Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten: Towards a New Era of Japanese Art

As the first installment, the Takeshi Kitano "Beat & Art Takeshi Exhibition" will be held. A premium edition*1 created using preservation techniques for national treasures and important cultural properties will be unveiled for the first time.

Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten Co., Ltd. will unveil a "Premium Edition Work" for the first time on July 20th (Monday) and 21st (Tuesday), 2026, to commemorate a new initiative to apply ultra-high-definition cultural property preservation technology with up to 18 billion pixels to contemporary art. The first exhibition in this initiative, "Beat & Art Takeshi Exhibition," will be held at Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore GINZA ATRIUM.

During the Edo period, Tsutaya Juzaburo discovered the talents of Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku, Katsushika Hokusai, and others, and made a significant contribution to the development of Edo culture through publishing and ukiyo-e prints. Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten carries on that spirit into the present day, actively incorporating cutting-edge cultural property preservation techniques, with the aim of passing on Japan's finest art to future generations and realizing a sustainable creative environment where creators receive fair value.
And now, Takeshi Kitano has endorsed this initiative and philosophy, making the first premium edition project, "Beat & Art Takeshi Exhibition," a reality.

This exhibition will showcase 47 selected works from the many pieces created over many years, including representative works exhibited at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, works used in the film "HANA-BI," works used in comedy routines during the Two Beat era, and the latest works which will be shown to the world for the first time.

◼︎ Another world of expression that Takeshi Kitano continues to depict

Takeshi Kitano has pursued a wide range of creative activities, including directing films, acting, writing, and comedy, while also dedicating many years to painting. His numerous works, created as a separate creative endeavor from film, have received high acclaim both domestically and internationally.
In 2010, he held a large-scale solo exhibition, "Gosse de peintre (The Little Painter)," at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris, France, attracting 130,000 visitors during its approximately six-month run. His unique world of expression, where bold brushstrokes—painting directly onto the canvas—coexist with cinematic tension, surrealistic humor, and childlike freedom, left a vivid impression on Paris, the center of contemporary art.
Subsequently, the exhibition toured to the Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery in 2012, Shanghai in 2018, and the Tokyo National Museum in 2024, attracting many visitors both domestically and internationally.
This exhibition will feature a selection of recent works that depict tranquil scenes, including everyday life with his beloved dog Gon, flowers and animals, and landscapes from his memories, in addition to his representative works known for their vivid colors and bold compositions.

◼︎Event Overview

Exhibition Title: Beat & Art Takeshi Exhibition Organizer: Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten Co., Ltd. Special Cooperation: Kitano Agency Co., Ltd. Dates: July 20th (Mon) – 21st (Tue), 2026
Venue: Ginza Tsutaya Bookstore GINZA ATRIUM
Number of works exhibited: 47 pieces

From among Takeshi Kitano's many works, Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten has selected 47 exquisite pieces for display, including works screened at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art and the Cannes International Film Festival, as well as works used in Two Beat's comedy routines and the film "HANA-BI."

Advance reservations are required for entry. Please register using the form below.
https://eventmanager-plus.jp/get/bed4183c97197e37ec0b33326a4efe00ab6c23e0d3dc7d4d60d62a853cfc8056
To alleviate congestion at the venue, we may close registration once the capacity is reached.

Main exhibited works

About Premium Edition Works *1 <br />This is a new form of art expression born from cultural heritage preservation technology, faithfully reproducing not only the colors and brushstrokes, but also the unevenness of the paint and the texture of the support, using ultra-high-definition cultural heritage preservation technology with up to 18 billion pixels.
This project was realized through a collaboration with Sabia Co., Ltd., which has handled the digitization of numerous national treasures and important cultural properties held by museums and art galleries such as the Tokyo National Museum and the Kyoto National Museum, as well as shrines and temples. It is an extremely advanced initiative that fully applies cultural property preservation technology to contemporary art.

■ Message from Takeshi Kitano

"I got to see (the premium edition), and I was really surprised."
It really is an exact replica of the original artwork. It's a far more impressive technique than the silkscreen printing you see everywhere. Even I, the artist, mistook it for the real thing. And it's made by a company with the same technical expertise as the Tokyo National Museum, so of course it's that good. After all, even ukiyo-e prints, which are symbols of Japanese culture, aren't original artworks. Hundreds of copies of the same picture are printed, and now they're treated as national treasures, which is amazing. In the Edo period, there were highly skilled printers and engravers. What Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten is trying to do is a modern version of that.

■ Becoming a modern-day Tsutaya Juzaburo and contributing to the development of Japanese culture.

During the Edo period, Tsutaya Juzaburo discovered the talents of artists such as Kitagawa Utamaro, Toshusai Sharaku, and Katsushika Hokusai, and opened the printmaking wholesale business "Koshodo," selling numerous print works and greatly contributing to the development of Edo culture.
Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten brings premium edition works of art that Japan can be proud of to the world in the modern age. What we want to deliver is not just a reproduction. These are works of art created with soul by skilled craftsmen who combine the latest digital technology with traditional sensibilities.
We at Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten carry on the spirit of Tsutaya Juzaburo into the modern age, and as a new "Kōshodō" for the contemporary era, we will nurture Japanese culture.

Company Name: Tsutaya Juzaburo Shoten Co., Ltd. Address: 17-5 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0033, Japan Established: November 2025 Representative: Muneaki Masuda (President and CEO)
URL: https://tsutaju.com/

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■ About Sabia Co., Ltd. *2
This company specializes in the digital archiving of cultural properties and works of art using its independently developed ultra-high-definition scanner. Its non-contact scanning capabilities, ranging from 400 to 2000 dpi, faithfully capture even the luster of gold leaf and the texture and brushstrokes of oil paints.
Based on that data, the "KAIGA 2.5" reproduction service uses UV printing to recreate textures, gloss, and colors in three dimensions, a technology that sets it apart from conventional reproductions. It boasts a track record of digitizing over 100,000 cultural properties and works of art both domestically and internationally, including those from the Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In the past, it has the achievement of digitizing and recreating the national treasure "Takao Mandala (Ryokai Mandala-zu)" owned by Jingoji Temple in Kyoto with 18 billion pixels.