"Vienna on the Path to Modernism" at The National Museum of Art, Osaka, is essentially an illustrated history of sociopolitical developments leading to the city flourishing as one of the world's great cultural centers from the mid-18th century.

Fashion can be identified as a game: The rules are not clear, but there are conducts to be observed, codes to be broken, winners, losers and, finally, stylistic exhaustion.

The Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art presents Tokutaro Yamamura's full collection of Japanese postwar avant-garde art collection for the first time in two decades.

Contemporary urushi lacquerware artist Genta Ishizuka — winner of the 2019 Kyoto's Best Young Artist Award and Loewe Foundation Craft Prize — re-imagines the decorative beauty of traditional lacquer in unusual and sculptural pieces.

In 1927, Joan Miro (1893-1983) claimed he wanted to "assassinate" painting. Eventually he hit upon a means of doing it — sculpture.

The Edo Period painter Yokoyama Kazan's imaginative works depicting Kyoto, inspired not only artists but also intellectuals and writers, including the novelist Natsume Soseki.

One of the first successful female photographers in Japan, Eiko Yamazawa was not only an adept commercial photographer, but a pioneer of abstraction at the forefront of constructed photography.

Osakan paintings have conventionally emphasized regional traits of humor, boisterousness and fun. "Do You Know Osaka Painting Circles" at the Shokado Garden Art Museum, however, reminds viewers of its farther flung painting traditions.

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto's "Potter Kawai Kanjiro: Works from the Kawakatsu Collection" is just the fourth time it has presented such a substantial selection of works from its renowned Kawakatsu Collection of over 400 pieces.

The recent focus on the vibrant idiosyncratic works of the Edo Period (1603-1868) eccentric painters has left the achievements more traditional masters in neglect. "Road to Shijo School" at the Otani Memorial Art Museum, Nishinomiya City, is a welcome reparative.