2026.10.28 — 2027.02.08 · Happening now
Shojo Manga Infinity: Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi, and Waki Yamato
Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi and Waki Yamato all debuted in the late 1960s and are still drawing. The National Art Center, Tokyo surveys some 60 years of their work from 28 October 2026 to 8 February 2027, with over 800 original drawings in black and white and colour, including Hagio’s The Poe Clan, Yamagishi’s Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun and Yamato’s Asaki Yumemishi, her manga of The Tale of Genji; colour works change between the first and second halves. The museum calls it the first major shojo manga exhibition at a national museum. No booking is needed; adult tickets are JPY 2,200 (2,000 in advance), free for junior-high students and younger.
Black-and-white pages plus colour art for magazine covers and title pages, over 800 originals in all, show lines and colours that print cannot reproduce.
The museum points to the panel composition and “the time that flows across a page”. Works range from a Poe Clan Valentine card given away with a 1976 magazine to the cover for its 2016 sequel Spring Dream, forty years apart.
Hagio’s fantasy and inner worlds, Yamagishi’s sharp look at human nature, Yamato’s lavish stories set in history and culture.
All three debuted in the late 1960s and still work today. In 2012 Hagio became the first shojo manga artist to receive the Medal with Purple Ribbon, and in 2022 she entered the Eisner Hall of Fame; Yamato’s Genji manga Asaki Yumemishi featured in the Met’s 2019 Tale of Genji exhibition.
Yamagishi’s ballet manga Arabesque and Terpsichora, and her Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun about the young Prince Shōtoku, are on the list.
So are Hagio’s vampire saga The Poe Clan, the boarding-school story The Heart of Thomas and the science fiction They Were Eleven, plus Yamato’s Taishō-era romance Haikara-san. The museum calls it the first major shojo manga exhibition at a national museum.
Checked · 2026-10-04
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Colour works rotate between two halves, so a favourite may not be on view.
Closed Tuesdays and over the New Year.
There is no booking, so expect to wait at the entrance at busy times.
The galleries have no fixed seats, so no seating plan is needed.
Open official guide ↗28 October 2026 to 8 February 2027, 10am–6pm, Fridays and Saturdays until 8pm, last entry 30 minutes before closing. Closed Tuesdays, 4 November and 28 December–5 January; open on Tuesday 3 November and Tuesday 8 December.
Asia/TokyoThe National Art Center, Tokyo is at 7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo.
Free for junior-high students and younger with a student or age ID; holders of disability certificates and one companion are free. Student tickets may need a student ID at entry. Each ticket admits one person once during the run; at busy times you may wait to enter.
Adults JPY 2,000 (advance)
Confirm accessibility services and companion policies with the organiser before travel.
Dates and entry details refer to this edition; individual sessions may differ.
Kakidai · CC BY-SA 4.0 Image source
The National Art Center, Tokyo and the Mainichi Newspapers
The National Art Center, Tokyo, October 2018; the exhibition is in Special Exhibition Gallery 2E on the 2nd floor. The venue, not the show.
Information checked on 2026-10-04
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