Peter Rabbit exhibition opens at TFAM

On July 15, the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum opened “The Peter Rabbit Exhibition Celebrating The Anniversary of Beatrix Potter’s Birth,” the largest of its kind ever to be held in Japan.

The exhibition commemorates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Helen Beatrix Potter, the English author who developed a lifelong love for nature through her sketches of plants and animals. More than 200 of her illustrations and personal memorabilia are on display.

Children from the local Hachioji elementary and junior high schools took part in the opening ceremony, which was led by TFAM Director Akira Gokita.

TFAM goes 3D with VR viewing

One of the most popular attractions of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum exhibition, “Maki-e : A Kaleidoscope of the Japanese Aesthetic—Discovering by Monocle the Beauty Underlying the Beauty of Lacquer Art,” is the head-mounted virtual reality (VR) display—the first of its kind in Japan—of an antique ink case. And now, visitors can view the ink case in 3D, using a pilot VR unit developed with the technical support of Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

TFAM partners in Google Art Project initiative

At a special event held on October 27 announcing the expansion of its Art Project, Google Inc. introduced 19 new partner-museums in Japan, including the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, and the addition of 1,290 total works to the project. Among the 60 TFAM pieces on display are an oil painting by 17th-century French artist Georges de La Tour and traditional Japanese paintings from the Edo Period.

Launched in 2001, the Google Art Project enables online viewers virtual walkthroughs of many of the most prestigious art museums in the world partnering in the initiative. Tens of thousands of artworks are on display as high-resolution images, and viewers can even compile their own virtual collections as a result.

TFAM Hosts TV Series Filming

TFAM will be appearing in Omoni naiteimasu, a weekly drama series broadcast on the Fuji Television Network. The Hachioji Board of Tourism and Hachioji Film Commission requested that TFAM serve as a scene in the drama that airs every Saturday from 23:10.