Beautiful Utopia:Visions of an Ideal World in Modern JapanClosed

Utopia, meaning “nowhere,” is the title of a novel by the English philosopher Thomas More (1478-1535).
Similarly, British social thinker William Morris (1834-1896) advocated for the integration of life and art in his book News from Nowhere, focusing on the issues of his time and dreaming of an ideal world that does not yet exist. When this concept was introduced to Japan in the 20th century, utopia became an object of aspiration and an ideal for everyday life. Throughout the 20th century, communities that linked a wide range of genres, including art, crafts, and architecture, were sought after in various places. Through the cross-cultural experiences of this new era, Japan was modernizing and becoming neither the Japan of the past nor like any other place in the world at that time.
This exhibition revisits the history of daily life and refers to the various movements that dreamed of the future as “utopias.” Focusing on the themes of art, decorative crafts, and architectural design related to the concept of “beauty,” we seek to discover “beautiful utopias” within everyday life. Not only do we explore the history of “beautiful utopias,” but we also use them as a clue for the future. We examine the utopias of 20th-century Japan that sought a beautiful way of life, look back on the worlds they envisioned, and search for ways to imagine the utopias of today.