[Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd.] October 19th (Sun) – December 21st (Sun) at Azabudai Hills Gallery! Masatoshi Hamada Exhibition “Flying Clouds Crossing the Sky”
Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. Press release: August 28, 2025 To Members of the Press October 19th (Sun) – December 21st (Sun) at Azabudai Hills Gallery! Masatoshi Hamada Exhibition “Flying Clouds Across the Sky” Pre-sale of two special tickets begins on Tuesday, September 16th at 11:00 AM, with general sales starting on Friday, September 26th at 10:00 AM! Ticket details have been announced for Masatoshi Hamada’s exhibition “Flying Clouds Across the Sky,” which will be held at Azabudai Hills Gallery from Sunday, October 19, 2025.
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https://x.com/M_hamada_art Official Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/m_hamada_art/ [Pre-sale (lottery)] Application Period: 11:00 AM, Tuesday, September 16th – 11:59 PM, Tuesday, September 23rd. Results Announcement: 6:00 PM, Thursday, September 25th ▪ Special Preview Day Ticket (Date and Time Specified) This ticket allows you to enter the museum on Friday, October 17th and Saturday, October 18th, before the opening. In addition to being able to purchase original exhibition merchandise before the general opening, you will also receive limited-edition items at the venue that will be distributed exclusively to visitors on Special Preview Day. This ticket is a “date and time designated ticket” that specifies the date and time of entry. [Ticket summary] Price: 2,500 yen Sales: FANY Tickets *Limited to 2,000 tickets per day ▪ Ticket with limited edition art piece (valid for the event period) This premium ticket allows you to obtain a photograph by Masashi Asada, the photographer who shot the key visual for this exhibition. The work will be autographed by Masashi Asada and Masatoshi Hamada, making it a premium art piece to collect. Each piece is limited to 50 pieces, each with an edition number. As a result, only 50 tickets will be sold by lottery. The ticket is valid for one visit at any time during the exhibition period. [Ticket Details] Price: ¥88,000 Sales: FANY Tickets *Limited to 50 tickets
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-098897f70c6c2a3c0e18a276f0d248ae-2000×2665.jpg Limited edition art piece by photographer Masashi Asada (image) “Contrails Crossing the Sky_white001” ※ “Special Preview” Please note that if the pre-sale “DAY Tickets” and “Tickets with Limited Art Pieces” are sold out, they will not be available for general sale. 【General Sales (First Come, First Served)】 Application Period: From 10:00 AM, Friday, September 26th ▪ Bonus Ticket (Valid During Period) This bonus ticket will allow you to receive original, limited-edition items, and will be distributed exclusively to purchasers of this ticket. Tickets are valid for a limited period and allow you to enter the museum only once during the exhibition period. [Ticket summary] General: 2,200 yen Vocational/university/high school students: 1,900 yen; ages 4 to junior high school students: 1,600 yen Sales: FANY Tickets *Sales will end once the planned number of tickets is sold. ▪Standard Ticket Standard ticket for this exhibition. This ticket is a “date-specific ticket” that specifies the date of your visit. [Ticket Details] *Tickets can be purchased until 23:59 the day before your desired entry date. *Same-day tickets are also available at the venue counter for the price shown in parentheses. General: 1,800 yen (2,000 yen) Vocational, university, and high school students: 1,500 yen (1,700 yen) Ages 4 to junior high school students: 1,200 yen (1,400 yen) Sales: FANY Ticket, Azabudai Hills Gallery online site, Lawson Ticket *Standard tickets available for advance purchase will be sold until the planned number of tickets for each day is sold out. Same-day tickets will be available at the venue box office all day. *All prices include tax. *All tickets offer free admission for children under 4 years of age. *Event tickets, which allow participation in special events scheduled during the exhibition, will go on sale as soon as details for each event are finalized. *Further information regarding important notes and tickets will be posted on the website at a later date. 【Comment from the Creative Team】 ▪Supervision Mitsusei Takasu
