Japan Cultural Expo VIRTUAL PLATFORM

Japan Cultural Expo VIRTUAL PLATFORM combines “real” experiences at physical venues and “virtual” experiences through online digital content, promoting these within Japan and beyond. The overarching theme is Humanity and Nature in Japan.

The Japan Cultural Expo is a nationwide celebration of Japanese arts and culture, designed to appeal to a broad domestic and international audience through a diverse program of content, including exhibitions, performing arts productions, and arts festivals.

Led by the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Japan Arts Council, it is a collaborative, inter-agency project drawing on the cooperation of numerous public- and private-sector partners.

Japan Cultural Expo VIRTUAL PLATFORM allows everyone to experience its art exhibitions, performing arts, nature, and art festivals in the virtual world, utilizing video, VR, and images.

While connecting the physical projects of the Japan Cultural Expo online, content is posted in English and Japanese, building an interactive virtual space that is accessible from everywhere. The content includes exhibitions of cultural properties from the Jomon period (13,000 – 500 BC), Buddhist statues and other forms of sculpture, ukiyoe woodblock prints, kōgei (Japanese art crafts), kimono, contemporary art, fashion, manga, and anime. There is also a showcase of the traditional performing arts of kabuki, noh, kyogen, and bunraku, as well as contemporary performing arts, art festivals, Ainu culture, and various hands-on projects for cultural properties.

You can read the 2021 report on the results of the Japan Cultural Expo to date, and plans for future here