A look at upcoming exhibitions and art shows across Tokyo for the month of December. Whether you want to see some traditional Japanese art or a modern exhibit, here’s everything worth checking out.
Tokyo Comic Con 2025
Tokyo Comic Con will be held in Makuhari Messe with celebrities including Johnny Depp, Sebastian Stan, Norman Reedus and Christopher Llyod.
Date & Time
Dec 05-07・11:00-19:00・event hours vary each day
Price
¥5500 for adults (¥5900 day of), ¥1000 for guests under 18, ¥500 for guests under 15
Location
Makuhari Messe
“Blue Circle,” 2025, Oil on canvas, φ1000mm ©YEYE
YEYE: Telepathy
If you’re on the right side of Instagram, you’ve definitely seen Korean artist YEYE’s adorable paintings of her fluffy white dog. Named Moonge, the dog — known for its many charming expressions — spent 15 years by the artist’s side. YEYE’s humorous, heartwarming works have touched the hearts of fans around the world.
Date & Time
Nov 05-Dec 06・11:00-19:00・Closed Sun & Mon, Except Nov 9
Price
Free
Location
Kaikai Kiki Gallery
Tokihiro Sato, “Photo-Respiration: City Scape #22”, 1988. Archival pigment print, 130.7 x 103.5 cm. © Tokihiro Sato, courtesy Poetic Scape.
Tokihiro Sato: Photo-Respiration – City Scape
Photographer Tokihiro Sato uses specialized techniques like pinhole cameras, the camera obscura and long exposure to explore themes of light, time, space and the body, pushing the boundaries of photographic expression.This exhibition showcases works from his signature Photo-Respiration series, focusing on the “City Scape” images created within urban and architectural environments. By tracing trails with a penlight in the dark, or reflecting sunlight with mirrors, Sato crafts tangible traces of time.
Date & Time
Oct 27-Dec 07・13:00-18:00・Nov 7-9 Open from 10:00, Closed Mon, Tue and Nov 29
Price
Free
Location
Poetic Scape
Marc Chagall, “Amoureux au bouquet de fleurs ou Les Amoureux aux fleurs”. courtesy of galerie taménaga
Marc Chagall: 40 Years in Remembrance
Marking the 40th anniversary of Marc Chagall’s passing, the exhibition displays the Russian-French painter’s enchanting, dreamlike works. Chagall’s oeuvre — celebrated for its spiritual optimism and poetic beauty — often drew from Jewish folklore, featuring recurring motifs such as floating lovers, musicians, angels and farm animals. The show has a particular focus on the bouquet as a motif; for Chagall, flowers were symbolic of love, happiness, remembrance and life itself. It’s a rare opportunity to see approximately thirty timeless works by one of the most beloved modernist artists of all time.
Date & Time
Nov 08-Dec 07・11:00-19:00・Open 11:00-17:00 on Sundays
Price
Free
Location
Galerie Taménaga
Prism of the Real: Making Art in Japan
The Prism of the Real exhibition at the National Art Center Tokyo examines and showcases more than 50 artists from Japan and abroad, looking at both art that emerged from Japan and how Japanese culture has inspired the world between 1989 and 2010.
Date & Time
Sep 03-Dec 08・10:00-18:00・last admission 30 minutes before closing, Fridays and Saturdays from 10:00-20:00, closed on Tuesdays and September 24
Price
¥2000 for adults, ¥1000 for university students, ¥500 for high school students
Location
National Art Center Tokyo
More Info
Junior high school students or younger are free, guests with disabilities (plus one assistant) will be admitted for free upon presenting ID
Thomas Ruff, “Substrat 41 III,” 2009, courtesy of Gallery Koyanagi
Thomas Ruff Solo Exhibition: Two of Each
Experimental German photographer Thomas Ruff will hold a much-anticipated solo exhibition “Two of Each” at Gallery Koyanagi starting this October. As the name of the exhibition suggests, two pieces from each of his representative series — “Substrate,” “negatives,” “flower.s” and “untitled#” — will be shown.
Date & Time
Oct 18-Dec 13・12:00-19:00・10:00~18:00 from Nov 7 – 9
Price
Free
Location
Gallery Koyanagi
More Info
Closed on Sundays, Mondays, National Holidays (open on Sun, Nov 9)
Bvlgari Kaleidos: Colors, Cultures and Crafts
Luxury brand Bvlgari will hold its largest exhibition in Japan with over 350 pieces, including jewelry and contemporary art.
