KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in the Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition

HITOHATA, INC. produced “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in the Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition,” which was held from Fri, Apr 25 to Sun, Jun 15, 2025 at the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (Sapporo City, Hokkaido).

This project was presented as one of the displays in “Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi,” an exhibition organized by The Hokkaido Shimbun Press and NHK Sapporo Broadcasting Station. Based on more than 50 ukiyo-e works by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, including “Miyamoto Musashi Slaying a Giant Whale” and “The Ruined Palace at Soma,” it was an immersive, experiential digital art museum in which visitors could immerse themselves in the world of ukiyo-e within three-dimensional visual spaces created with 3DCG animation and projection mapping.

“Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi” was an exhibition that presented approximately 200 works spanning a wide range of genres, including the warrior prints in which Kuniyoshi excelled as well as caricatures and portraits of beautiful women, introducing the captivating world of Kuniyoshi.

In conjunction with “KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in the Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition,” a special lecture titled “The Making of Kuniyoshi Immersive Art” was also held on Fri, Apr 25, 2025 in the Auditorium of the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art (lecturer: Takeaki Higashiyama, President and Representative Director of HITOHATA, INC.).


[Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition Official Website]
https://event.hokkaido-np.co.jp/kuniyoshi/

Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition: Event Overview

[Title] Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition
(Title of this project: KUNIYOSHI IMMERSIVE ART in the Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition)

[Dates] Fri, Apr 25 – Sun, Jun 15, 2025
9:30 AM – 5:00 PM (last admission 4:30 PM)
*Closed on Mondays, except Mon, May 5, 2025, and also closed on Wed, May 7, 2025.

[Venue] Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art
(17 Nishi, Kita-Ichijo, Chuo-ku, Sapporo City, Hokkaido)

[About]
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861) was a ukiyo-e artist active in the late Edo period. A pupil of Utagawa Toyokuni I, who laid the foundations of the Utagawa school, Kuniyoshi won wide popularity with his series based on the Chinese classic “Water Margin” and rapidly rose to fame as “Kuniyoshi of the warrior prints.”
He went on to work far beyond warrior prints, showing his talent across a wide range of genres including portraits of beautiful women, historical scenes and landscapes that incorporated the techniques of Western painting. Drawn with strikingly original ideas and outstanding humor, Kuniyoshi’s ukiyo-e struck a chord with many people during the turbulent final years of the Edo period, and in recent years he has become highly popular both in Japan and abroad as the genius who opened a new era for ukiyo-e.
This exhibition presented approximately 200 works spanning a wide range of genres, including the warrior prints in which Kuniyoshi excelled as well as caricatures and portraits of beautiful women, introducing the captivating world of Kuniyoshi.
In collaboration with the immersive exhibition “Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition,” which has been touring in Japan and overseas including Nagoya, Tokyo and Milan, Italy, the spin-off work “Kuniyoshi Immersive Art,” focusing on Utagawa Kuniyoshi, was presented in Hokkaido for the first time.

[Tickets]

Elementary school students and younger were admitted free of charge (a guardian was required to accompany them).

*The repeat-visitor discount rate applied to visitors presenting a ticket stub from a special exhibition held at a Hokkaido prefectural art museum or art center (valid until the expiry date printed on the stub; one stub was valid for one person, one time only).

*Visitors holding a physical disability certificate, a rehabilitation certificate or a mental disability certificate, together with one accompanying caregiver, were admitted free of charge. Mirairo ID was also accepted, and certificates were presented at the same-day ticket counter.

[Organizers] The Hokkaido Shimbun Press, NHK Sapporo Broadcasting Station

[Support] Hokkaido, Sapporo City, Sapporo City Board of Education

[Planning Cooperation] Art One

[Special Cooperation] HITOHATA, TV Aichi

[Cooperation] HTB Hokkaido Television

[Ukiyo-e Super Creator Utagawa Kuniyoshi Exhibition Official Website]
https://event.hokkaido-np.co.jp/kuniyoshi/

About the Special Lecture “The Making of Kuniyoshi Immersive Art” *Ended

[Date] Fri, Apr 25, 2025, starting at 1:30 PM (approximately 60 minutes)

[Venue] Auditorium, Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art

[Lecturer] Takeaki Higashiyama (President and Representative Director of HITOHATA, INC.; producer of “Kuniyoshi Immersive Art” for this exhibition)

[Capacity] 200 people (first-come, first-served)
*Attendance was free of charge (an exhibition ticket was required).

[Official Photos]

[Main Visual and Event Logo]

[Poster]

[Flyer]