“Design Chronicle” at the National Crafts Museum Until January 11; From Dresser to the Eameses, with a Kintsugi Exhibition Next

The special exhibition “Design Chronicle: What Was Born, and What Changed?” is on view at the National Crafts Museum (Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture) until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). Centered on the museum’s design collection, it traces more than a century of design in four chapters, from the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century through Art Nouveau, Art Deco and the modernist design represented by the Bauhaus to developments after World War II. According to the museum, it is its first exhibition since moving to Kanazawa to present the history of design comprehensively.

Why “design” at the National Crafts Museum now?

The National Crafts Museum opened in 1977 in Kitanomaru Park, Tokyo, as the Crafts Gallery of The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and moved to Kanazawa in 2020. A museum specializing in modern and contemporary crafts and design, it says this is its first exhibition to present both three-dimensional and graphic design comprehensively.

According to the museum, the rapid industrialization of the 19th century brought new materials and mass production by machine. Making the goods that artisans had made by hand with new materials and production methods required a fundamental shift, and through the trial and error of craftspeople, what we now call “design” took shape. The museum regards design as a new approach to making things that branched off from crafts in response to the challenges posed by modernization.

On Saturday, October 24, from 14:00 to 15:30, a related event, “Design Museums in the World and Japan: Prospects and Challenges,” will be held in the museum’s multipurpose room. Takemi Kuresawa, professor at Tokyo University of Technology, will introduce design museums overseas and discuss why Japan has no design museum, the challenges involved and the outlook for the future. Capacity is 45, with advance application required (first come, first served); participation is free, but an exhibition ticket (or stub) must be shown.

Highlights: 100 years in four chapters

Chapter 1, “The Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau,” deals with the decorative style of flowing curves with plant and animal motifs that was popular from the late 19th to the early 20th century. The museum explains that it also expressed the wish of people uneasy about a society and way of life thrown off balance by rapid industrialization and urbanization to bring in the order and vitality of nature.

Chapter 2, “Art Deco,” introduces the bold, geometric decoration that became popular from the late 1910s. Named after an exhibition held in Paris in 1925, the style used forms and decoration suited to industrial production. At the same time, the museum explains, it reflected an aesthetic that welcomed the arrival of the “Machine Age,” with faster travel by car and airplane and the mechanization of industry.

Chapter 3, “Modernist Design,” centers on the Bauhaus, the school of architecture and design founded in Germany in 1919. Its education, aimed at uniting art and technology, gave rise to unornamented forms that pursued production efficiency and functionality, which the museum says have formed the foundation of all design to this day.

Chapter 4, “Postwar Developments,” takes up the reaction against the standardized, austere design of modernism, which remained mainstream after World War II. Designs incorporating elements previously regarded as superfluous, such as play and humor, appeared, and cool, inorganic styles came to coexist with decorative, intense ones.

What can be seen? Dresser, Mucha, Brandt and the Eameses

The main works listed on the official website are as follows (all in the collection of the National Crafts Museum).

• Christopher Dresser, “Kettle and Stand,” c. 1882–85

• Alphonse Mucha, “Sarah Bernhardt,” 1896 (first period)

• Pierre Chareau, “Desk with Bookshelf,” c. 1930

• Unknown maker, “Brooch,” c. 1920s–30s

• Marianne Brandt, “Tea Set,” c. 1925

• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “MR 10 Chair,” 1927

• Charles and Ray Eames, “Wire Mesh Chair,” 1951–53

• Enzo Mari, “Porcelain Design C,” 1973

The list of works includes 165 entries. Alongside vases by Émile Gallé and René Lalique, fabrics by William Morris and chairs by Marcel Breuer, it includes Isamu Noguchi’s “Akari 1A” (1952). Japanese works include Hisui Sugiura’s “Opening of the New Building of the Mitsukoshi Dry Goods Store” (1914), Masahiro Mori’s “G-Type Soy Sauce Dispenser” (1958) and Yusaku Kamekura’s “Tokyo Olympics (Official Poster)” (1964).

