How to Attract and Host a Touring Immersive Exhibition: Venue Requirements, Organizing Structures and Regional Case Studies

Immersive exhibitions, which project images onto walls and floors to present works across an entire space, are being held not only at permanent facilities but also as touring exhibitions that move from venue to venue around Japan. In summer 2026, touring exhibitions on ukiyo-e and yokai paintings were held in Aomori, Hiroshima and Kagoshima, and organizers and production companies announced attendance ranging from about 40,000 to more than 80,000. In Yokohama on October 24, “THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA by TOYOTA GROUP,” organized by the Toyota Group, reopened with a new program, and on Friday, November 6, a new venue of a touring exhibition opened at the Gifu City Museum of History. Based on official announcements and public materials from organizers, production companies, venues and equipment manufacturers, this article sorts out how organizing structures are put together, venue requirements, dates and prices, and visitor numbers when attracting and hosting an immersive exhibition.

For staff at museums, local governments, broadcasters, newspapers and commercial facilities considering hosting one, useful references are real examples of who organized it at other venues, how large the venue was, how many days it ran, what it cost to enter and how many people came. On the other hand, the costs of holding the exhibition, contract terms between production companies and organizers, and how revenue is shared have not been published for any of the cases in this article. The meaning of immersive art and the main facilities in Japan are introduced in our explainer on immersive art.

How touring exhibitions work: Planning and production stay the same, organizers change by venue

One example of an immersive exhibition moving from venue to venue in Japan is the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition,” planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi. According to TV Aichi, it has toured Japan and abroad since starting in Nagoya in July 2023. In summer 2026 it was held in Aomori and Hiroshima, and in a September 23 announcement HITOHATA, INC. said it had drawn a cumulative total of more than 700,000 visitors in 11 cities in Japan and abroad. The same two companies also plan and produce the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition,” on yokai paintings, held in Nagoya in 2025 and in Tokyo and Kagoshima in 2026. The history of the series is covered in our article on the history of the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” series.

In both series, the “planning and production” credit on official websites and elsewhere remains HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi at every venue. The “organizer,” on the other hand, differs by venue, with local broadcasters, newspapers, local governments, companies on the venue side and others listed.

There are also different models. In Yokohama, “THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA by TOYOTA GROUP” is organized by a company and screens programs for about five months, while CinemaLeap’s “Immersive Journey” operates VR facilities using head-mounted displays in various locations. The Kobe venue of “Van Gogh Alive” in 2023 was co-organized by the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.

Organizing structures: Executive committees, local broadcasters and newspapers, and companies

Laying out the published credits, organizing structures fall roughly into the following types.

Executive committees: Broadcasters, newspapers and the production side, sometimes with local governments or venues

For the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya editions of the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition,” broadcasters, newspapers and news agencies formed executive committees with the two production companies. The Tokyo edition (December 21, 2024 – March 31, 2025, Warehouse TERRADA G1 Building) comprised TV Tokyo, BS TV Tokyo, Nikkei Inc., Jiji Press, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi, and the Osaka edition (January 17 – March 14, 2026, Knowledge Capital Event Lab) comprised TV Osaka, Nikkei Inc., HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi. The first Nagoya edition (July 8 – August 28, 2023, Kanayama Minami Building Museum Wing) was organized by an executive committee of TV Aichi, HITOHATA, INC. and Jiji Press, and co-organized by The Chunichi Shimbun.

There are also examples in which local governments or venues join the executive committee. According to HITOHATA, INC.’s portfolio page, the executive committee for the Fukuoka edition (June 28 – August 17, 2025, JR Kyushu Hall on the 9th floor of JR Hakata City) listed JR Hakata City, KBC, Seeds Live, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi. The Gifu edition, starting in November, is organized by an executive committee of Gifu City, The Gifu Shimbun, Gifu Broadcasting, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi, with the Gifu City Museum of History as the venue.

Organized by local broadcasters and newspapers, with the production side credited only for planning and production

At regional venues, there are examples in which local broadcasters or newspapers organize the exhibition, and HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi are credited only with planning and production. In Kagoshima, both the 2024 “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” and the 2026 “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” were organized by MBC Minaminihon Broadcasting. The 2026 Aomori edition was organized by three bodies: The To-o Nippo Press, Aomori Broadcasting and the To-o Nippo Cultural Foundation. The Hiroshima edition was organized jointly by four bodies—Hiroshima Television, Seeds Live, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi—without using the name of an executive committee.