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-6398bb6f0ecf657cf0494fb2d64dd3d8-1569×1044.jpg Profile At the invitation of Matsumoto Hitoshi, he made his debut as a television writer at the age of 24. He has worked on approximately 300 television programs, from “Gottsu Ee Kanji,” “Meccha x 2 Iketeru!” and “Absolutely No Laughing Series” to “Professional Work Style” and “NHK Special,” and currently includes “Gaki no Tsukai ya Arahende,” “Wednesday Downtown,” and “London Hearts.” Additionally, Amazon Prime’s “Documental” is distributed in over 25 countries and regions. His “REDchair” with Yahoo has over 5 million views per episode. He is a radio personality on TOKYO FM, and his diverse work includes the Shibuya Dogenzaka development project, the Izumo Taisha Shrine Relocation Forest project, and collaborative projects with BEAMS and Takara Tomy. Comments on the Exhibition Amagasaki, 1970s. Our town was listed in our social studies textbook as having the “most polluted air in Japan.” At the time, this stigma felt like a strange badge of honor, and we felt immense pride. I ended up in the same class as young Hamada at a small elementary school in that town. He had permed hair, carried a shoulder bag instead of a school bag, and was a fan of Morita Kensaku, and we quickly became friends. He often came over to my house after the shortened Saturday school day. That was when I saw his paintings for the first time and was shocked. Doesn’t he understand that the world is three-dimensional? They’re the most incomprehensible thing I’ve ever seen. Artistic talent? I don’t have it. And yet, even if someone tries to imitate them, they just can’t draw them well. In that sense, his paintings may indeed be one of a kind. No matter how polluted the air, our town is featured in textbooks. And no matter how incomprehensible his paintings are, he’s opening a solo exhibition at Azabudai Hills Gallery. Both are proud events for me. ▪Creative Director Kazunori Kitahara
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-d120a3704adc2d5767b0e9b48c19cff8-895×895.jpg Profile Graphic designer. Founded UMMM in Kyoto in 2012. Responsible for promotional art, planning, space, and production for various art projects. Recent major projects include Chief Designer of KG (2023-present), Chief Designer of KYOTOGRAPHIE (2018-2022), and Design Director of Art Collaboration Kyoto #01. Producer of Kyoto Shimbun Printing’s “Rinten.” Part-time lecturer at Kyoto University of the Arts (2009-present). Advisor to San-M Color Co., Ltd. Comments on the Exhibition I called my mother in Osaka and asked her to send me a copy of Hamada’s essay collection, which I knew was on her bookshelf. While I was waiting, I immediately placed my Ricoh GR on my desk at work, took a 360-degree photo of myself, and created a draft of a poster. Hamada-san’s image on the monitor is often seen from the front, so I wanted to see him from behind as well. Before I could try out other ideas, the book arrived. Published in 1995 (when I was in junior high), the Hamada-san in the book hasn’t changed at all. In fact, he hasn’t changed at all since kindergarten. I think he’s still cooperating with Takasu-san and Matsumoto-san, breathing the same air as if they were breathing the same air. In the afterword, he wrote, “From now on, I want to live and work in a way that makes people think, ‘Why don’t I show myself from the side, diagonally, behind, and from all angles, not just from the front?’ ‘That’s pretty cool…’ (A bit of a loose translation)” (!). I felt a connection. When I first met Hamada-san, I had only one draft and a collection of essays, and told him I wanted to create an exhibition like this. I didn’t want him to just look at it, I wanted him to see a new landscape. I create it with the moment when I open the large doors of the venue and Hamada steps in for the first time in mind. ▪Visual photography Masashi Asada
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-dc2958e86d6e2f3d2239c5b30acb52e9-1801×2700.jpg Profile Photographer. Born in Mie Prefecture in 1979. After graduating from the Graduate School of Japan Photography and Film College, he worked as a studio assistant before going independent. In 2009, he won the 34th Kimura Ihei Photography Award for his photo book “The Asadas” (published by AKAAKA Art Publishing, 2008). In 2010, he held his first large-scale solo exhibition, “Tsu Family Land: Asada Masashi Photography Exhibition,” at the Mie Prefectural Art Museum. He has actively presented his work in solo exhibitions and art projects both in Japan and abroad, including at PARCO MUSEUM TOKYO, Mori Art Museum, Hong Kong International Photography Festival, Dogo Onsen Art 2018, Kanazu Forest of Creation, and Art Tower Mito. In 2020, the film “The Asadas!”, based on his book “The Asadas” and “The Power of the Album” (published by AKAAKA Art Publishing, 2015), was released nationwide through Toho. Comments on the Exhibition The first time I had the opportunity to photograph Hamada-san was about five years ago. I’d seen him countless times on screen, but I was very nervous that day because I was going to photograph him live and even film him. What if I made a mistake? What if I upset him? Hamada-san showed up at the studio right on time, and instantly blew away all those negative worries and tensions. It’s hard to put into words, but he treated me as if we’d met many times before, as if we were familiar faces. Since then, every time I see him on the monitor, I remember Hamada-san from that day and it gives me energy. This was our second shoot for the key visual, and Hamada-san from five years ago was still as good as ever, giving me no chance to get nervous and the shoot was completed in no time. Once again, Hamada-san was incredibly kind and had a hearty laugh. ▪Venue configuration dot architect
