Opening Documents, Weaving Memories: A Special Exhibition Featuring Works from the Museum Collection

Art is often said to be a “mirror of the times.” Its visual images are imprinted with the social condition and culture at the time of creation through artists’ sensitivities.

There is more to it than that. Art lives on through the ages and is therefore given new meanings by later generations. What art reflects are the changes in people’s sense of beauty and the way they look at society and history over the course of time, from the past when the works of art were created to the present.

In the year 2025, the 100th year of the Showa period (1926-1989) and the 80th year after World War II, this show will explore the possibilities for an art museum to approach history from a variety of perspectives, deciphering the memories deposited in art through free use of our collection and archives.

Matsumoto Shunsuke, *A Tree-Lined Street*, 1943 The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Exhibition Overview

Section 1: What Did Paintings Communicate?
Section 2: Views of Asia / Views from Asia
Section 3: The Battlefield as Spectacle
Section 4: Production of Myths
Section 5: War on the Home Front
Section 6: Memories Imprinted on the Body
Section 7: Dialogues with the Resurrected Past
Section 8: Opening Documents

AI-MITSU, *Self-Portrait*, 1944 The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Okada Saburosuke, *Ethnic Harmony* postcard Private collection

Wada Sanzo, *Mandara for Rousing Asians*, 1940 The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Nakamura Ken’ichi, *Kota Bharu*, 1942, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Indefinite loan

Hours & Admissions

Location: Special Exhibition Gallery (1st floor)
Date: July 15–October 26, 2025
Closed: Mondays (except July 21, August 11, September 15 and October 13), July 22, August 12, September 16, October 14
Time: 10 am–5 pm (Fridays and Saturdays open until 8 pm)

Last admission: 30 minutes before closing.
Admission: Adults ¥1,500 (¥1,300)
College/University students ¥800 (¥600) 

All prices include tax.

Admission in the parentheses is for groups of 20 persons or more.

Admission is free for high school students, under 18, and those with Disability Certificates and one caregiver accompanying each of them. Please present ID at the entrance.

Students and staff at universities enrolled in the Campus Members program can show student/staff ID to get the group discount.

Including the admission fee for MOMAT Collection and New Acquisition & Special Display: Japan and Korea in Works from the Collection(Gallery 4).
Tickets: Same-day tickets can be purchased at the ticket counters, while online ticket can be purchased at e-tix online ticket service.
Organaized by: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo