Continuing along with my 2023 Japan trip kawaii exhibition round-up…next up is my adventure out to the ILF Douga Museum of Art (イルフ童画館) in Okaya, Nagano, aka the Takeo Takei memorial museum! Set in the Takeo’s hometown, this delightful little museum is just about a 20-minute train ride from Matsumoto City. While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend going out of your way to visit (unless you’re a die-hard Takeo Takei fan) if you happen to be in Nagano, it’s definitely worth setting aside a few hours for a visit. Plus, it’s also a fun opportunity to venture off the beaten path and discover a tiny Japanese town that you definitely wouldn’t find in any English tour guides. In my case, we were already planning to visit Nagano to see the Matsumoto castle (sugoi!) and the adorable snow monkeys (so kawaii!), so taking a little detour for some art by one of my favorite illustrators was absolutely worth it!
We arrived in Okaya early on a weekday, and the town was pretty sleepy. This museum is the main attraction in the area, so the path from the train station to the museum was decorated with various signs and street art celebrating Takeo. Too cute! We even caught some late-blooming cherry blossoms!
The ILF museum may be small in size but really packed in a lot to see. The museum features a rotating exhibition that either showcases various aspects of Takeo’s art or celebrates other talented children’s book illustrators. During my visit, there was a special exhibit dedicated to Takeo’s art for adults. It was truly amazing to appreciate the breadth of his work. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed, so I don’t have any pics to share some of the great pieces we got to see.
The exhibit that is running at the time of this post through 9/16 features the renowned children’s book author Hiroshi Kagakui, famous for his series of books starring Mr. Daruma. Having read a few of these books during my early Japanese lessons, I would have been super excited to catch that one as well!
No worries if the main exhibit isn’t featuring Takeo, as there are plenty of permanent collection rooms to explore the breadth of this amazing artist and illustrator’s work! There is a whole exhibit featuring his kanpon collections and a large exhibit space dedicated to showcasing a variety of Takeo’s children’s illustrations, books, and memorabilia!
Another room is designed to resemble his working desk, complete with stained glass-lined walls adorned with Takeo illustrations. It was truly magical with the morning light shining in.
I didn’t get any pictures but the museum also features a small permanent exhibit celebrating the works by Maurice Sendak. As someone who loved these books as a child, it was fun to see a variety of art by the illustrator. That feeling of ‘natsukashii’ (nastologia) looking at the ‘Where the Wild Things Are‘ illustrations also reminded me how most Japanese guest must feel looking at art from Takeo that would have filled their childhoods.
Furthermore, the museum boasts a cute little gift store where you can stock up on fun and rare Takeo merchandise. Additionally, there’s a charming café decorated with art by Takeo. I highly recommend stopping by for a cup of coffee and trying some oyaki, a Nagano specialty. They were seriously some of the best I had throughout my trip in Nagano!
As a bonus dose of real-world kawaii, here are some pictures from the Snow Monkey Park:
Wow! I just found your blog while doing research on San-X, and I love your posts about them! So insightful. I also appreciate your content about the early history of kawaii culture. You’re right – many won’t consider them kawaii these days, but they were indeed kawaii in their original context. I would love to get a breakdown on Sanrio as well as other brands that aren’t as big as Sanrio and San-X. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much for your comment and glad you are enjoying the content ^_^ Definitely planning some future posts on the history of Sanrio and other kawaii characters. So much fun kawaii history to explore!