Saito Tatsuo Gallery of Art

– Notice –

2026/8/18

We are pleased to announce that our gallery will be open for our second session of
this year, for five days from Thursday, August 27 to Monday, August 31.

Opening Hours: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Last admission at 5:30 PM)
Admission: Free

Special Exhibition:

In this session, we will feature a special display of the color scroll painting titled “Defeat Train” (Haisen Ressha in Japanese). During World War II, the artist was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army.
Following Japan’s defeat in 1945 (Showa 20), he was held as a prisoner of war (POW) by the Allied forces at a camp on the frontlines in Borneo (present-day Malaysia).
After being released in 1946 (Showa 21), he returned to Japan and created this artwork in the same year.

This painting attracted significant attention when it was exhibited during the artist’s solo exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford, UK, in 1985. Along with the painting, historical materials from his time as an Imperial Japanese Army soldier—such as his military service handbook (gunmu techo), military mail sent from the battlefield, and his repatriation
landing certificate—will also be on display.

– Gallery –

The Saito Tatsuo Gallery of Art exhibits the works of Tatsuo SAITO(1913－2000) who distinguished himself in the genre of contemporary ink painting (sumie or suibokuga). Born in the village of Azusagawa, Minamiazumi County (present Matsumoto
City) of Nagano Prefecture, Japan, Saito maintained a residence in Azusagawa and a studio in Tokyo. The gallery opened as a private museum in 2008 utilizing as its exhibit rooms the artist’s partially remodeled studio in Tokyo. On display are a rich variety of
works with themes such as landscapes, people, birds and flowers, and animals that the artist painted in Japan and abroad.

– Exhibition Rooms –