Some works are changed during the run. According to the list of works, the first period runs from October 9 to November 23 and the second from November 25 to January 11, 2027, with Mucha’s “Sarah Bernhardt” shown in the first period.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission is 1,200 yen for adults (1,100 yen for groups) and 800 yen for university students (700 yen for groups), and free for high school students and younger and those under 18 (tax included). Holders of a disability certificate and one companion, Campus Members and others are also admitted free, and Culture Day (November 3) is a free admission day. Showing the Bunka no Mori Odekake Pass or Hokuriku Railroad’s “Kanazawa City One-Day Free Pass” (valid on the day of use only) gives a discounted rate (adults 1,100 yen, university students 700 yen), as does showing a ticket stub from an exhibition organized by participating museums in the prefecture, such as the Ishikawa Prefectural Museum of Art and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. Advance reservations can also be made online.

Opening hours are 9:30–17:30 (last entry 30 minutes before closing). The museum is closed on Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11), on Tuesday, November 24, and over the year-end and New Year holidays from December 29 to January 1.

From the East Exit (Kenrokuen Exit) of JR Kanazawa Station, take a route bus from Stop 6 (except those bound for “Yanagibashi”) for about 12 minutes to “Dewamachi,” then walk 5 minutes; this is the closest and relatively flat route. On Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays until January 11, 2027 (excluding days the museum is closed and October 25), a free direct shuttle bus also runs between the West Exit of Kanazawa Station and the museum, departing the West Exit at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00 and the museum at 12:00, 14:00 and 16:00, with 15 seats per trip on a first-come, first-served basis. Visitors coming by car can use the free parking lots shared with nearby cultural facilities (about 230 spaces in total).

Next up: “KINTSUGI”

The museum’s next exhibition, “KINTSUGI,” runs from Friday, February 26 to Sunday, June 6, 2027. Kintsugi is the technique of repairing cracks and chips in ceramics and other objects by joining them with lacquer and decorating them with sprinkled gold powder. The museum explains that underlying this repair technique, practiced from the medieval period to the present, are the preservation and handing down of things and a distinctly Japanese idea of “seeing beauty in imperfection.”

The exhibition focuses on the history of kintsugi and on the aesthetics of “regeneration,” which creates new beauty and value in works. The official page shows an image of Handeishi Kawakita’s “Shino Tea Bowl, named Aka Fudo” (1949, National Crafts Museum). Admission and the number of exhibits have not yet been announced.

Editor’s perspective

The significance of this exhibition lies in a museum specializing in crafts using its own collection to show the history of design, which emerged from crafts as a response to industrialization. The related event asking why Japan has no design museum extends the same line of inquiry.

The next kintsugi exhibition deals with a technique that repairs broken things and gives them new value. Moving from design born of mass production to the themes of repair and regeneration may offer clues for thinking about how we live with things. The National Crafts Museum is also providing special cooperation for “Who Does Jewelry Dream Of?”, which opens at The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto on Saturday, October 24. Design and craft exhibitions are gathered in [Autumn/Winter 2026] Design, Craft and Architecture Exhibitions.

Overview

Name: Design Chronicle: What Was Born, and What Changed?
Dates: Friday, October 9, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday) (first period: until November 23; second period: from November 25)
Hours: 9:30–17:30 (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23 and January 11), Tuesday, November 24, December 29 – January 1
Venue: National Crafts Museum
Address: 3-2 Dewamachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
Admission: Adults 1,200 yen, university students 800 yen, high school students and younger and under 18 free (group and discount rates available)
Organizer: National Crafts Museum
Next exhibition: KINTSUGI (Friday, February 26 – Sunday, June 6, 2027)
Official website: https://www.momat.go.jp/craft-museum/exhibitions/573
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Installation view of “Design Chronicle” (from a press release by the Agency for Cultural Affairs)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the National Crafts Museum (October 8, 2026) and information on its official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team