“Creative Women in Japan: Paving the Way for 100 Years” Opens January 9, 2027 at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka; About 50 Artists, Including Shoen Uemura and Yayoi Kusama

“Creative Women in Japan: Paving the Way for 100 Years” will be held at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (Kita-ku, Osaka) from Saturday, January 9 to Monday, March 22 (substitute holiday), 2027. It traces about 100 years of women artists, from the Taisho era to the Reiwa era, through about 50 artists, including Shoen Uemura, Yayoi Kusama and Yoko Ono. Focusing on changes in educational environments, means of expression and lifestyles, it is organized in 10 chapters. The organizers are the museum and The Mainichi Newspapers, and advance tickets go on sale on Wednesday, November 4, 2026.

Why 100 years of “creative women” now? Ten chapters set against social change

The museum bills the exhibition as an overview of the history of women artists in Japan on “the largest scale ever.” Its press release of October 1, 2026 says it will introduce the endeavors of more than 50 artists together with the social circumstances each faced and their life stories.

The chapters track changes in Japanese society. Chapter 3 deals with women who sought places to work abroad after the “emancipation of women” carried out under the guidance of the Allied occupation after World War II. Chapter 6 is set against the women’s liberation movement from the late 1960s onward, and Chapter 8 against the era of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act. Chapter 10 takes up the interest in gender equality since the #MeToo movement and the issues of the body and care that came to the fore during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The exhibition also looks at the relationship with the media. Regarding Chapter 8, the museum explains that while young women artists emerged and were featured in the media in the 1980s, magazine culture also tended to consume them.

There are deep ties to the Kansai region as well. The Gutai Art Association in Chapter 4 was based in Kansai and, according to the museum, actively welcomed women. It is said to have offered an environment in which women could work more easily than in other groups of the time. Works on display include Tsuruko Yamazaki’s “Work” (1961) and Mako Idemitsu’s “What a Woman Made” (1973), both in the museum’s collection.

Methods of expression and the backgrounds of the works differ from artist to artist. Even so, the museum says, the attitude of working with one’s hands, building up one’s thinking and creating something is common to all the participating artists.

What works can be seen? Highlights and the 10 chapters

The exhibition is organized chronologically in 10 chapters. The content of each chapter and the main artists named on the official website are as follows.

1. Chapter 1 (1920s–1940s) “Pioneers Who Paved the Way”: Shoen Uemura in Nihonga, Setsuko Migishi in Western-style painting and others

2. Chapter 2 (1920s–1940s) “How Women Depicted Women”: Self-portraits, women workers, modern life, and anxiety and suffering in wartime, painted at a time when subjects were limited

3. Chapter 3 (1950s–1970s) “Voyages and Challenges in Europe and America”: Artists who sought places to work in the United States and elsewhere, such as Yayoi Kusama, Yoko Ono and Mieko (Chieko) Shiomi

4. Chapter 4 (1950s–1970s) “The Gutai Art Association”: Abstract paintings by Atsuko Tanaka, Tsuruko Yamazaki and others

5. Chapter 5 (1950s–1970s) “On Handicrafts”: Works by Ayako Miyawaki and others, against the backdrop of the handicraft boom from the 1950s onward and the image of the housewife supporting the family at home

6. Chapter 6 (1970s–1980s) “Seeking Better Standing and Liberation for Women”: Mako Idemitsu, Sayako Kishimoto, Tari Ito and others, who worked within the currents of women’s liberation

7. Chapter 7 (1970s–1980s) “On Vision and Perception”: Contemplative expression in photography, printmaking, sculpture and other media, covering diverse practices that do not draw attention to the artist’s gender

8. Chapter 8 (1980s–2000s) “Women’s Advancement in Society and Struggles with the Media”: Shoko Maemoto, Mika Yoshizawa, Yurie Nagashima and others

9. Chapter 9 (2000s–2010s) “Private Universes and Shifting Ground”: Artists expressing private sensibilities in an era shaped by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Tokyo subway sarin attack, the September 11 attacks in the United States, the Great East Japan Earthquake and other events

10. Chapter 10 (2010s–2020s) “The Body and Liberation from ‘Women Artists’”: Works on the body, care and intimate spheres

Main works on display

The main works introduced on the official website and in the press release are as follows. Some works are on display only for limited periods.