Organized by a company, with programs handled by production companies

THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA is organized by the Toyota Group, with TISI and TOPPAN credited for production cooperation and Epson Sales Japan, TMONET and Quantum Mesh for special cooperation. According to a Toyota Motor Corporation announcement on September 24, this is the second content program, following the first in December of the previous year. According to the official website, “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e: The Japanese Beauty That Captivated Monet,” which began on October 24, was produced by TMONET, with the Pola Museum of Art cooperating on academic supervision. Supporters include Yokohama City’s Nigiwai Sports and Culture Bureau, newspapers and broadcasters. The program is introduced in our article on THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA’s “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e”.

Dates: Saturday, October 24, 2026 – Wednesday, March 31, 2027
Hours: 10:30–18:30 Monday to Friday, Sundays and national holidays; 10:30–19:30 on Saturdays and the day before national holidays
Venue: THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA THEATER (Yamashita Pier Shed No. 4, 279-9 Yamashitacho, Naka Ward, Yokohama)
Admission: General ¥3,000 (online), ¥3,800 (at the venue); free for junior high school students and younger
Organizer: Toyota Group
Official website: https://global.toyota/info/themoveum/

VR facilities: Joint operators at each location

CinemaLeap’s Immersive Journey is a VR facility where visitors wear head-mounted displays and walk through a large space, experiencing it simultaneously in groups of up to four. It opened on the 3rd floor of ASOBUILD in Yokohama in December 2024, and the Nagoya location (SKYLE 10F), which opened on January 23, 2026, is a joint venture of Meitetsu Impress and CinemaLeap, according to the Meitetsu Group’s official note. The Osaka location (Hilton Plaza East 8F), scheduled to open in late December, has Kansai Television as its joint operating partner. Another location is planned for spring 2027 on the 8th floor of PACELA in Hiroshima; details of the plans are covered in our article on Immersive Journey Osaka.

Co-organized by a museum: The Kobe venue of Van Gogh Alive

According to The National Art Center, Tokyo’s exhibition information, “Van Gogh Alive,” held from March 18 to June 4, 2023, in the 3rd-floor gallery of the Gallery Building of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, was organized by the “Van Gogh Alive” Kobe Venue Executive Committee, co-organized by the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art and supported by Hyogo Prefecture and others. General admission was ¥2,300 in advance and ¥2,500 on the day.

Division of roles: Planning and production, venue, sponsors and supporters as seen in the credits

The breakdown of “planning and production” appears in the staff credits. On the portfolio page for the 2025 Yokai exhibition in Nagoya, HITOHATA, INC.’s representative director and others are listed under “production and general direction,” and a TV Aichi staff member is named as business producer.

How venues are involved differs from venue to venue. In Tokyo, the venue, Warehouse TERRADA, was listed as a “sponsor”; in Osaka, the venue, Knowledge Capital, was listed under “cooperation”; and in Fukuoka, JR Hakata City joined the executive committee. At the Kobe venue of Van Gogh Alive, the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art was a “co-organizer,” and for the Gifu edition, held at the Gifu City Museum of History, Gifu City has joined the executive committee.

“Sponsors” are local companies and organizations. The Aomori edition had a consumer cooperative as special sponsor, with banks, credit unions, an electric power company and others as sponsors. The Osaka edition had Daido Life Insurance as special sponsor, and the Nagoya Ukiyo-e exhibition had Chubu Electric Power Miraiz as “special supporter.” Under “cooperation” were Panasonic Connect (Panasonic has published a case study of its projector installation), Yamaha and Charainnovate, and at THE MOVEUM, Epson Sales Japan is listed under special cooperation. “Supporters” are mainly prefectures, cities, boards of education and news media; the Fukuoka edition was supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Fukuoka Prefecture, the Fukuoka Prefectural Board of Education and Fukuoka City. At THE MOVEUM, the Agency for Cultural Affairs is listed under “cooperation.”

The division of roles also shows in the inquiry contacts for visitors. For the Kagoshima Yokai exhibition, the contact was the business division of MBC Minaminihon Broadcasting’s sales bureau, and for the Hiroshima edition, the Hiroshima Television Event Information Center. On the other hand, contract details such as cost sharing, payments to production companies and how ticket revenue is divided have not been published, nor is it indicated whether the national or local governments listed as supporters or cooperators contribute funds.

