A Traveler from 1200 Months in the Past

TOP Collection

Apr. 4—Jul. 7, 2024

• Apr. 4—Jul. 7, 2024
• Closed Mondays (however, the museum will be open on Monday, April 29 and Monday, May 6, and closed on Tuesday, May 7).
• Admission：Adults ￥700 (560)／College Students ￥560 (440)／High School and Junior High School Students, Over 65 ￥350 (280) *Prices in parenthesis apply to groups of 20 or more. (Reservation is required.) *Free for grade school children or younger, junior high school students living or attending schools in the Tokyo metropolitan area, holders of Japan’s disability identification cards (shogaisha techo) together with two caregiver , and holders of the museum’s annual passport are admitted free of charge. *Those over 65 years old receive free admission on the third Wednesday of every month by presenting proof of age at the ticket counter.

This exhibition of works from the collection of the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum has the theme of time travel.
The science-fictional fantasy of people freely traversing all the eras of history has existed since time immemorial. However, in the world of the imagination and the realm of art, it is no fantasy, and anyone can break free of the conventional bounds of time and space.
In 1924, the poet and children’s book writer Miyazawa Kenji published Spring and Asura, poetically describing the inner landscape of “the phenomenon called I” and envisioning “the fourth dimensional continuum” in which all things overlap at a cosmic time-scale. Miyazawa Kenji’s imagination was sparked by the latest developments in science and thought of his day, but although he set his vision down in words a hundred years ago, there is something about it that still resonates in our hearts in this fragmented current era.
This exhibition begins its journey through time in the year 1924, exactly a century ago, and presents photographic and film works and materials primarily drawn from our collection of over 37,000 items. With the theme of “a traveler from 1,200 months in the past,” it enables visitors to encounter narratives woven in various times and places. It is also a trip through time and space that connects the pre-World War II, postwar, and contemporary periods through the power of imagination, with the words of the poetic preface to Miyazawa’s Spring and Asura serving as a guide. We invite you to enjoy this journey through a wealth of still and moving images.

[Room 1 : 1924 –Taisho 13]


Yoshikawa Tomizo, Face of Woman, 1924, Gum-bichromate Print, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Jaroslav Rössler, Still-life with Bowl, Prague, 1924, Gelatine Silver Print, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

[Room 2 : The Modern City in the Showa Era]


Kuwabara Kineo, (Subway Entrance), 1930-39, Gelatine Silver Print, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Sugiura Hisui, The Reconstruction of the Imperial Capital and Tokyo Subway, c.1929, Lithograph, Offset, Collection of National Crafts Museum

[Room 3 : What Was Once Here: Memories of Yebisu Beer]


SAPPORO BEER RIBBON CITRON poster, c.1927, Courtesy: Sapporo Breweries Ltd.


Miyamoto Ryuji, Sapporobeer Yebisu Brewery From the series Architectural apocalypse, 1990, Gelatine Silver Print, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

[Room 4 : 20th Century Memories: History as Seen in Photographic Magazines]


Cover of Asahi Graph, May 28, 1930


Otsuka Gen, Composed Views of the Night Sky at Sukiyabashi, 1958, Gelatin Silver Print, Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum

[Room 5 : Space-Time Travel: The Cenozoic Alluvial Epoch]


Takagi Teijiro, From the series 100 Selects of Japanese Landscapes and Custom, 1910-23, Hand Painted Glass Slides/Single Channel Video (Slide Show), Collection of Tokyo Photographic Art Museum


Kitano Ken, Shodoshima, Tonosho Town, Kagawa from winter solstice 2017 to summer solstice in 2018 From the series Gathering Light, 2017-18 Inkjet Print, Collection of the Artist

*The schedule is subject to change. Any further changes will be announced.

Organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum operated by Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture
With assistance from J-WAVE 81.3FM