Date & Time
Sep 17-Dec 15・10:00-18:00・last admission 30 minutes before closing, closed on tuesdays and on september 24
Price
¥2300 for adults, ¥1000 for university students, ¥500 for high school students
Location
national art center tokyo
Viennese Style: Biedermeier through Fin de Siècle
Delving into two of Vienna’s most generative and beautiful artistic eras — the Biedermeier era (early 19th century) and the fin de siècle (turn of the 20th century) — this exhibition showcases everything from furniture and silverware to ornaments and jewelry. It’s a great introduction to the essence of the modern “Viennese Style”: a unique blend of geometric functionalism and richly decorative, fantastical expressions by artists like Gustav Klimt. Advance reservations are required, but admission fees are to be paid at the entrance.
Date & Time
Oct 04-Dec 17・10:00-18:00・Closed Wed, Last Entry 17:30. Reservations Required
Price
Adults ¥1,500 / Over 65 ¥1,400 / Students ¥1,000 / Middle School and Under Free
Location
Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art
More Info
Admission is free for disability passbook holders and up to one accompanying adult.
EIKI MORI, “Untitled” from Moonbow Flags, 2025. C-print, 21 x 32 cm. © Eiki Mori, courtesy the artist and Ken Nakahashi.
Eiki Mori: Moonbow Flags
Eiki Mori’s new series, “Moonbow Flags,” is his first solo exhibition in two years, featuring 24 unique photograms that layer negative film portraits with hand-drawn, white geometric shapes inspired by flags and everyday patterns. Mori aims to deconstruct the symbolic authority of existing flags and introduce new perspectives by fusing them with personal and playful elements. “This [deconstruction] exposes a nameless something, previously unworthy of respect, which quietly and forcefully flutters within everyday life and emotion,” Mori said in a press statement.
Date & Time
Oct 10-Dec 20・13:00-20:00・Closed Sun & Mon
Price
Free
Location
ken nakahashi
RIKAKO KAWAUCHI, “Time to feed the milk, time to become a tiger”, 2023. Oil on canvas, 130.3 x 162 cm. © Rikako Kawauchi, courtesy the artist and Waitingroom.
Rikako Kawauchi: Humans and Tigers
Rikako Kawauchi’s artistic inquiry often centers on the body, viewed through themes of food and eating. Drawing upon South American and African myths as metaphors, she explores binaries such as body and mind, self and other. Working across diverse media — including painting, drawing, neon and marble — Kawauchi’s practice is consistently defined by the “line,” which she uses to vividly reveal both physical and spiritual states. Her expressive brushwork captures the body’s movements and emotions with a sense of immediacy and speed. For this specific exhibition, Kawauchi focuses on the core duality expressed in the title, presenting a new body of work that deeply investigates the complex relationship between animals and humans.
Date & Time
Nov 05-Dec 21・12:00-19:00・Closed Mon & Tue. Open Until 17:00 on Sun
Price
Free
Location
Waitingroom
SAMIRO YUNOKI, “Sunlight Through Trees”, 2019. Collection of the Matsumoto City Museum of Art. Courtesy Gallery Tom.
Samiro Yunoki: The Eternal Now
This exhibition offers a comprehensive look at the creative output of the textile artist Samiro Yunoki, who passed away in 2024 at the age of 101. Over the course of his life, Yunoki built a unique body of work distinguished by vibrant colors and humorous forms that bridged both Japanese folk traditions and Modernism. The show reflects on his remarkable 75-year career, spanning various genres including dyeing, illustration and collage, and invites visitors on a journey through the cities and regions that influenced his life and work.
Date & Time
Oct 24-Dec 21・11:00-19:00・Last Entry 18:30. Closed Mon (Tue if Mon is a Holiday)
Price
¥1,600 Adults, ¥1,000 College and High School Students
Location
Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery
More Info
Check Site for Group Rates
ṢỌLÁ OLÚLÒDE, “In the Secret Garden of Our Love”, 2025. Dye, indigo, batik, wax, ink, pastel and charcoal on canvas, 120 x 150 cm. © Ṣọlá Olúlòde.
