“Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” won the “Good Design Award 2026” organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

“Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” produced by HITOHATA, INC. won the “Good Design Award 2026” organized by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.

Since its establishment in 1957, the “Good Design Award” has been one of Japan’s leading design awards, evaluating the design of a wide range of things that shape our lives and society, whether tangible or intangible, from products and architecture to services and initiatives, and widely introducing the results to society. In 2026, the award celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding.

“Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” is the world’s first immersive, experiential digital art museum where visitors can immerse themselves in Japan’s renowned yokai art—including “Hyakki yagyo emaki,” “Hyakumonogatari,” “Oni,” “Tengu,” “Kappa,” and “Tsukumogami”—depicted by various artists from the Edo and Meiji periods, through cutting-edge video technology and three-dimensional sculptures.

Born from the rich imagination of ancient Japanese myths and folklore, Japan’s yokai have been loved by people around the world across the ages. This exhibition dynamically brings to life the humorous figures depicted in yokai paintings and caricatures using cutting-edge digital technologies such as 3DCG, projection mapping, and holographic screens, while recreating a realistic world of yokai through three-dimensional sculptures.

Furthermore, with the cooperation of Japan’s first antique book museum, the Nishio City Iwase Bunko, and the Shodoshima Yokai Art Museum, the exhibition provides commentary on yokai culture, yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art, while also unraveling the culture and history of yokai as they connect to modern pop culture.

To date, the exhibition has been held in Nagoya, Tokyo, and Kagoshima, welcoming a cumulative total of more than 300,000 visitors.

In addition, “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” won the Gold Award (Gold Winner) in the “Experiential & Immersive - Exhibition Experience” category at the international creative awards “MUSE Creative Awards 2026.”

Encouraged by this award, HITOHATA, INC. will continue to promote the appeal of Japan’s unique traditional and folk cultures, including yokai, both in Japan and overseas through cutting-edge technology and production, thereby contributing to strengthening the global outreach of Japanese culture and creating new value in traditional culture.

[Official Website of “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition”]

https://www.yokaiimmersive.com/

[Official Video of “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition TOKYO”]

https://youtu.be/Dq8K69Gb7gU

[Official Video of “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition KAGOSHIMA”]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbe0d1wgZRE

• Overview of the “Good Design Award”

The Good Design Award is Japan’s leading design evaluation and promotion program, carrying on the Good Design Product Selection System established in 1957. As a global design award in which many companies and organizations from Japan and abroad participate, it is held every year with the aim of improving the quality of life and utilizing design to solve social issues and themes. The “G Mark,” the symbol of the award, is widely recognized as a symbol of excellent design.

[Organizer] Japan Institute of Design Promotion

[Official Website of the “Good Design Award”] https://www.g-mark.org/

• Award Details

[Award] Good Design Award 2026

[Winner] HITOHATA, INC.

[Award-Winning Work] Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition

[Project Entity] HITOHATA, INC. and TV Aichi

[Award Number] 26G171224

[Work Overview]

This is the world’s first immersive, experiential digital art museum where visitors can immerse themselves in Japan’s renowned yokai art—including “Hyakki yagyo emaki,” “Hyakumonogatari,” “Oni,” “Tengu,” “Kappa,” and “Tsukumogami”—depicted by various artists from the Edo and Meiji periods, through cutting-edge video technology and three-dimensional sculptures.

Born from the rich imagination of ancient Japanese myths and folklore, Japan’s yokai have been loved by people around the world across the ages. This exhibition dynamically brings to life the humorous figures depicted in yokai paintings and caricatures using cutting-edge digital technologies such as 3DCG, projection mapping, and holographic screens, while recreating a realistic world of yokai through three-dimensional sculptures.

Furthermore, with the cooperation of Japan’s first antique book museum, the Nishio City Iwase Bunko, and the Shodoshima Yokai Art Museum, the exhibition provides commentary on yokai culture, yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art, while also unraveling the culture and history of yokai as they connect to modern pop culture.

[Design Points]

- Brings yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art by Edo- and Meiji-period artists to life with 3DCG and Live2D, creating an immersive experience of the yokai world

- Layers experiences such as parading with yokai, searching for tsukumogami, and being startled by a giant skeleton, shifting visitors from “viewing” to “experiencing” the story from within

- Lets visitors enjoy learning about yokai culture across the ages, from ancient folklore to modern pop culture

[Background]

Many valuable yokai paintings could only be viewed behind glass, which limited the opportunities for younger generations and people overseas to become familiar with them. Under the concept of “from viewing to experiencing,” we set out to reconstruct yokai culture through immersive techniques.

