“From When Is Now? — Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama” at Shiseido Gallery from November 3, Pairing a New Tamayama Work with Settai Materials

The exhibition “From When Is Now? — Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama” will be held at Shiseido Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo, from Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to Sunday, February 28, 2027. It brings together Settai Komura (1887–1940), an artist active from the Taisho era to the early Showa era, and Takuro Tamayama (1990–), a contemporary artist who creates installations combining sculptural forms, light, video and sound. Placing the work of two artists separated by about 100 years in a single space, it presents a new installation by Tamayama and three Settai items from Shiseido’s collection. Admission is free.

Why Shiseido Gallery? The Ginza where Settai worked, and a gallery that opened in 1919

Settai’s connection with Shiseido began with his time in the Shiseido Design Department from 1918 to 1923. Established in 1916, the department was where the company’s first president, Shinzo Fukuhara, gathered young artists to create posters, newspaper and magazine advertisements and package designs. Settai joined at Fukuhara’s request and took charge of Japanese-style design, in contrast to the Western styles then dominant. According to Shiseido, even after leaving the company, he was deeply involved in laying the foundations of the “Shiseido typeface” and the Japanese logotype still used by the company today.

The venue, Shiseido Gallery, began as a “display space” that Fukuhara opened on December 13, 1919, on the 2nd floor of the cosmetics department at 11 Takekawacho (now 7-8-10 Ginza). The official website says it is said to be the oldest surviving gallery in Japan. Since 2001 it has been on the B1 floor of the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building. The announcement says that time has accumulated in this space along with the streets of Ginza, where Settai once kept a desk and worked, and that placing Tamayama’s new work there opens Settai’s gaze to the present.

Shiseido has continued to introduce Settai’s work. According to the announcement, since his death the company has held two exhibitions at Shiseido Gallery and four at SHISEIDO ART HOUSE (Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture), and its Settai holdings exceed 70 items. In March 2026, “Shiseido Art House Collection Exhibition: Settai Komura — Dreaming of Edo” also opened at the Art House.

What can visitors see? Three Settai works and a new piece of frosted glass, fabric and mirror

For Settai, the exhibition presents three works he created while at Shiseido. Shiseido Gallery’s official website shows two of them in images: “Ginza” (1921; 192 × 133 × 23 mm) and “Perfume Kiku” (c. 1920). Both are in the collection of the Shiseido Corporate Museum. The venue also shows footage and materials of Ginza in Settai’s day.

Tamayama’s new work consists of three elements: the light of frosted glass, translucent fabric and mirror surfaces of polished stainless steel. The announcement says that memories of Ginza deeply tied to Settai, such as the Shiseido Design Department and the “Kukukukai,” resonate with Tamayama’s installation, making for an exhibition in which visitors experience the very time accumulated in Ginza. The Kukukukai was a social circle held around Izumi Kyoka, mainly in the early Showa era, and Settai was one of its members. Its name is said to come from its membership fee of 9 yen 99 sen.

The exhibition title comes from a passage in Settai’s late essay “Furudera Meguri” (Touring Old Temples), published in “Modern Nippon” (vol. 8, no. 1, January 1, 1937): “I can no longer tell whether the present is now or long ago.” The exhibition is planned and curated by Kin Shuu, a Tokyo-based curator and researcher who is enrolled in the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Global Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts and has worked as an independent curator since 2019.

Who are Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama?

Settai Komura was born in Kawagoe in 1887. He graduated from the Japanese painting department of the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1908 and designed the binding of Izumi Kyoka’s “Nihonbashi” in 1914. In his mid-30s he studied under Matsuoka Eikyu and illustrated Kanji Kunieda’s newspaper serial novel “Osen.” He also created a great many stage designs at the request of kabuki and shinpa actors, and died in 1940 at the age of 53.

Takuro Tamayama was born in Gifu Prefecture in 1990 and lives in Tokyo. After studying at Aichi University of the Arts, he completed graduate studies at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2015. He has created installations that combine vivid lighting and sound with furniture- and everyday-object-like forms that reference familiar images, using interior spaces as motifs. In 2025 he held the solo exhibition “Takuro Tamayama: FLOOR” at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. For that exhibition and other activities, he received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s New Face Award (Fine Arts) in the 76th Art Encouragement Prizes for fiscal 2025 (our roundup of major awards in 2026).

Admission, access and related programs

Admission is free. Opening hours are 11:00–19:00 on weekdays and 11:00–18:00 on Sundays and holidays. The gallery is closed every Monday, including when Monday is a holiday. The closures listed also include the period from Monday, December 21, 2026, to Monday, January 11, 2027. The venue is on the B1 floor of the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, a 4-minute walk from Exit A2 of Ginza Station and Exit 1 of Shimbashi Station on the subway, and a 5-minute walk from the Ginza Exit of JR Shimbashi Station.

Shiseido Gallery is participating in ARTE TOKYO (October 10 – December 31), DESIGNART TOKYO 2026 (October 30 – November 8) and Art Week Tokyo (ART WEEK TOKYO 2026, November 4–8). Talk events and other programs related to the exhibition are also planned. The catalogue “From When Is Now? — Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama (provisional title)” (oar press, modified A5, about 128 pages) is scheduled for publication around January 2027.

Overview

Name: From When Is Now? — Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama
Dates: Tuesday, November 3, 2026 – Sunday, February 28, 2027
Hours: Weekdays 11:00–19:00; Sundays and holidays 11:00–18:00
Closed: Mondays (including when Monday is a holiday); Monday, December 21, 2026 – Monday, January 11, 2027
Venue: Shiseido Gallery
Address: B1, Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, 8-8-3 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo
Admission: Free
Organizer: Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Curator: Kin Shuu
Inquiries: 03-3572-3901
Official website: https://gallery.shiseido.com/jp/
*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Key visual for “From When Is Now? — Settai Komura and Takuro Tamayama” (from Shiseido Co., Ltd.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on announcements by Shiseido Co., Ltd. (October 5, 2026, and others) and information on Shiseido Gallery’s official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team