{"id":456614,"date":"2026-06-02T06:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456614\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:23:11","slug":"art-exhibition-coming-to-tokyo-this-month-brings-the-cute-scary-and-weird-to-ukiyo-e","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/456614\/","title":{"rendered":"Art exhibition coming to Tokyo this month brings the cute, scary, and weird to ukiyo-e"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird is the perfect exhibition for anyone who delights in art that doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously.<\/p>\n

This summer, once you\u2019re done shopping in the trendy streets of Tokyo\u2019s Harajuku district<\/a>, you won\u2019t have to go far to enjoy a little taste of high culture. In fact, there\u2019s some conveniently located right in front of Tokyo Metro Meiji-Jingumae Station and just around the corner from JR Harajuku Station at the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, a preeminent museum of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints and drawings. However, this repository is offering a fun twist in its upcoming exhibition that might leave you laughing in the gallery.<\/p>\n

From June 23-August 23, the Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird exhibition will have 140 works on display, approximately one-fifth of which are new to the museum\u2019s collection. The event will also be split into two parts that will display entirely different works of art during each.<\/p>\n

So what makes it \u201ccute, scary, and a little weird,\u201d you ask? It\u2019s the fact that even master artisans from 200 years ago weren\u2019t afraid to be a little bit silly with their craft. Take this print that\u2019s part of Yoshikazu Utagawa\u2019s Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido series, for instance. At first glance, it appears to show some people being startled at a potato with a tail and legs (for the record, it\u2019s actually a stone tiger\u2013which still leaves us with lots of questions).<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cFifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road: Oiso\u201d by Yoshikazu Utagawa<\/p>\n

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If anthropomorphized animals are more your thing, you\u2019ll enjoy the series of cat-humans (human-cats?) going about daily life in a variety of settings such as at a public bathhouse. This print would make for an excellent addition to your bathroom with the ability to potentially disturb your guests.<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cCats\u2019 Bathhouse\u201d by unknown artist<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, these cats seem to have rented a property with a bunch of their Japanese yokai<\/a> friends and are throwing an all-night rager.<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cCats\u2019 Blowdart Stand\u201d by Yoshifuji Utagawa<\/p>\n

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On the cuter side of things, there are plenty of prints of animals engaging in all kinds of antics. Take this fox that seems to be wearing the latest in cabbage couture and practicing the choreography to \u201cThriller.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cDancing Fox\u201d by Koson Ohara<\/p>\n

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Moving into the realm of the bizarre, don\u2019t be weirded out by this chimera of all 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac that\u2019s supposed to bring good luck to the household. Good luck in getting people to give a name to this guy, that is\u2026<\/p>\n

(Hey, at least it doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s about to say, \u201cEd\u2026ward\u2026\u201d)<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cTwelve Animal Signs of Oriental Zodiac Gathering to Form One Animal\u201d by Yoshitora Utagawa<\/p>\n

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Finally, the jury\u2019s still out on whether the below image is bizarre versus downright scary, but we\u2019ll let you decide for yourselves. In all honesty, though, hopefully the museum will be selling merch with this print so that we can commemorate our visit to the real-life pond in Japan where human-faced fish are supposed to live<\/a> with one.<\/p>\n

\u25bc \u201cGoldfish Resembling Kabuki Actors\u201d by Yoshiiku Ochiai<\/p>\n

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Admission to the Ota Museum of Art is by cash only, at 1,200 yen (US$7.53) for adults and 800 yen for university and high school students. Junior high school students and younger enter for free, though you\u2019ll have to be the judge of whether any kids you take with you will find the artwork to be hysterical or terrifying.<\/p>\n

Come to think of it, our team of writers will have to take a field trip to see the exhibition when it opens. They\u2019ll fit right in with all of the strange antics<\/a>\u00a0being depicted.<\/p>\n

Exhibition information
Animals & Monsters: Cute, Scary, and a Little Weird \/ \u30a2\u30cb\u30de\u30eb\uff06\u30e2\u30f3\u30b9\u30bf\u30fc\u00a0 \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044\u30fb\u6016\u3044\u30fb\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u5909
Ota Memorial Museum of Art \/ \u592a\u7530\u8a18\u5ff5\u7f8e\u8853\u9928
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingumae 1-10-10
\u6771\u4eac\u90fd\u6e0b\u8c37\u533a\u795e\u5bae\u524d 1-10-10
Duration: June 23-August 23 (Part I: June 23-July 20, Part II: July 25-August 23)
Open: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. (last entry at 5 p.m.)
Closed: June 29, July 6, July 13, July 21-24, July 27, August 3, August 10, August 17
Website<\/a><\/p>\n

Source, images: Ota Memorial Museum of Art press release<\/a>
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