Immersive Art Exhibition at Nijo Castle Retraces 400 Years of Kyoto's Beauty and Design

At the UNESCO World Heritage site Former Imperial Villa Nijo Castle, an experiential art exhibition titled NAKED meets Nijo Castle 2026 will open from October 23 (Friday) to December 5 (Saturday), 2026, marking the 400th anniversary of the Kan'ei Imperial Visit. The exhibition is planned, directed, and produced by NAKED, INC. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President: Ryotaro Muramatsu).

Rediscovering Nijo Castle Through the Sensibility and Aesthetics of 400 Years Ago

This year marks 400 years since the Kan'ei Imperial Visit (Kan'ei Gyoko), one of the largest cultural events of the Edo period held at Nijo Castle. The exhibition takes place at this UNESCO World Heritage site, unpacking the aesthetics of Kan'ei culture, which laid the foundation for Japan's traditional culture, from a "design" perspective and expressing it through NAKED's signature art experience.

For this exhibition, NAKED has focused on Tokugawa Masako as the key figure who unlocks the story of the Kan'ei Imperial Visit and Kan'ei culture. At age 19, Masako witnessed the Kan'ei Imperial Visit firsthand, and later, as Tofukumon-in, had a major influence on Japan's design culture. Her sensibility and aesthetics are reconstructed as art, together with their historical background.

The production theme is "Opening the beauty and sensibility cultivated by Tokugawa Masako to the present day." Alongside an immersive art viewing experience, a Japanese and English audio guide is available that delves into the origins of the culture and its historical background, offering multiple ways to enjoy Nijo Castle and Kan'ei culture, from intuitive art appreciation to intellectual exploration.

About the Kan'ei Imperial Visit and Kan'ei Culture

Japanese creativity that blossomed 400 years ago

The Kan'ei Imperial Visit refers to one of the largest events of the Edo period, held over five days in September of the third year of Kan'ei (1626), when the retired shogun Tokugawa Hidetada and the third shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu welcomed Emperor Go-Mizunoo to Nijo Castle. Emperor Go-Mizunoo was fond of scholarship and was also a cultural figure accomplished in waka poetry, the tea ceremony, and rikka flower arrangement. In addition, many of those involved in the Imperial Visit and their circle of acquaintances, including Kobori Enshu, were cultural figures, and numerous cultural salons formed where refinement and aesthetic sensibility were honed together. The culture nurtured in these salons, which crossed social classes, went on to have a profound influence on later Japanese culture.

About Tokugawa Masako

The 400-year-old trendsetter who updated Japan's traditional beauty

Tokugawa Masako was born as the daughter of Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Edo shogunate, and entered the imperial court as a consort, and later empress, of Emperor Go-Mizunoo. At age 19, during the Kan'ei Imperial Visit, she encountered the pinnacle of beauty where court culture and samurai culture intersected, and later became the central figure driving Kan'ei culture as Tofukumon-in.

Backed by her refined sensibility and immense wealth, Masako actively supported cutting-edge creativity of the time, spanning kimono, the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, interiors, and gardens. She also personally commissioned and produced new designs. In particular, the bold and lavish kimono designs she commissioned from the Kyoto kimono merchant Kariganeya became a huge trend in the city of Kyoto and are said to have dramatically advanced the aesthetics of Japanese kimono design.

Drawing on both court culture and samurai culture, Tokugawa Masako incorporated new designs and culture through her own sensibility. This exhibition presents Masako as the key figure who unlocks Kan'ei culture from the perspective of aesthetics and design.

Event Overview