Venue requirements: Size, ceiling height, power and load-in

Venues so far have ranged widely: special exhibition rooms of public museums (Reimeikan and the Gifu City Museum of History), former museum buildings (the Museum Wing of the Kanayama Minami Building in Nagoya, formerly the Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts), halls in station buildings and mixed-use buildings (JR Kyushu Hall, NTT CRED Hall and Knowledge Capital Event Lab), New’s Hall in the To-o Nippo Shinmachi Building, the Warehouse TERRADA G1 Building in Shinagawa City, Tokyo, and Yamashita Pier Shed No. 4 in Yokohama.

Among venues that publish their size, JR Kyushu Hall has a hall of about 660 square meters, a foyer of about 130 square meters and a ceiling height of 7,100 mm. THE MOVEUM is set up in Yamashita Pier Shed No. 4, about 6,000 square meters, and the Monet program is screened in a space of about 1,800 square meters. On the exhibition side, the official website of the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” gives the height of the projection surfaces in its video spaces as 3 to 4.5 m. According to Panasonic’s case study, the 2025 Yokai exhibition in Nagoya placed nine spaces on two floors, and in the final “Great Yokai Dance,” a single projector projected onto a wall more than 12 m wide.

Power is a requirement mentioned in both equipment manufacturers’ case studies. Regarding the 2023 Ukiyo-e exhibition in Nagoya, Panasonic’s case study explains that the venue was designed for exhibiting artworks, so the available electrical capacity was limited and 200V power installation was difficult. HITOHATA, INC. Representative Director Takeaki Higashiyama says they chose models that could deliver 20,000 lm of brightness on 100V, which previously required 200V input, and a total of 22 units were used at the venue. The case study for the 2025 Yokai exhibition notes that touring venues might include places where installing 200V power is difficult or where ceilings have low load capacity, and says 28 units of five models were used. It also includes the production side’s explanation that the larger the system, the higher the transport costs and the longer the installation period at each venue, so they wanted to reduce the number of units and use smaller models. Equipment case studies are also covered in our article on projector and sound installations for immersive exhibitions.

For sound, Yamaha is credited under cooperation for the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition,” and HITOHATA, INC. says it used three-dimensional sound with a surround system at the Nagoya Yokai exhibition. Within the scope of our research, we found no public materials giving numerical requirements for venue darkness (light shielding). Some venues are on upper floors: Fukuoka on the 9th floor of JR Hakata City, Hiroshima on the 11th floor of Motomachi CRED/PACELA and Aomori on the 3rd floor. JR Kyushu Hall says passenger elevators cannot be used for loading and unloading.

Dates and prices: Regional venues in summer 2026 ran for just under two months

The three regional venues in summer 2026 all ran for just under two months, spanning the summer vacation: the Kagoshima Yokai exhibition from July 3 to August 31, the Aomori edition from July 11 to August 30 and the Hiroshima edition from July 18 to September 6, the last running 51 days without closing. In Tokyo, the Ukiyo-e exhibition ran from December 21, 2024 to March 31, 2025, and the Yokai exhibition from March 27 to June 28, 2026—both more than three months.

Same-day general (adult) admission ranges from ¥1,500 to ¥3,800 depending on the venue. Major examples are as follows (advance or online prices in parentheses).

• “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU” (Gifu City Museum of History): High school students and older ¥1,500 (¥1,300). Free for elementary and junior high school students in Gifu City

• “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” (Reimeikan, 2026): Adults ¥1,700 (¥1,500)

• “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition AOMORI” (New’s Hall, 2026): University students and adults ¥1,800 (¥1,600)

• “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition HIROSHIMA” (NTT CRED Hall, 2026): General ¥2,200

• “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition OSAKA” (Knowledge Capital Event Lab, 2026): Adults ¥2,300 (¥2,000)

• “Van Gogh Alive” Kobe venue (Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, 2023): General ¥2,500 (¥2,300)

• “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition TOKYO” (Warehouse TERRADA G1 Building, 2024–2025): Adults ¥2,700 (¥2,500)

• THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA’s “Impressionist Monet and Ukiyo-e”: General ¥3,800 (¥3,000 online). Free for junior high school students and younger

• For reference: “Immersive Journey” Yokohama (VR): General tickets ¥4,000 per person on weekdays, ¥5,000 on weekends and holidays (up to three people)

Sales methods also differ. The Hiroshima edition sold tickets through seven online outlets, including Lawson Ticket, Ticket Pia and Seven Ticket, and at convenience stores, with same-day tickets at the venue cash only. The Kagoshima Yokai exhibition sold tickets through e+ as well as at Yamakataya and Co-op Kagoshima stores. The Gifu edition sells group discount tickets for 20 or more people only at the venue. THE MOVEUM sets online prices lower than venue prices and limits payment at the venue to cashless methods.

