• Yutaka Kikutake Gallery: “The Quiet” (AugUsto Arbizo)

At Earth Garden on the first floor of the SMBC East Tower in Otemachi, “AWT VIDEO” screens video works by artists from participating galleries, free of charge. Supervised by X Zhu-Nowell, it presents works by 10 artists, including Hiroyuki Oki, Keiichi Tanaami and Fuyuhiko Takata.

A special “AWT BAR” opens in Minami-Aoyama from 10:00 to 22:30, November 4 to 8. Admission is free; food and drinks are charged. The space was designed by Kae Ito, and Natsumi Aoyagi, Yoshihiro Suda and Mariko Mori devised artist cocktails. From 18:00 on Friday, November 6, the symposium “Memories of Unease: Contemporary Art and the Echoes of History” will be held at Keio University’s Mita Campus (free, advance registration required).

How to use the AWT BUS, and tickets and prices

The AWT BUS runs from 10:00 to 18:00 from November 6 to 8, and rides are free. There are six routes, A to F, circulating through the northern part of central Tokyo, Kiyosumi-Shirakawa to Kyobashi, Ginza, Roppongi and Nishi-Azabu, Minami-Aoyama, Meguro and Ebisu, and Roppongi to Aoyama and Shinjuku. Passengers can get on and off at any stop. There is also a direct service (EXP) between the AWT BAR and AWT VIDEO in Otemachi.

Gallery exhibitions, AWT FOCUS and AWT VIDEO are free. Museum exhibitions charge admission, but showing the “AWT participant pass (wristband),” distributed free at bus stops and AWT desks, at the ticket counter gets you a special price during the event. For example, general admission to “Mariko Mori: All That Shines” at the Mori Art Museum is 2,500 yen from November 4 to 6 (normally 2,800 yen) and 2,700 yen on November 7 and 8 (normally 3,000 yen).

The discount applies only to tickets bought at the counter on the day of the visit and cannot be combined with other discounts. The pass is valid only on the day it is received. Talks and some tours require reservations, and some are allocated by lottery.

Editor’s perspective

What sets AWT apart is that it places museum exhibitions and commercial gallery shows on the same map and the same bus routes. This year’s AWT FOCUS has teamed up with an overseas gallery festival, and each of its 10 venues invites its own curator. Differences in curation can be compared in the spaces of galleries that sell the works.

Note that the free bus runs only in the second half of the week, from November 6 to 8. From November 7 to 9, Art Collaboration Kyoto (ACK) is also open to the public in Kyoto. If you plan to visit both Tokyo and Kyoto, it is worth deciding in advance which days to devote to each. As an event linked with AWT, “Tokyo Jazz Club” is also being held from November 1 to 8 in a former capsule hotel in Kanda Nishikicho.

Overview

Name: Art Week Tokyo (AWT)
Dates: Wednesday, November 4 – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Hours: 10:00–18:00 (AWT BAR 10:00–22:30; for participating museums’ opening hours, see each museum’s information)
Venues: 56 participating museums, galleries and other venues in Tokyo (14 museums and institutions, 32 galleries, 10 AWT FOCUS venues)
Admission: Gallery exhibitions, AWT FOCUS, AWT VIDEO and the AWT BUS are free. Museum exhibitions charge admission (special prices with the AWT participant pass)
Organizer: Contemporary Art Platform (general incorporated association)
Partner: Art Basel
Special cooperation: Agency for Cultural Affairs
Related program: Art Week Tokyo Mobile Project (organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Art Week Tokyo Mobile Project Executive Committee)
Official website: https://www.artweektokyo.com/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: The “AWT BUS,” which runs for three days from Friday, November 6 to Sunday, November 8 (from a press release by Contemporary Art Platform, a general incorporated association)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on materials released by Contemporary Art Platform, a general incorporated association (May 28, 2026), and information on the official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team