[Autumn/Winter 2026] Guide to Design, Craft and Architecture Exhibitions: Marimekko, Mingei, Hojoki and Lucie Rie

In autumn and winter 2026, exhibitions dealing with design, crafts and architecture overlap, mainly in Tokyo. “Marimekko: The Power of Patterns” at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum and “The Design of Shoya Yoshida” at the Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art run until Sunday, December 20. “Learning from Hojoki” at 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT runs until Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday). This article introduces 11 exhibitions and events on view or about to open in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kanazawa and Fukuoka, with their dates and prices.

What they have in common is that they ask how the tools and spaces of daily life are made. Shoya Yoshida designed everyday objects suited to modern life based on the standards of mingei beauty set out by Soetsu Yanagi. At 21_21, architects and artists envision small buildings, taking as a clue the hut of “one jo square (about 9 square meters)” that Kamo no Chomei described in “Hojoki.” Marimekko, founded in 1951, has produced more than 3,500 print designs.

Design and textiles: Marimekko, DESIGNART, Seika Yamaga and Indian chintz

Marimekko: The Power of Patterns (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, until December 20)

An exhibition of the Finnish design brand Marimekko, presenting more than 60 dresses and print designs in the Main Building and the Annex. Besides works such as Maija Isola’s “Unikko” (1964), it also features the work of the Japanese designers Katsuji Wakisaka and Fujiwo Ishimoto. In the Art Deco interiors of the former Prince Asaka Residence, the dresses resonate with the building’s decoration. There are also a video installation by plaplax and a new installation by Akira Minagawa. For details, see our article on the Marimekko exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 3 – Sunday, December 20, 2026
Venue: Main Building and Annex, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum (Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Adults 1,400 yen, university students 1,120 yen, high school students and 65 and over 700 yen, junior high school students and younger free (timed-entry reservations)
Official website: https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/exhibition/20261003-1220_marimekko/

[Ended] DESIGNART TOKYO 2026 (Ginza, Omotesando and elsewhere, October 30 – November 8)

A design and art festival that treats the streets of Tokyo as a museum; this 10th edition brings together about 150 participants from 13 countries in eight areas from Ginza to Ikejiri. From Friday, October 30 to Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), the main venue “AUTOBAHN” opens on the KK Line (former Tokyo Expressway) in Ginza. Another feature is that many works can be purchased on the spot. For details, see our article on DESIGNART TOKYO 2026.

Dates: Friday, October 30 – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Venues: Ginza, Tokyo, Roppongi, Gaienmae, Omotesando, Harajuku, Daikanyama and Ikejiri areas
Admission: One-day ticket for the main venue “AUTOBAHN”: adults 3,000 yen in advance, 3,500 yen on the day; students 1,000 yen in advance, 1,500 yen on the day
Official website: https://www.designart.jp/designarttokyo2026/

Commemorating the 140th Anniversary of His Birth – Textile Artist Seika Yamaga: Imagination Soaring Through Space (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art, until December 20)

An exhibition of the Kyoto-born textile artist Seika Yamaga (1885–1981), which the museum says is his first retrospective in 40 years. Yamaga named his tsuzure-ori tapestry weaving, in which he did everything himself from the design and choice of threads to the weaving, “teori-nishiki” (hand-woven brocade). Works include the design drawing for “Dutch Ship,” which received a special selection at the 1927 Imperial Art Exhibition, as well as “Tokyo Tower” (1958) and “Constellations, Moon and Rocket” (1958). The second period began on Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday).

Dates: Saturday, September 19 – Sunday, December 20, 2026
Venue: South Wing 1F, Main Building, Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art
Admission: Adults 1,800 yen, university, vocational school and high school students 1,300 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://kyotocity-kyocera.museum/exhibition/20260919-20261220

The Karun Thakar Collection – Indian Chintz: A Story That Traveled the World (Fukuoka Art Museum, until December 20)

Through masterpieces from the London-based collector Karun Thakar, the exhibition traces how chintz, cotton cloth made with dyeing techniques born in India, changed over several hundred years as a global commodity. It also shows how chintz reached Europe, Southeast Asia and Japan and developed in distinctive ways in each place. Works include a “Palampore with flowering tree design on a white ground” (c. 1740–50). For details, see our article on the Indian chintz exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, October 17 – Sunday, December 20, 2026
Venue: Special Exhibition Room, 2F, Fukuoka Art Museum (Ohori Park, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka)
Admission: Adults 1,700 yen, high school and university students 1,100 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.fukuoka-art-museum.jp/exhibition/chintz_a_global_story_the_karunthakar_collection/

Mingei and crafts: Shoya Yoshida, Kanjiro Kawai, karamono, Lucie Rie and KOGEI

Personal connections around mingei also link the exhibitions. Kanjiro Kawai coined the word “mingei” with Soetsu Yanagi and others between the late Taisho and early Showa periods, and is said to have called Shoya Yoshida “the mother of mingei.” In Marunouchi, an exhibition marks 60 years since Kawai’s death, and the Lucie Rie exhibition in Osaka also includes works by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, with whom she had exchanges.