Group Exhibition ‘The Clearing’: Artists from the African Diaspora
Curated by Ekow Eshun for space Un, “The Clearing” is an exhibition of paintings by contemporary artists from the African diaspora that explores themes of kinship, connection and collective memory. Drawing inspiration from a scene in Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, in which Black townsfolk meet in a forest clearing for mutual support, the show meditates on communal gathering as an act of resistance, restoration and creation. The exhibition aims to present Black subjectivity as expansive and sovereign, and celebrate the full emotional and spiritual complexity of Black life through sanctuaries of quiet power. The artists represented include Nengi Omuku, Sola Olulode, Okiki Akinfe, Arthur Timothy and Kwesi Botchway.
Date & Time
Nov 03-Dec 26・12:00-19:00・Closed Mon & Tue
Price
Free
Location
Space Un Tokyo
View of the exhibition “The In-Between” at Perrotin Tokyo. Photo by Osamu Sakamoto. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin.
Lee Bae: The In-Between
Born in 1956 in Cheongdo, South Korea, Lee Bae is currently based in Paris and Seoul. Lee is known for his monochromatic, yet immersive exploration of blackness; inspired by charcoal as a metaphor for the cycle of life, his sculptures and pictorial works have used both raw charcoal, carbon black (a substance close to soot) and charcoal ink. This November, his solo exhibition at Perrotin will display his new series of bronze sculptures titled Brushstrokes, and a poetic video performance The In-Between — which depicts the artist in motion in a Korean rice paddy.
Date & Time
Nov 05-Dec 27・11:00-19:00・Closed Sun & Mon
Price
Free
Location
Perrotin Tokyo
MOON KYUNGWON and JEON JOONHO, “To Build a Fire_This is me”, 2024. Black stone, stainless steel, 81 x 75 x 64 cm. Courtesy SCAI The Bathhouse.
Moon Kyungwon & Jeong Joonho: News from Nowhere
Korean artist duo Moon Kyungwon & Jeon Joonho are presenting their multidisciplinary project, “News from Nowhere,” across two concurrent exhibitions at SCAI The Bathhouse and SCAI Piramide. The shows center on the new moving image installation, Phantom Garden (2024-2025), which explores a “critical dystopia” where the seasons of spring and autumn have disappeared. Visitors will also see paintings by Moon, sculptures by Jeon and the cast aluminum installation Prosperos Botanica (2025).
Date & Time
Nov 5, 2025-Jan 31, 2026・12:00-18:00・Closed Sun, Mon, Dec 20-Jan 12. Open Nov 9
Price
Free
Location
SCAI The Bathhouse
Marina Perez Simão, “Untitled / Sem Título,” 2025 © Marina Perez Simão
Pace Gallery Tokyo: Marina Perez Simão & Tomie Ohtake
Brazilian artist Marina Perez Simão is holding her debut solo exhibition in Japan at Pace Tokyo, with a new series of landscape-inspired abstract paintings. Known for her vibrant, lyrical compositions that blur interior and exterior worlds, Simão’s work explores emotion, memory and place. The exhibition’s pieces are linked by the use of indigo, a deep shade with centuries of tradition in Japan. Her works are displayed in dialogue with paintings and sculptures by the late Japanese-Brazilian artist Tomie Ohtake, who she cites as a key influence. Born in Kyoto in 1913, Ohtake immigrated to Brazil in 1936, eventually becoming one of the country’s most celebrated modernists. Her works employed both organic forms and structured geometries to abstract natural landscapes and phenomena.
Date & Time
Nov 4, 2025-Feb 11, 2026・11:00-19:00・Open Until 18:00 on Sun, Closed Mon. 19:00-20:00 Appointment Only
Price
Free
Location
Pace Gallery Tokyo
‘Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru’ Exhibition
The Machu Picchu exhibition will show over 130 artifacts from ancient Andean civilization, some being exhibited in Japan for the first time.
Date & Time
Nov 22, 2025-Mar 1, 2026・10:00-18:00・Friday, Saturday and the day before a holiday: 10:00-20:00
Price
¥2800
Location
Mori Arts Center Gallery
Taro Gomi Picture Book World Exhibition
Explore the world of picture books at the Picture Book World Exhibition featuring Gomi Taro, author and illustrator of over 400 books.
Date & Time
Aug 8, 2025-May 27, 2026・10:00-18:00
Price
Free
Location
Mikka Lirio Ichibankan
More Info
A separate Mikka admission fee is required for other in-house exhibits
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