Daimaru Umeda Store is hosting "35th Anniversary Exhibition — Six Days Only: The Teppei Sasakura Museum" as the opening event for the 4th Osaka Art & Design, an area-wide art and design event launching on May 27. The exhibition brings together 82 original paintings by Teppei Sasakura, an artist who has long delivered a sense of happiness and healing through his works.
About the 35th Anniversary Exhibition
In a world of constant noise and unsettling news, what many people seem to be seeking is time to find peace of mind. This exhibition fills its venue with scenes of "everyday happiness" — the kind that is easy to overlook in daily life — creating a quiet, restorative atmosphere for visitors.
The exhibition spans Sasakura's mid-career works through to his latest pieces, encompassing oil paintings, sketches, and self-portraits. It also includes works from his days as an illustrator before becoming a painter — among them rare original package illustrations for nationally beloved confectioneries — as well as archival materials from that era.
All 82 original paintings are displayed in a museum-style arrangement, inviting visitors to take their time exploring the artist's gentle pictorial world as though journeying through it.
Exhibition Information
Exhibition Title: 35th Anniversary Exhibition — Six Days Only: The Teppei Sasakura Museum
(Free Admission / Artworks and Art Goods Available for Purchase)
Period: May 27 (Wednesday) to June 1 (Monday), 2026 — 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM / Closing at 6:00 PM on the final day
Venue: Daimaru Umeda Store, 7F Special Exhibition Space
Print Works — Display and Sales Area Also on Site
Over Sasakura's 35-year career, more than 200 prints have been released, earning popularity from the very beginning. The exhibition also features a dedicated area displaying and selling approximately 70 types of prints — primarily recent works — created using a variety of techniques. This section offers another opportunity to enjoy the many prints by an artist widely known as the "painter of scenes of light."
Teppei Sasakura's World of Painting
For 35 years, Teppei Sasakura has steadfastly pursued and depicted scenes of tranquility illuminated by "light" carrying a sense of hope. Through travel, he encounters landscapes that feel extraordinary to him, and the everyday peace and happiness of the people who live there — things that often go unnoticed — are rendered in warm colors, a soft touch, and his distinctive expression of light. The result is work that gently warms the hearts of viewers, drawing fans of all ages.
His treatment of light in particular has been deeply influenced by the French Impressionists, whom he deeply admires. That influence manifests as an endlessly gentle and transparent "light of tranquility" that resonates with the hearts of those who view his work.
"Impression, Honfleur" — a monumental work making its debut at this exhibition — was created over the course of a year with a spirit of respect for the French Impressionists and long-held thoughts about their creative endeavors. This major representative piece is well worth seeing in person.
35th Anniversary Art Book and Art Goods
A commemorative art book produced for this exhibition, along with a raisonné (catalogue raisonné), postcard sets, clear files, and other art goods are also available for purchase at a dedicated corner within the venue.
Illustrator-Era Original Works on Display
The exhibition includes an original illustration corner featuring package artwork created for Morinaga confectioneries during Sasakura's illustrator days — including Kyoro-chan, Choco Monaka Ice Cream, and Tsukunko — as well as works that laid the foundation for his later career as a painter. Selected archival materials tracing the path to his current practice are also on view.
The area-wide event Osaka Art & Design 2026, in which visitors explore the city of Osaka to discover new art and design, runs from May 27 (Wednesday) to June 23 (Tuesday). At Daimaru Umeda Store's special exhibition spaces on the 6th to 8th floors and at ART GALLERY UMEDA, works by Teppei Sasakura and other artists — including silsil, Goman, and Hiroko Sato — are gathered, each with a distinctive world of their own and active nationwide.