The Design of Shoya Yoshida: The Future Envisioned by the New Mingei Movement (Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art, until December 20)

About 300 works introduce the designs of Shoya Yoshida (1898–1972), an ear, nose and throat doctor in Tottori who studied under Soetsu Yanagi. Starting from traditional handwork, Yoshida worked on “new mingei,” designing everyday objects suited to modern life, and handled everything from planning to sales himself. Works include an Ushinoto ware “Small dish with green and black glazes” (1931) and an “Umbrella-shaped electric desk lamp” (late 1930s). According to the museum, this is the first exhibition in Tokyo to bear Yoshida’s name. For details, see our article on the Shoya Yoshida exhibition.

Dates: Thursday, October 15 – Sunday, December 20, 2026
Venue: Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
Admission: Adults 1,200 yen, 65 and over 1,100 yen, university and high school students 700 yen, junior high school students and younger free. Timed-entry reservations required on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from November 28
Official website: https://panasonic.co.jp/ew/museum/exhibition/26/261015/

[Ended] Mingei SHOCK: Kanjiro Kawai at Seikado, 60 Years After His Death (Seikado@Marunouchi, until November 8)

An exhibition showing all 51 works by Kanjiro Kawai in the Seikado collection; according to the museum, it is the first time the collection has been shown in full. Displayed alongside old East Asian ceramics thought to have influenced Kawai, the works trace the sources of his creativity. Of the 51 works, two are shown for the first time and 49 for the first time in about 25 years. Works such as a “Bowl with trailed-glaze design” and a “Purple-red melon-shaped jar” are on display, and the National Treasure “Yohen Tenmoku (Inaba Tenmoku)” is also shown.

Dates: Saturday, September 5 – Sunday, November 8, 2026
Venue: Seikado@Marunouchi (Meiji Seimei-kan 1F, 2-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Adults 1,500 yen, university and high school students 1,000 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.seikado.or.jp/

Special Exhibition: The Birth of Karamono – Exploring the Origins of Tea Ceremony Design (Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo, November 3 – December 13)

The exhibition seeks the origins of “karamono” (Chinese objects), which played a major role in the formation of the tea ceremony in the late medieval period, in the Shang and Zhou bronzes of the Sumitomo Collection. Taking kodo (old bronze) flower vases as its starting point, it cuts across metalwork, ceramics and lacquerware to place tea ceremony design within the cultural history of East Asia. Besides the National Treasure “Pasturing Cattle in Autumn Fields,” attributed to Yan Ciping, the first period (until November 23) also includes the National Treasure “Tenmoku tea bowl with scattered flowers in tortoiseshell glaze” from Shokokuji in Kyoto.

Dates: Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) – Sunday, December 13, 2026 (second period from Wednesday, November 25)
Venue: Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo (1-5-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Adults 1,500 yen, students 800 yen, 18 and under free
Official website: https://sen-oku.or.jp/program/t_202611_karamono/

KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2026 (Hyatt Centric Kanazawa, November 27–29)

Billed by the organizer as “the only art fair in Japan specializing in kogei,” it brings together 49 galleries in total: 18 from Tokyo, 8 from Ishikawa and others, plus one from South Korea. From promising young artists in Japan and abroad to artists active around the world, it aims to present new aesthetics and values in kogei. For details, see our article on KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa.

Dates: Friday, November 27 – Sunday, November 29, 2026
Venue: Hyatt Centric Kanazawa 2F, 4F and 5F (1-5-2 Hirooka, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture; reception on 2F)
Admission: Check the ticket page on the official website
Official website: https://kogei-artfair.jp/

Lucie Rie: Graceful Vessels Connecting East and West (Abeno Harukas Art Museum, December 26 – March 7, 2027)

An exhibition of the potter Lucie Rie (1902–1995), who was born in Vienna in 1902 and, after emigrating in 1938, worked in London for about half a century. It introduces her forms, which combine suppleness and tension, her vividly colored glazes and her sgraffito and inlay techniques. Works by Bernard Leach, Hans Coper, Shoji Hamada and others with whom she had exchanges are also on display. An exhibition of the same name was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum from July 4 to September 13, 2026. For details, see our article on the Lucie Rie exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, December 26, 2026 – Sunday, March 7, 2027
Venue: Abeno Harukas Art Museum (Abeno Harukas 16F, Abeno-ku, Osaka)
Admission: Adults 1,800 yen, university and high school students 1,400 yen, junior high and elementary school students 500 yen
Official website: https://www.aham.jp/exhibition/future/lucie_rie/

