Immerse yourself in Taro Okamoto's "play" before saying goodbye to his paintings

This summer, the Osaka Expo was a huge success. It may have been an opportunity for some people to learn about, reminisce about, or even visit the Osaka Expo 55 years ago. At the same time, it must have also increased appreciation and interest for Taro Okamoto, the creator of the Tower of the Sun, which could be said to be the symbol of the event.

Taro, who was born in Takatsu Village (now Takatsu Ward, Kawasaki City), donated many of his works to Kawasaki City during his lifetime. In response, Kawasaki City opened the Taro Okamoto Museum of Art in Kawasaki in 1999 in a corner of the vast, naturally rich Ikuta Ryokuchi Park, and since then, it has been a beloved place where visitors can casually view the works of this genius for over 25 years.

Due to the aging of the facilities and equipment, it has been decided that the exhibition rooms will be closed and renovated over a period of approximately three years, from the end of March 2026 to March 2029.

However, as the "paintings" are displayed without glass or other barriers, they are sensitive to sunlight and temperature changes and can only be displayed in the exhibition room, so they will not be available for viewing for the time being.

Currently, the museum is running a permanent exhibition titled "Taro Okamoto: Living is Playing," featuring Taro's representative works from its collection, until March 29, 2026, just before the museum closes.
The museum will only be closed for the time being, and the entire museum will not be closed, so visitors will still be able to view the artworks, particularly the three-dimensional works, and there will also be events that can only be enjoyed outside the exhibition rooms.

The "TARO World" begins at the entrance to the permanent exhibition room, where the word "TARO" and a face reminiscent of the Tower of the Sun appear on a bright red wall. Taro's own words, written in the "Introduction" of the exhibition room, read: "In this life, you set your own destiny, bet on it, and play with joy. That is what makes it worth "living." However, you must play with your entire being, and you must play while shedding blood." (Source: Taro Okamoto, "Art and Play -- The Junction of Crisis," in "The Spell of Primary Colors" (Bungeishunju, 1968), inspire a sense of resolve as you enter the TARO World that continues from there.

Immediately upon entering the exhibition room, one comes across "Law of the Forest" (1950), which is said to embody the "polarism" advocated by Taro, who studied philosophy at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Paris. The red monster depicted in the center is a symbol of "power" that threatens those around it, but it also shows that it is insignificant once the zipper is opened and the contents are exposed.

As Taro said in his "Antibialism" essay, "a discordant treatment that has not been tolerated until now, that is, the contradictory juxtaposition of abstract and surreal elements. The torn entanglement of inorganic and organic, abstract and concrete, attraction and repulsion, love and hate, beauty and ugliness, all of these things result in a ferocious dissonance" (Collection of Paintings: Avant-Garde Art, Getsuyo Shobo, 1948), and the viewer is left wanting to examine every corner of the work to find out where this dissonance is coming from.

Opposite "Law of the Forest" is another representative work of polarity, "Heavy Industry." Painted the year before "Law of the Forest" (1949), this work also depicts polar opposites, with "realistic gears" surrounded by "abstract people," and further below that a "realistic leek," while also containing social satire.

To the left of Heavy Industry is Night (1947), which gave rise to the name of the Night Society, a group that Taro founded with his comrades to promote the avant-garde, and to the right is The Wounded Arm (originally 1936, recreated in 1949), a reproduction of a work from his time in Paris that was lost in the war.

"Night" is colored with gloomy colors, while "The Wounded Arm" is expressionistic. Both differ from the previous works "Law of the Forest" and "Heavy Industry," and offer a glimpse into how Taro arrived at "polarism."

The first room (although there is no designated route) is quite impressive, and you could probably spend an hour in this room alone.

He continued to produce works of a variety of eras and motifs, including "Spoiled Child" (1951), "Playing Child" (1954), "Warrior Dressed for Battle" (1962), "Thousand Hands" (1965), "Portrait by the Sea" (1973), the "Eye Paintings" series (1973-1992), and the "Playful Letters" series (1974-1988).

There are chairs set up in various places, so you can sit back and enjoy the artwork for a long time.

In one corner, there is a slightly unusual chair designed and made by Taro, which you can actually sit in.
These are valuable pieces that you can actually touch, including ones shaped like hands and ones with string seats and backrests.

In addition to paintings, photographs, sculptures, and ceramic works are also displayed in their most suitable form and location, such as gentle slopes, glass cases, and small rooms resembling terraced fields.

The many words left behind by Taro provide the essence of the current exhibition's theme of "play (life = play)" that allows visitors to feel it more deeply.

The words written in the timeline, "My life is really interesting. Because there is no path," are perhaps symbolic of Taro's "playful" life, in which he always pursued those he was drawn to as a pioneer, suffering deeply but enjoying himself nonetheless.

It's the end of a new year and the end of the fiscal year. It's a time to reflect on your own life and think about the future. Learning about the lives of artists who have stuck to their own philosophies may help you see things from a different perspective.