Visitor numbers: Announced by organizers and production companies

On September 14, the official website of the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” announced that the Aomori edition had ended with more than 45,000 visitors and the Hiroshima edition with about 40,000. According to HITOHATA, INC.’s portfolio page, the Kagoshima Yokai exhibition exceeded 80,000 during its run, the 2025 Nagoya Yokai exhibition exceeded 120,000 and the 2026 Tokyo Yokai exhibition exceeded 110,000. For the Osaka Ukiyo-e exhibition, the organizer TV Osaka reported passing 50,000 three days before it closed. On the other hand, final visitor numbers for the Tokyo, Fukuoka and 2024 Kagoshima Ukiyo-e exhibitions are not stated on the official website or HITOHATA, INC.’s portfolio page.

Among other operators, CinemaLeap said in a September 17 announcement that Immersive Journey had already drawn more than 300,000 visitors in Japan. THE MOVEUM gives no visitor numbers on its official website or in its September 24 announcement. All of these figures were announced by the organizers or operators themselves, and counting methods—such as whether they reflect tickets sold or actual attendance—are not given. Visitor numbers for facilities and touring exhibitions are also compared in our roundup of visitor numbers at digital art facilities and immersive exhibitions.

Regional case studies: Kagoshima, Aomori, Hiroshima and Gifu

Kagoshima: A local broadcaster organized twice at a prefectural facility

In Kagoshima, MBC Minaminihon Broadcasting held the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” from July 19 to September 1, 2024, and the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” in 2026, both in Special Exhibition Room 1 of the Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture Reimeikan. The 2026 Yokai exhibition was supported by Kagoshima Prefecture, Kagoshima City, their boards of education and others, with special cooperation from the National Museum of Japanese History and others.

Dates: July 3 – August 31, 2026 (with closing days)
Venue: Special Exhibition Room 1, Kagoshima Prefectural Museum of Culture Reimeikan (Shiroyamacho, Kagoshima)
Admission: Adults ¥1,700 (¥1,500 in advance)
Organizer: MBC Minaminihon Broadcasting
Planning and production: HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi
Visitors: More than 80,000 (HITOHATA, INC.’s portfolio page)
Official website: https://www.yokaiimmersive.com/kagoshima

Aomori: Organized by a newspaper and a broadcaster, sponsored by local companies

The Aomori edition was held at New’s Hall in the To-o Nippo Shinmachi Building. The special sponsor was the Aomori Prefectural Mutual Aid Cooperative, and sponsors were Aomori Michinoku Bank, Aoimori Shinkin Bank, Tohoku Electric Power’s Aomori Branch, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, J-POWER and the To-o Nippo Dealers Association, with support from Aomori Prefecture, the Aomori Prefectural Board of Education, organizations in the prefecture, and newspapers and broadcasters in Hokkaido and Tohoku.

Dates: July 11 – August 30, 2026
Venue: New’s Hall, To-o Nippo Shinmachi Building (Shinmachi, Aomori)
Admission: University students and adults ¥1,800 (¥1,600 in advance)
Organizers: The To-o Nippo Press, Aomori Broadcasting and the To-o Nippo Cultural Foundation
Planning and production: HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi
Visitors: More than 45,000 (official website, September 14)
Official website: https://www.ukiyoeimmersiveart.com/aomori

Hiroshima: Jointly organized by a broadcaster and the production side, supported by four cities

The Hiroshima edition was supported by Hiroshima, Fukuyama, Higashihiroshima and Hatsukaichi cities and their boards of education. It was open 10:00–18:00, extended to 20:00 every Friday and Saturday and from August 11 to 13. In a July 31 announcement, TV Aichi said it was the first edition held in the Chugoku-Shikoku region.

Dates: July 18 – September 6, 2026
Venue: NTT CRED Hall (Motomachi CRED/PACELA 11F, Naka Ward, Hiroshima)
Admission: General ¥2,200
Organizers: Hiroshima Television, Seeds Live, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi
Planning and production: HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi
Visitors: About 40,000 (official website, September 14)
Official website: https://www.ukiyoeimmersiveart.com/hiroshima

Gifu: The city joins the executive committee and holds it at the city museum

The Gifu edition, opening on Friday, November 6, is held in the special exhibition room on the 1st floor of the Gifu City Museum of History as a “Special Exhibition Commemorating the Renewal of the Gifu City Museum of History and the 145th Anniversary of The Gifu Shimbun.” Gifu City has joined the executive committee, and elementary and junior high school students in Gifu City (years 1–9 of compulsory education schools) are admitted free.