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-0979dedf2747022b66c3879d3fb22b71-3677×2450.jpg Profile An architectural unit based in Kita-Kagaya, Osaka, working on art, alternative media, archives, architecture, and more. Based at Corpo Kita-Kagaya, a “collaborative studio for creating another society,” the unit brings together people and organizations from various fields, including regional studies, clubs, and NPOs. Their diverse activities extend beyond design to include construction, research projects, and art projects. They received a Special Jury Mention at the 15th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition (2016) (as an exhibiting artist at the Japan Pavilion). They also received the 2nd Kojima Kazuhiro Award. The current members are Toshikatsu Ienari, Takeshi Akashiro, Wataru Doi, Keiko Miyaji, Ai Ikeda, Ryosuke Katsube, Asuka Kobayashi, and Futo Kurahashi. Comment on the Exhibition (Toshikatsu Ienari/dot architects) We are inevitably influenced by the environment in which we were born and raised. Whether it’s rural, mountain, suburban, urban, or industrial, you’ve likely experienced the familiar faces of the people who live there, the plants and insects, the smoke from the chimneys, the brick screens, the gravel roads, the sounds coming from the shopping district, the swaying of rice ears in the wind, and more. The exhibition venue is a fictional “town.” I’ve tried to layer various images within this town, among the subtleties of daily life. Enjoy it as if you were taking a stroll. ▪Web/motion production Yoshi Ono
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-3fce4930000cbb9114268bc1b4862383-1200×848.png Profile Y Elementary / YUYBOOKS / HAKUA / Part-time Lecturer at Kyoto Seika University / Part-time Lecturer at Kyoto University of the Arts Based in Kyoto and Yokohama. Joined 1-10 Inc. in 2007, where he has been involved in the production of a wide range of fields, from websites to digital signage, as a motion designer. While still employed at the company, he opened YUYBOOKS as a solo project in 2013. Using books as a communication tool, He develops plans and digital works. Since 2016, he has been working freelance in digital
activities. He is involved in a wide range of projects, from creative direction in the digital realm to overseas startups. He uses digital technology to collect analog things. He has received numerous design and advertising awards both domestically and internationally. Comments on the Exhibition Hamada’s paintings ignore the structure of living creatures. Living creatures have joints and are made up of connections of bones that allow them to stand and run. When I tried moving the paintings on my computer, it confused the computer. I’ve been in the digital world for nearly a quarter of a century, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. Perhaps it’s because their legs and hands are in positions that would be unthinkable on a normal living creature. Hamada’s drawings of living creatures are reborn as new creatures, his drawings of machines are new inventions, and his drawings of clouds have a solidity to them. I couldn’t help but grin. I still don’t know if it’s because of the power that Hamada’s drawings possess, or if it’s because I’m excited to be working with Hamada, someone I admire. ▪Video production Shuma Jan
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/29501/4368/29501-4368-ec5871325d222ccd6d98a3ad12117d51-1365×2048.jpg Profile Born in 1992, he is a filmmaker currently based in Kyoto. His diverse work includes documentary films and corporate branding videos. He attempts to express through film the sensations that exist before words are put into words and the beauty that lies in ambiguous realms. Comments on the Exhibition Art has the power to move people’s hearts. As time passes, technology evolves every day, making everything easier. However, what drives people is their passion and the underlying aspirations. The exhibition you are about to see involves many creators and artists who were inspired by Hamada’s paintings. By recording and linking their passions on video, we hope you will feel not only the artworks but also the passion behind this exhibition. And it is Hamada and his paintings that drive all of this. What is that power? We would like to explore this through video.