[Development and Results]

By combining 3DCG, Live2D, holographic screens, projection mapping, surround-sound spatial audio, and three-dimensional sculptures, we created staging in which the positions of the yokai are linked with sound. A largely non-verbal composition and commentary in both Japanese and English made the exhibition enjoyable for visitors of all generations and nationalities. The 2025 Nagoya exhibition welcomed more than 120,000 visitors, the 2026 Tokyo exhibition more than 110,000, and the Kagoshima exhibition, the first held in Kyushu, more than 80,000, bringing the cumulative total to over 300,000.

[Award Page] https://www.g-mark.org/gallery/winners/35199

• Evaluation Comments from the Good Design Award Jury

Since the huge success of immersive experiences featuring famous paintings about 15 years ago, many similar immersive art works have emerged. Rather than focusing on a specific artist, this work takes “yokai” as its theme and curates yokai art depicted by multiple artists from the Edo to the Meiji periods, playing a role in retelling Japan’s yokai culture to people today. We highly evaluated how it makes use of a wide variety of techniques, including 3DCG, Live2D, holographic screens, projection mapping, spatial audio, and three-dimensional sculptures, to create a new, three-dimensional immersive experience.

• Comment from the Winner

“YOKAI”—Japan’s yokai, whose name is becoming a universal word around the world, captivate people across eras and borders. With “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition,” we aimed to reconstruct yokai culture through cutting-edge immersive production and create an “otherworld” that everyone, from children to adults, can immerse themselves in.

We brought yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art drawn on flat surfaces back to life in the present day as dynamic, immersive, three-dimensional art through video, three-dimensional sculptures, and spatial audio. At the same time, we have valued not only surprising visitors, but also conveying the myths and folklore behind the yokai and their connections to modern pop culture.

We are truly honored to receive this award, and we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the visitors and everyone involved in the production and operation of the exhibition. We will continue to share the richness of Japan’s world-renowned yokai culture and creativity both in Japan and overseas.

Representative of the Winner: Higashiyama Takeaki (CEO, HITOHATA, INC.)

• Highlights of “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition”

<Immerse Yourself Through Visuals> Step into the world of yokai in an immersive three-dimensional visual space

Experience a three-dimensional visual space where yokai come dynamically to life through 3DCG, projection mapping, and holographic screens. Beyond simply viewing, visitors can enjoy immersive experiences such as taking videos and photos with the yokai, or becoming part of a yokai picture scroll and wandering into another world. From parading alongside the yokai depicted in the “Hyakki yagyo emaki” to being confronted by the giant skeleton that appears in Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s “Soma no Furudairi (The Ruined Palace at Soma),” more than 300 humorous yokai invite you into the world of “yokai art you can experience.”

<Immerse Yourself Through Sculptures> Encounter “real yokai” through powerful three-dimensional sculptures

In addition to the visual spaces, yokai realistically recreated as three-dimensional sculptures are another highlight. Oni, tengu, kappa, tsukumogami, and other yokai appear in physical space, and the fusion of meticulously crafted sculptures with immersive staging lets visitors take in their expressions and textures up close.

<Immerse Yourself Through Learning> Learn about yokai culture through commentary on valuable yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art

Original yokai ukiyo-e woodblock prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi are on display. With the cooperation of Japan’s first antique book museum, the Nishio City Iwase Bunko, and the Shodoshima Yokai Art Museum, the exhibition explains yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art such as “Hyakki yagyo no zu” and “Hyakumonogatari,” tracing the cultural and historical background of yokai, from myths and folklore to their connections with modern pop culture.

<Immersion for Everyone> An art experience for adults, children, seniors, and international visitors alike

Interactive digital art that lets visitors play with yokai and play content that captivates children offer experiences that families can enjoy together. Seating areas allow seniors to sit and take their time viewing. The exhibition consists mainly of non-verbal content that can be enjoyed intuitively, with commentary provided in both Japanese and English.

• Exhibition History of “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition”

[Title] YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition NAGOYA - Imagination of Japan -

[Dates] Saturday, July 19 - Tuesday, September 23, 2025

[Venue] Kanayama Minami Building (Former Nagoya/Boston Museum of Fine Arts) (1-1-1 Kanayama-cho, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi)

[Visitors] More than 120,000

[Title] YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition TOKYO - Imagination of Japan -

[Dates] Friday, March 27 - Sunday, June 28, 2026

[Venue] Warehouse TERRADA G1 Bldg (6-4, Higashi-Shinagawa 2-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo)

[Visitors] More than 110,000

[Title] YOKAI Immersive Experience Exhibition KAGOSHIMA - Imagination of Japan -

[Dates] Friday, July 3 - Monday, August 31, 2026

[Venue] Reimeikan, Kagoshima Prefectural Center for Historical Material, Special Exhibition Room 1 (7-2 Shiroyama-cho, Kagoshima City, Kagoshima)

[Visitors] More than 80,000