Etcher Tetsuro Komai Exhibition in Hayama Until November 15; Setagaya Art Museum Retrospective of About 300 Works from November 28

“Etcher Tetsuro Komai: Like Constellations Spreading in the Palm of a Hand,” commemorating 50 years since the death of the etcher Tetsuro Komai (1920–1976), is on view at The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama until Sunday, November 15. An exhibition of the same title will also be held at the Setagaya Art Museum in Tokyo from Saturday, November 28 to Sunday, January 31, 2027. The Setagaya exhibition traces his path from his early years to his last through about 300 works and materials, including prints, rare oil paintings and original illustrations, centered on the museum’s “Yoshiharu Fukuhara Collection.”

What kind of printmaker was Tetsuro Komai?

According to the Setagaya Art Museum’s press materials, Komai was born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, in 1920 and discovered etching at 14. He graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts), received the Shunyokai Prize in 1950, and in 1951 won the Prize for Japanese Residents in São Paulo at the 1st São Paulo Biennial for “Fleeting Illusion.” In 1952 he joined “Jikken Kobo” (Experimental Workshop), a group of avant-garde artists, and he studied in Paris from 1954 to 1955.

After returning to Japan, he devoted himself to his work in his studio in Setagaya and also produced illustrations and designs for books, including collections of poems and pictures. He became a professor at Tama Art University in 1970 and at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1972, and he died in 1976 at age 56. Another retrospective marking 50 years since the artist’s death, the Yajuro Takashima exhibition at the Utsunomiya Museum of Art, runs until December 6.

Why now? The Yoshiharu Fukuhara Collection, and the Setagaya Art Museum before its renovation

The “Yoshiharu Fukuhara Collection,” at the heart of the Setagaya exhibition, consists of more than 500 Komai works covering his entire career, collected at his own expense over more than 50 years by Yoshiharu Fukuhara (1931–2023), former honorary chairman of Shiseido. Donated by Fukuhara to the Setagaya Art Museum, it accounts for about 180 of the roughly 300 works in this exhibition. The Hayama exhibition is also built around this collection. Although neither museum’s official website calls it a tour, the exhibition continues from Kanagawa to Tokyo under the same title.

The Setagaya Art Museum will close for major renovation work from April 2027 to January 2030 (planned). After this exhibition, “Selections from the Setagaya Art Museum Collection: Planet of Life – We of the Setabi Forest” (February 13 – March 31, 2027) is scheduled. Developments at museums around the country are gathered in our guide to museum closures and reopenings.

What can be seen? The five chapters of the Setagaya exhibition and original illustrations shown for the first time

1. Chapter 1 “Awakening to Printmaking [1920–1948]”: From his encounter with etching until his career as an artist got on track

2. Chapter 2 “Dreams and Lyricism Coming to Fullness [1948–1955]”: The period in which he developed a lyrical style through series on the theme of dreams, up to his participation in “Jikken Kobo” and his studies in Paris

3. Chapter 3 “The Abyss of Black and White [1956–1976]”: Monochrome works from after his time in Paris to his late years

4. Chapter 4 “A World of Beautiful Color [1956–1976]”: Color prints and original artwork for the covers of the magazine “Shincho”

5. Chapter 5 “Longing and Inquiry: Artists He Admired and Belongings He Cherished”: Prints by Japanese and foreign artists, tools, copper plates and photographs of his studio

Main works include “Le Rêve (Starry Night [Dream No. 3])” (1950), “Festival on the Seabed” and “Fleeting Illusion” (both 1951), the oil painting “Untitled (Riverbank Scene)” (before 1954), “La Maison Jaune (The Yellow House)” (1960) and “Constellation” (1969), used for the main visual. Prints from Komai’s own collection by Koshiro Onchi, Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Charles Meryon, Rodolphe Bresdin and others are also on view.

Shown for the first time are a number of original illustrations for the children’s book “A Little Boy Lost” by W. H. Hudson, translated by Minoru Nishida (Fukuinkan Shoten, 1972), including the illustration for Chapter 7, “Alone in the Forest” (c. 1971, private collection). Some works are rotated between the first period (November 28 – December 27) and the second period (January 5 – January 31, 2027).