Dates: Friday, November 6, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday)
Hours: 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Every Monday (open Monday, November 23, national holiday), Tuesday, November 24, and Monday, December 28 – Monday, January 4, 2027
Venue: Special exhibition room, 1st floor, Gifu City Museum of History (Omiyacho, Gifu, in Gifu Park)
Admission: High school students and older ¥1,500 (¥1,300 in advance), elementary and junior high school students ¥700 (¥500 in advance), free for preschool children
Organizer: Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition GIFU Executive Committee (Gifu City, The Gifu Shimbun, Gifu Broadcasting, HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi)
Planning and production: HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi
Official website: https://www.ukiyoeimmersiveart.com/gifu

Editor’s perspective

Laying out the public materials makes clear that in the touring exhibitions covered in this article, the planning and production team stays the same while the organizers change from venue to venue. At regional venues, a pattern continued of local broadcasters or newspapers organizing, with prefectures, cities and boards of education as supporters. There are also cases in which a local government joins the executive committee, as in Gifu; in which a company on the venue side joins, as in Fukuoka; and in which a museum co-organizes, as in Kobe. There is no single way for a host to be involved.

The venue requirements that appear in public materials are the height of projection surfaces, electrical capacity and the availability of 200V power, ceiling load capacity and load-in routes. In the Nagoya case, the electrical capacity of a facility designed for exhibiting artworks was a constraint, which was addressed through the choice of equipment. On the other hand, we found no public materials indicating light-shielding requirements or minimum floor area, so specific requirements need to be checked individually with the production side.

Differences also appear in prices and visitor numbers. Same-day general admission at the three regional venues in summer 2026 was ¥1,700–¥2,200, lower than the ¥2,700 for the Tokyo Ukiyo-e exhibition. Visitor numbers ranged from about 40,000 to more than 80,000, and all ran for just under two months. However, because costs and contract terms are not public, finances cannot be compared from the outside. Note that the cases in this article were selected mainly from examples that publish credits and visitor numbers for each venue, and as a result many are from the two series planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi.

Frequently asked questions

How large are the venues for touring immersive exhibitions?

Among examples that publish their size, JR Kyushu Hall, used for the Fukuoka edition, has a hall of about 660 square meters with a ceiling height of 7,100 mm, and THE MOVEUM YOKOHAMA’s Monet program uses a space of about 1,800 square meters. The “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” gives the height of its projection surfaces as 3 to 4.5 m. We found no examples publishing minimum required floor area or ceiling height.

Are hosting costs and contract terms with production companies published?

As of October 26, none of the cases covered in this article had published hosting costs, payments to production companies or how revenue is shared. What can be confirmed from the credits is limited to designations such as organizer, planning and production, sponsor, supporter and cooperation.

How are local governments involved?

For the Gifu edition, Gifu City has joined the executive committee, and the city’s museum of history is the venue. In Kagoshima, the prefectural facility Reimeikan served as the venue, and the 2026 Yokai exhibition was supported by the prefecture and city. The Hiroshima edition was supported by four cities and their boards of education, and the Fukuoka edition by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City and others.

Articles organized by each stage of planning are compiled in our article guide for those planning projection mapping and light events.

*Information as of October 26, 2026. Please check the official websites for the latest information.

*Top image: The venue of the touring exhibition “Van Gogh Alive” in Manila (photographed in 2019; Photo: Hariboneagle927, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on public materials (as of October 26, 2026), including the official websites of the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition,” announcements by HITOHATA, INC., TV Aichi and TV Osaka, announcements by Toyota Motor Corporation, CinemaLeap and the Meitetsu Group, JR Hakata City’s venue information, Panasonic’s case studies and The National Art Center, Tokyo’s exhibition information.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: Of the exhibitions featured in this article, the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition” are planned and produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (jointly with TV Aichi, and as one of the organizers at some venues) (About us).

The latest information on events produced by HITOHATA, INC. is available at HITOHATA, INC.’s event information. Inquiries about hosting or co-organizing the “Ukiyo-e Immersive Art Exhibition” and the “Yokai Immersive Art Exhibition” are accepted through the company’s contact form.