Fukuyama and Onomichito hold not-to-miss events

2025 is shaping up to be a golden year for cultural and artistic events in Japan. For starters, Expo 2025 will be held in Osaka — the first time Japan will host an international expo since Aichi two decades ago and only the third time ever that Japan has hosted one. Three triennial events will also take place: the Setouchi Triennale, the Okayama Art Exchange and the Aichi Triennale 2025. Then there is Study: The Osaka Kansai International Art Festival, which is being expanded especially for the expo year, and the Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025, a brand-new art festival. However, one of the highlights is likely to be an event focused on architecture, not art: the Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025.

The exhibition is held once every three years in Hiroshima Prefecture to promote the art of architecture. This year’s inaugural event will unfold over two months at more than 10 venues, including the Onomichi City Museum of Art, Onomichi U2 and LOG (also in Onomichi), as well as the Fukuyama Museum of Art (Civic Gallery) and the Shinshoji Zen Museum and Gardens (in Fukuyama). Of particular note is the exhibition “Nine Visions: Japanese Architects from Japan to the World” at the Onomichi City Museum of Art.

This exhibition spotlights seven Japanese individuals and one duo who have won the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the “Nobel Prize of architecture.” Japan and the United States are now tied for the most Pritzker laureates in the world. Kenzo Tange was the first Japanese winner, in 1987, and the prize has subsequently been won by Fumihiko Maki (1993), Tadao Ando (1995), Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (2010), who frequently work together as the architecture firm SANAA, Toyo Ito (2013), Shigeru Ban (2014), Arata Isozaki (2019) and Riken Yamamoto (2024). Why are Japanese architects so highly regarded? How did they reach this level? The exhibition seeks to answer these questions and more.

The Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition also boasts other events sure to appeal to architecture lovers. For example, a project is currently underway in Fukuyama to reconstruct architectural legend Tange’s residence, which was built in the Seijo area of Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward in 1953 but later was demolished. The project is scheduled for completion around 2027. It will be the subject of a new exhibition that will also introduce other buildings in Fukuyama and Onomichi that are Designated National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.

Visitors to the exhibition may choose to travel straight to Hiroshima or combine their trip with Expo 2025 in Osaka. Equally, they could stay in the Seto Inland Sea area and stop in at the Setouchi Triennale and the Okayama Art Exchange. Whatever your preference, 2025 is definitely the year to plan a trip around these major art and architecture events.

Expo 2025
(Osaka’s Yumeshima area)
April 13 through Oct. 13
https://www.expo2025.or.jp/

Study: The Osaka Kansai International Art Festival 2025
(Osaka and other cities)
April 13 through Oct. 13
https://osaka-kansai.art/

Setouchi Art Triennale 2025
(Kagawa Prefecture and others)
Spring: April 18 through May 25
Summer: Aug. 1 through 31
Autumn: Oct. 3 through Nov. 9
https://setouchi-artfest.jp/

Aichi Triennale 2025
(Aichi Prefecture)
Sept. 13 through Nov. 30
https://aichitriennale.jp/index.html

Okayama Art Summit 2025
(Okayama city)
Sept. 26 through Nov. 24
https://www.okayamaartsummit.jp/

Hiroshima Architecture Exhibition 2025
(Fukuyama, Onomichi and other locations)
Oct. 4 through Nov. 30
https://hiroshima-architecture-exhibition.jp/

Tokyo Odaiba Triennale 2025
(Odaiba, Tokyo)
Oct. 18 through Dec. 25
https://www.tot2025.art/

https://hiroshima-architecture-exhibition.jp/

The Seto Inland Sea region is home to a large number of architectural masterpieces that have been built in response to the region’s unique climate, landscape and traditions. The sea, which Hiroshima Prefecture faces, has served as a major artery of culture and transportation throughout Japan’s history — from the time when the nation first sent envoys to the Sui and Tang courts of China to the time of the Joseon missions from Korea and the kitamaebune merchant ships of the Edo Period. Across this sea, Japan has invited people and cultures from abroad while also transmitting its culture to the world. In addition to ancient architecture, contemporary architects such as Kenzo Tange, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa (SANAA) and Shigeru Ban have created challenging and experimental masterpieces here, attracted by the unique magnetism of the region, forged by both nature and civilization. As a result, the region is now a trove of architectural treasures, dating from ancient times to the present.

Dates:
Saturday, Oct. 4 through Sunday, Nov. 30

Venues:
Onomichi and Fukuyama in Hiroshima Prefecture

Admission:
Three-day passports tentatively will cost ¥3,000

Organizer:
Kambara & Tsuneishi Foundation

Participating architects:
Tadao Ando, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, Riken Yamamoto and others

Around the Seto Inland Sea

2025年は、文化イベントのゴールデンイヤーと呼ばれている。「大阪・関西万博」開催をはじめ、3年毎に開催される「瀬戸内国際芸術祭」「岡山芸術交流」「国際芸術祭あいち」が重なるからだ。なかでも注目なのが＜ひろしま国際建築祭＞だろう。

この建築祭は、3年に一度、広島県を中心に開催する建築文化を発信する建築展で、初回である今回は、尾道市の「尾道市立美術館」や「ONOMICHI U2」、「LOG」、福山市の「ふくやま美術館」や「神勝寺 禅と庭のミュージアム」など、10を超える会場で、建築に関する展示・展覧会が2か月間行われる。特筆すべきは『ナイン・ヴィジョンズ展：日本から世界へ 跳躍する９人の建築家』だろう。

これは丹下健三、安藤忠雄、坂茂など建築界のノーベル賞と言われる「プリツカー建築賞」受賞の日本人建築家8組9名にスポットを当てた展覧会で、なぜ日本の建築家は世界で評価され、どのように世界レベルに達したのか、その魅力と真相に迫る内容だ。

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