The Hayama exhibition runs until November 15: highlights, prices and access

The Hayama exhibition uses Galleries 1, 2 and 3a. Main works listed include the oil painting “Self-Portrait” (1942) and “Lonely Bird” (1948) from the collection of Tokyo University of the Arts, “CONSTELLATION I” (1971) from the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and Koshiro Onchi’s “Debussy ‘Poissons d’or’” (1933), formerly in Komai’s collection, while “Untitled (Riverbank Scene)” is noted as being shown for the first time in this exhibition. Works by Odilon Redon and others are also introduced.

Admission is 1,200 yen for adults, 1,050 yen for those under 20 and students, 600 yen for those 65 and over and 100 yen for high school students; junior high school students and younger and holders of a disability certificate or similar (including, in principle, one caregiver) are admitted free. Culture Day, Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday), is a free admission day. On Saturday, October 31, from 14:00 to 15:00, the writer and scholar of French literature Toshiyuki Horie will give a lecture, “What Komai’s Book Designs Reveal,” in the Hayama auditorium (no application required; free).

The address is 2208-1 Isshiki, Hayama-machi, Miura-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture. From Stop 3 at the East Exit of JR Zushi Station, or Stop 2 at the South Exit of Keikyu Zushi-Hayama Station, take a Keihin Kyuko Bus on route Zushi 11 or 12 (coastal route) and get off at “Sangaoka/Kanagawa Kenritsu Kindai Bijutsukan-mae” (about 20 minutes / about 18 minutes).

Tickets, prices and events for the Setagaya exhibition

Admission is 1,400 yen for adults, 1,200 yen for those 65 and over, 800 yen for university and high school students and 500 yen for junior high and elementary school students, and free for preschool children. People with disabilities pay 500 yen (free for students with disabilities from elementary school through university and vocational school), and one caregiver is admitted free. Online tickets go on sale at 12:00 on Tuesday, November 17 (credit card or d-barai).

Opening hours are 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30). The address is 1-2 Kinuta Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo; check the access information on the official website for directions from the stations.

From 14:00 on Monday, January 11, 2027 (national holiday), the etcher Tadayoshi Nakabayashi will give a lecture, “Between Dream and Reality,” and from 14:00 on Wednesday, January 13, Marona Higuchi, the curator in charge of the exhibition, will give a lecture, “Tetsuro Komai: The Path of His Creation,” both in the auditorium. Both are free, with sign language interpretation, for the first 140 people on the day (numbered tickets distributed in front of the auditorium from 13:00).

Overview

Name: Etcher Tetsuro Komai: Like Constellations Spreading in the Palm of a Hand
Dates and venues: Setagaya Art Museum, 1st-floor galleries: Saturday, November 28, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027 (first period: until Sunday, December 27; second period: from Tuesday, January 5) / The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama (Galleries 1, 2 and 3a): Saturday, September 12 – Sunday, November 15, 2026
Hours: Setagaya: 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30) / Hayama: 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Setagaya: Mondays, year-end and New Year holidays (December 29 – January 3); open on Monday, January 11 (national holiday) and closed on Tuesday, January 12 / Hayama: Mondays (except September 21 and October 12)
Address: Setagaya Art Museum: 1-2 Kinuta Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo / The Museum of Modern Art, Hayama: 2208-1 Isshiki, Hayama-machi, Miura-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture
Admission: Setagaya: adults 1,400 yen, 65 and over 1,200 yen, university and high school students 800 yen, junior high and elementary school students 500 yen, preschool children free / Hayama: adults 1,200 yen, under 20 and students 1,050 yen, 65 and over 600 yen, high school students 100 yen, junior high school students and younger free (group rates available at both)
Organizers: Setagaya: Setagaya Art Museum (Setagaya Arts Foundation), The Tokyo Shimbun / Hayama: The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama, The Tokyo Shimbun
Supported by: Setagaya City, Setagaya City Board of Education (Setagaya exhibition)
Official website: https://www.setagayaartmuseum.or.jp/exhibition/special/detail.php?id=sp00231 (Setagaya), https://www.moma.pref.kanagawa.jp/exhibition/2026-komai-tetsuro/ (Hayama)
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Setagaya Art Museum (photo: Wiiii, CC BY-SA 3.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the Setagaya Art Museum (updated October 14, 2026) and information on the official websites of the Setagaya Art Museum and The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team