Ukiyo-e Theater from Paris

After stirring up the art world in 19th century Europe, Japonism makes a triumphant return as a 360-degree interactive experience

SPIRIT of JAPAN
It is said that the price of an ukiyo-e print in the Edo period was 28 mon (the Japanese currency at the time) – about the same as a bowl of soba noodles. “Ukiyo” refers to “the present world,” which means that the ukiyo-e that were popular among the Japanese people were “depictions of daily life in the present.” In the modern world, that would be such media as TV, Internet or Instagram.
When ukiyo-e were brought to Europe in the 19th century, the genre heavily influenced impressionist artists, and that impact can still be felt today.
Danny Rose Studio combines the style of ukiyo-e with contemporary technologies and narratives, to create an entirely new type of large-scale visual/spatial installation.
In France, the recent exhibition “Dreamed Japan – Images of the Floating World" attracted about 2 million visitors, and for the upcoming event in Japan, the show was further expanded.　
Renamed "SPIRIT of JAPAN," it will have its world premiere at the Kadokawa Culture Museum, offering a unique 360-degree, whole-body experience in the form of the ”Ukiyo-e Theater” that surrounds the visitor in a large space: Fans moving like clocks, lanterns dancing in the air, cherry blossoms rocked by the wind, and raging waves rhythmically moving overhead.

Danny Rose Studio
Danny Rose Studio is a Paris-based collective of creators from a variety of fields, including digital artists, programmers, musicians, etc.
Their explorations focusing on interaction between such different genres as architecture, digital art and soundscape design, are based on creative approaches with a general emphasis on perception.
Employing advanced video projection technologies and spatial renditions of sound, they create environments that are visible to the eye yet look quite unreal. The collective has been designing and developing pieces of immersive art that engage the viewer in perceptual experiences, as well as interactively generated installations, site-specific works of urban art, and more.

Also on display
In the back of the Grand Gallery, works by contemporary Japanese ukiyo-e artists are exhibited alongside displays of numerous ukiyo-e prints that were used by Danny Rose Studio.
Ukiyo-e is anything but an art of the past. Look forward to this opportunity to examine the present state of an artistic genre that continues to evolve, in France and now also in Japan.

Exhibition Outline
UKIYO-E THEATER from Paris
[Dates/place]
2020/10/30[Sat] - 2022/4/10[Sun] / 1F Grand Gallery
[Organizer]
Kadokawa Culture Museum (Kadokawa Culture Promotion Foundation
[Sponsor]
Delta Electronics (Japan), Inc.
[Patronage]
Ambassade de France au Japon /Institut français du Japon
[Cooperation]
UKIYO-E PROJECT, MIZUMA ART GALLERY, Tokyo Traditional Woodblock Print Association. COEDO BREWERY
[Address]
3-31-3 Higashi-Tokorozawa Wada, Tokorozawa-shi, Saitama 359-0023, Japan
[Opening hours]
Sunday to Wednesday 10:00-18:00 / Last admission 17:30
Friday to Saturday 10:00-21:00 / Last admission 20:30
[Closed]
1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesday
※open when a national holiday falls on a Tuesday
※Opening hours may vary depending on the situation.