Tsune Nakamura was one of the leading western-style painters of the Taisho period. He painted the Portrait of Vasilii Yaroschenko, a masterpiece that won him a permanent place in Japan’s contemporary art history. This column will follow the life of this introspective, deeply insightful artist who, although his powerful yet sensitive style made him a darling of his time, sped through his life as he ran out of steam battling an encroaching illness.

Suiho Tagawa was a manga artist who touched off the great “Norakuro” craze in the early Showa period. His style is often considered the origin of story-telling manga, and big-name manga artists who came in the following generation like Osamu Tezuka, Machiko Hasegawa, and Shigeru Sugiura were greatly influenced by Tagawa’s work in their younger years and respected him as a master. In this article, we will take a closer look at the character of this artist who has left behind the cornerstone at the dawn of Japan’s manga culture.

Taikan Yokoyama, a master Japanese painter of modern times, was born at the beginning of Meiji period, and continued through Taisho and Showa periods to struggle between tradition and his own sense of creativity in his constant effort to achieve new expressions in his paintings. He was confronted with numerous conflicts with his teachers and peers, and eventually grew to become a leader in Japan’s art world. Many exhibitions are planning to be hold commemorating his 150th birth year.

Kiyosumi Shirakawa is an up-and-coming area of Tokyo where the streets are full of the “old Tokyo” feel, and many new contemporary art galleries and much-talked-about cafes are opening up. The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) opened its doors in this neighborhood a little over 20 years ago. While it is currently closed for renovation, it has gone out into its community to launch its very first art project.

The Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Backstage Tour (Architecture) was held in January 2017. Architect Isamu Yoneyama, who is also a research staff member of the Edo-Tokyo Museum, took us on a guided tour around the building.

Masao Koga, called kayōkyoku no chichi (“father of Showa-era pop music”), is said to have written 4,000 or even 5,000 songs in his lifetime. Using a revolutionary compositional method that incorporates the essence and musical arrangements unique to Japanese music, he produced many masterpieces from the prewar era through the post-war years. Among them were Oka wo Koete, Sake wa Namida ka Tameiki ka, Dareka Kokyō wo Omowazaru, and Tokyo Rhapsody. In this column, we will examine the background from which came the sometimes lighthearted and sometimes melancholy “Koga melody.”

This year (2017) marks the 150th anniversary of Natsume Soseki’s birth. The writer created numerous masterpieces replete with profound psychological descriptions and humor that still ring true today, including I Am a Cat, Sanshiro, Botchan, Kokoro, The Three-Cornered World, and Ten Nights of Dreams. This time Examining Artists introduces Natsume Soseki, who represents the modern Japan, and his unknown episodes.

Roppongi Art Night is a one-night celebration staged in the Roppongi district. It was held from October 21 (Fri.) to 23 (Sun.), 2016, to coincide with the World Forum on Sport and Culture, an international congress, held around the same time.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture provides hands-on programs every year for teachers at elementary, junior-high and high schools in Tokyo. This year’s 9th edition offered programs at seven cultural facilities run by the Tokyo metropolitan government.

The following is a report of the program held at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in July 2016.

Alberto Giacometti is known for creating sculptures of thin, elongated figures. The peculiar forms he arrived at as a result of his process of searching for the essence of man carved out new horizons for 20th-century sculptures. Up until the time he perfected his own style, what kind of a life did Giacometti lead?

Adolf Wölfli is one of the master artists in the genre of Art Brut (“raw art”)—also called “outsider art.” This genre of art involves works by artist who have not received formal fine art training and create art as dictated by their inner world. All the work created by Wölfli, who suffered from mental illness and created an enormous amount of work in his asylum cell, is full of originality, often combining poetry and music.

The Tokyo Bunka Kaikan presents a special music education program in cooperation with Casa de Musica, a Portuguese music facility. The program offers more than 20 workshops for participants of all ages. Here are reports from four workshops held in 2016.

Children aged from 6 to 18 months and their mothers enjoyed the following two workshops.

With the opening of the Sumida Hokusai Museum in November 2016, there has been a renewed interest in the Edo-era ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai. His remarkable artistic skills and use of unconventional compositions and subject matters made him a leader in the art world of the late Edo period. In this section, we will take a close look at the man who, until his death at 89, continued to strive to improve as an artist and diligently dedicated himself to his work.

Yasunari Kawabata (1899-1972) was a Japanese novelist who continuously published works in various styles and themes for about 50 years since his major debut in his 20s. He was called a “magician” for his constant quest for new expressions. The contemporary opera based on Kawabata’s “House of the Sleeping Beauties,” a work well-known for its uniqueness, was performed in December 2016 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan.

MeMe Design School began in a corner of Aoyama Book Center on a Saturday afternoon. The school offers two courses: Design Basic and Book Design Classes, and they are taught by professionals who work in the frontlines of their respective businesses. We interviewed young designers who study at this school, and designer Nobuo Nakagaki who runs the school.

MOT provides a talk at its Collection Gallery every day at 2 p.m. A reporter joined one of the talks.