Architecture and space: Hojoki and Minami Tada

Learning from Hojoki: Small Architecture That Reweaves Living (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, until January 11, 2027)

Starting from the small building the “hojo hut,” which Kamo no Chomei described in “Hojoki” in the early 13th century, this exhibition reexamines contemporary life and the built environment. The exhibition director is Yoshiharu Tsukamoto. Taking the scale of “one jo square (about 9 square meters)” as a clue, architects, designers, artists and companies each envision their own hojo hut. The eight participants include Shin Egashira, Yoshihiro Suda, Akira Yamaguchi, and Tomoki Shoda + Takenaka Corporation + veig, and research on the nature and life depicted in “Hojoki” is also presented. For details, see our article on the Hojoki exhibition.

Dates: Friday, August 28, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
Venue: Galleries 1 & 2, 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT (9-7-6 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo)
Closed: Tuesdays (open November 3), November 21–23, December 27 – January 3
Admission: Adults 1,700 yen, university students 800 yen, high school students 500 yen, junior high school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.2121designsight.jp/program/hojoki/

Tada Minami—Still, shimmering light (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, until December 6)

Minami Tada (1924–2014) used materials such as glass, acrylic and stainless steel together with light, leaving works in parks, stations, hotels and other places throughout cities. According to the museum, this is the first large-scale retrospective since her death. She created the light wall “Reimei” (Dawn, 1970) at the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, and her architecture-related works over her lifetime number 500. About 70 works are on display, including the “Chain-delier” (1963), remade at full size for this exhibition. For details, see our article on the Minami Tada exhibition.

Dates: Saturday, August 29 – Sunday, December 6, 2026
Venue: Exhibition Gallery B2F, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (4-1-1 Miyoshi, Koto-ku, Tokyo)
Admission: Adults 1,600 yen, university and vocational school students and 65 and over 1,100 yen, junior high and high school students 640 yen, elementary school students and younger free
Official website: https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/exhibitions/Tada-Minami/

Editor’s perspective

Many of these exhibitions shed light not only on finished works but also on the processes of making and the ways of delivering them. The Marimekko exhibition shows a video installation made after visiting the print factory in Helsinki, and the Shoya Yoshida exhibition traces the new mingei initiative in which he handled everything from planning to production and sales. DESIGNART TOKYO cites as one of its features that many works can be purchased on the spot. Each venue offers clues for reconsidering design and crafts as things that are used and circulated.

Check by closing date

Closing in 2026
Sunday, November 8: Mingei SHOCK (Seikado@Marunouchi) / DESIGNART TOKYO 2026
Sunday, November 29: KOGEI Art Fair Kanazawa 2026 (from the 27th)
Sunday, December 6: Minami Tada exhibition (Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo)
Sunday, December 13: Birth of Karamono exhibition (Sen-Oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo)
Sunday, December 20: Marimekko exhibition (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum) / Shoya Yoshida exhibition (Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art) / Seika Yamaga exhibition (Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art) / Indian chintz exhibition (Fukuoka Art Museum)

Closing and opening in 2027
Monday, January 11 (national holiday): Learning from Hojoki (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT)
Saturday, January 16 – Sunday, March 28: Lithuanian handicrafts exhibition (tentative title) (Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum)
Saturday, January 30 – Sunday, March 28: Marimekko exhibition (traveling to the Hiroshima Museum of Art)
Saturday, February 20 – Sunday, April 11: Seika Yamaga exhibition (traveling to Tokyo Station Gallery)
Sunday, March 7: Lucie Rie exhibition (Abeno Harukas Art Museum)
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

Frequently asked questions

Which exhibitions require reservations?

The Marimekko exhibition uses timed-entry reservations, and tickets must be bought before visiting (no reservation needed for junior high school students and younger). The Shoya Yoshida exhibition requires timed-entry reservations on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from Saturday, November 28 to Sunday, December 20.

Which exhibitions can be seen in the evening?

The Minami Tada exhibition is open until 20:00 on Fridays in November. The Marimekko exhibition is open until 20:00 on November 6, 13, 20, 21, 27 and 28 and December 4 and 5, and students are admitted free after 17:00. The Shoya Yoshida exhibition is open until 20:00 on Friday, November 6, Friday, December 4, Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19. 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT is open until 19:00 on its opening days.

What else can I see in Kanazawa along with KOGEI Art Fair?

During the same period, the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa is holding its last special exhibition before closure, “From Today to Tomorrow: Passing On Works,” until April 18, 2027. The museum plans a long-term closure from May 2027, as reported in our article on the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa.

*Top image: Bamboo shoulder bag, early 1950s, private collection (from a press release by the Ibaraki Ceramic Art Museum)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements by each organizer and venue (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team