• Shoen Uemura, “Sei Shonagon,” c. 1917–18, private collection

• Keiko Yurimoto, “Telescope,” 1940, Kyoto City Museum of Art (shown for half of the run)

• Fujio Yoshida, “Iris,” 1954, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (shown for part of the run only)

• Yuki Katsura, “Work,” 1959, Itabashi Art Museum

• Tsuruko Yamazaki, “Work,” 1961, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

• Ayako Miyawaki, “Crab Couple,” 1963, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art

• Mieko (Chieko) Shiomi, “Water Music,” 1964/1991, The National Museum of Art, Osaka

• Masano Onoe, “White Cats in a Clover Field,” date unknown, Japan Handicraft Instructors’ Association

• Mako Idemitsu, “What a Woman Made,” 1973, Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka

• Toeko Tatsuno, “Work 85-p-5,” 1985, The National Museum of Art, Osaka

• Shoko Maemoto, “NORIKO,” 1986, collection of Misonikomi Oden

• Mika Kato, “Pansies,” 2001, Ryutaro Takahashi Collection

• Mari Katayama, “ballet #002,” 2013, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art

• Kyoko Idetsu, “Furniture and a Dog That Don’t Fit the House,” 2025, private collection

Works by Eiko Yamazawa, Toshi Maruki (Toshiko Akamatsu), Yoko Terauchi, Yuki Kimura and others are also introduced. A list of all participating artists and the number of works had not been announced as of October 19. Related events will be announced on the official website once the details are decided.

Tickets and prices: advance tickets from November 4; no timed entry

Admission (tax included) is 1,900 yen for adults and 1,200 yen for high school and university students, and free for junior high school students and younger. Advance tickets and groups of 20 or more are 1,700 yen for adults and 1,000 yen for high school and university students. Advance tickets are sold from 10:00 on Wednesday, November 4, 2026 to 23:59 on Friday, January 8, 2027 through ART PASS, the exhibition’s official online ticket site (etix) and major ticket outlets.

The exhibition does not use timed entry. Holders of a disability certificate or similar, together with one caregiver, pay half the same-day price (proof required; tickets bought on the day at the 2nd-floor ticket counter). Osaka City residents aged 65 and over must also pay the adult price.

Opening hours are 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30). The museum is closed on Mondays and on Tuesday, January 12, but open on Monday, January 11 (national holiday) and Monday, March 22 (substitute holiday).

Access, and exhibitions to see in Nakanoshima at the same time

The address is 4-3-1 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka. It is about a 5-minute walk southwest from Watanabebashi Station (Exit 2) on the Keihan Nakanoshima Line and about a 10-minute walk west from Higobashi Station (Exit 4) on the Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line. From Fukushima Station on the JR Osaka Loop Line, Shin-Fukushima Station on the JR Tozai Line and Fukushima Station on the Hanshin Line, it is about a 10-minute walk south. There is no dedicated parking; visitors can use the adjoining paid parking lot (72 cars) or nearby coin parking.

During the first half of the run, “The British Museum’s Japanese Art Collection: A Hundred Flowers in Bloom – Edo Painting Across the Sea” is on view on the museum’s 4th floor until January 31, 2027. At The National Museum of Art, Osaka (Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka), which is providing special cooperation for this exhibition, the special exhibition “Where Words Overlap” runs until March 14. Major exhibitions in 2027 are gathered in [2027] Notable Exhibition Schedule.

Editor’s perspective

The exhibition gives handicrafts a chapter of their own, alongside painting and sculpture. Chapter 5 focuses on handicrafts made between household chores, and works from the collection of the Japan Handicraft Instructors’ Association, which supports the exhibition, are also shown. The structure can be read as re-examining, across a 100-year timeline, the framework that decides what counts as “art.”

The final chapter is devoted to the body and liberation from “women artists.” By building an exhibition around the category of women artists while placing liberation from that very category at the end, the exhibition reveals its critical concerns. From Shoen Uemura’s “Sei Shonagon” of around 1917–18 to Kyoko Idetsu’s work of 2025, the works invite us to read the constraints and choices of each era.

Overview

Name: Creative Women in Japan: Paving the Way for 100 Years
Dates: Saturday, January 9 – Monday, March 22 (substitute holiday), 2027
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Mondays, Tuesday, January 12 (open on Monday, January 11 [national holiday] and Monday, March 22 [substitute holiday])
Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, 5th-floor galleries
Address: 4-3-1 Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka
Admission: Adults 1,900 yen, high school and university students 1,200 yen, junior high school students and younger free (advance and group tickets: adults 1,700 yen, high school and university students 1,000 yen)
Organizers: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka; The Mainichi Newspapers
Special sponsor: Cartier
Sponsor: Kanden Realty & Development Co., Ltd.
Special cooperation: The National Museum of Art, Osaka
Supported by: Japan Handicraft Instructors’ Association
Official website: https://nakka-art.jp/exhibition-post/paving-the-way100/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, December 2023 (photo: Прикли, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka (October 1, 2026) and information on its official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team