The Landscape of Emotion - In Tanka Poems and Illustration Exhibition to Open February 2026 at Kadokawa Culture Museum, Japan, Creative Direction by Renowned Illustrator Mika Pikazo
Exhibition-linked illustration and tanka poem contests will also be held on pixiv
Tokyo Japan, KADOKAWA CORPORATION (https://group.kadokawa.co.jp/global/) has announced that it will hold the exhibition The Landscape of Emotion - In Tanka Poems and Illustration at the Kadokawa Culture Museum. The museum is located in the cultural complex TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan and the exhibition will run from Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 29, 2026. Under the creative direction of illustrator Mika Pikazo, the exhibition will showcase a collection of works exploring the theme of emotion, a shared thread connecting the expressive forms of both Japanese tanka poems and illustration. Through these displays, visitors will have the opportunity to reconnect with their own emotions.
This exhibition was commissioned as part of Japan Cultural Expo 2.0, a national initiative that promotes Japan's culture and arts, which embody “The Beauty and The Spirit of Japan”, and communicates their diverse and universal appeals.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend among younger generations, particularly through social media, to engage with and appreciate Japanese tanka poems. Against the backdrop of this contemporary tanka boom, the exhibition will highlight the appeal of tanka not only to teenagers and those in their twenties, but also to international visitors.
In conjunction with the exhibition, and with the cooperation of pixiv Inc., two contests will be launched on Wednesday, September 10: “The Landscape of Emotion” × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration and From Illustration to Tanka, both exploring the expressive interplay between tanka and illustration. A selection of award-winning works will also be presented at the exhibition.
■Exhibition Overview
Title: The Landscape of Emotion — In Tanka Poems and Illustration
Dates : Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 29, 2026
Venue: Kadokawa Culture Museum, 3rd Floor Exhibition Room, Tokorozawa Sakura Town
3-31-3 Higashi-Tokorozawa Wada, Tokorozawa City, Saitama 359-0023, Japan
■Official website:
https://tokorozawa-sakuratown.com/special/kanjyoten/
Exhibition information will be posted on the official X account:
https://x.com/kanjyoten
■About the Exhibition
Under the creative direction of illustrator Mika Pikazo, this exhibition endeavors to create a spatial immersive experience of emotion, centered on two seemingly disparate expressive forms: Japanese tanka poems and illustration. Tanka and illustration share a process that begins with emotion felt in the heart and unfolds into creative expression.
Tanka is a literary art form with a long history in Japan of captivating people across the ages. Illustration, as an independent medium, on the other hand, has been evolving from its more literary origins into a leading form of visual expression in contemporary pop art culture.
Tanka preserves tradition while continuously transforming as a form of creation, whereas illustration can be seen as an expressive medium that constantly changes its form and even redefines its own framework.
Despite these differences in approach and history, the emotions embedded in tanka and illustration are universal and absolute, both for the creator and the audience.
This exhibition focuses on these emotions. How do people come to feel emotion? What kinds of emotions exist, fade away, and continue to live on?
Through the distinct expressive forms of tanka and illustration, we hope to explore these questions and provide visitors with an opportunity to reconnect with their own emotions.
■Profile of Mika Pikazo
Illustrator and Creative Director
After graduating high school, Mika Pikazo developed an interest in South American film and music and moved to Brazil for about two and a half years. Upon returning to Japan, she began her career as an illustrator. In addition to character design and illustration, she started working in animation in 2022.
She has worked on designs for “Disney Collection by Mika Pikazo” which features illustrations of Disney works, the Nintendo role-playing game Fire Emblem Engage, and VTubers Kaguya Luna and Hakos Baelz, among other projects.
She has also created visuals across wide-ranging fields, including key visuals for the VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei's third album and Nippon Budokan performance, outdoor ads for Kyogen by Ado, merchandise collaborations for the exhibition titled Tokyo National Museum: Its History and National Treasures, and promotional illustrations for Vivienne Westwood.
Since 2019, she has held numerous solo exhibitions, attracting a total of 110,000 visitors.
■“The Landscape of Emotion” × pixiv: Two Contests to Be Held — From Tanka to Illustration / From Illustration to Tanka
KADOKAWA CORPORATION and pixiv Inc. will jointly hold illustration and tanka poem contests on the pixiv platform in connection with this exhibition. The theme of the contests is the interplay between tanka poems and illustration, with submissions accepted separately for the two contests. Selected award-winning works will be displayed at the exhibition.
[Submission Categories]
(1) "The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration
Create an illustration inspired by the provided tanka poem
Submission format: Upload your illustration to pixiv
Your submission will be confirmed if posted with the specified tag
(2) "The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Illustration to Tanka
Write a tanka poem inspired by the provided illustration
Submission format: Upload your tanka (in novel format) to pixiv (one tanka poem per submission)
Your submission will be confirmed if posted with the specified tag
*For detailed submission instructions, please refer to the application guidelines on the contest page.
[Submission Period]
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - Sunday, October 19, 2025, at 11:59 PM (JST)
[Eligibility]
Individuals who can submit work online (minors must have parental consent)
*Joint submissions with companies or organizations are not allowed
*A pixiv account is necessary for submission
[Prizes]
First Prize
1 winner per category
・100,000 JPY (approx. 680 USD)
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” official catalog and exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
Award of Excellence
2 winners per category
・50,000 JPY (approx. 340 USD)
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” official catalog and exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
Honorable Mentions
Several winners per category
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
[Submission and Details]
"The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration
https://www.pixiv.net/contest/tankatoillust
"The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Illustration to Tanka
https://www.pixiv.net/novel/contest/illusttotanka
Submissions are welcome from all over Japan and overseas. We look forward to receiving tanka and illustrations that freely express your emotions.
■Organization
Organizers: KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs, and the Government of Japan.
Outsourced to: 2025 Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 project
※This exhibition was commissioned as part of the Japan Cultural Expo 2.0, a national project that promotes Japan's culture and arts, which embody “The Beauty and The Spirit of Japan”, and communicates their diverse and universal appeals.
Supported by: Tokorozawa City
Tokyo Japan, KADOKAWA CORPORATION (https://group.kadokawa.co.jp/global/) has announced that it will hold the exhibition The Landscape of Emotion - In Tanka Poems and Illustration at the Kadokawa Culture Museum. The museum is located in the cultural complex TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN, Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, Japan and the exhibition will run from Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 29, 2026. Under the creative direction of illustrator Mika Pikazo, the exhibition will showcase a collection of works exploring the theme of emotion, a shared thread connecting the expressive forms of both Japanese tanka poems and illustration. Through these displays, visitors will have the opportunity to reconnect with their own emotions.
This exhibition was commissioned as part of Japan Cultural Expo 2.0, a national initiative that promotes Japan's culture and arts, which embody “The Beauty and The Spirit of Japan”, and communicates their diverse and universal appeals.
In recent years, there has been a growing trend among younger generations, particularly through social media, to engage with and appreciate Japanese tanka poems. Against the backdrop of this contemporary tanka boom, the exhibition will highlight the appeal of tanka not only to teenagers and those in their twenties, but also to international visitors.
In conjunction with the exhibition, and with the cooperation of pixiv Inc., two contests will be launched on Wednesday, September 10: “The Landscape of Emotion” × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration and From Illustration to Tanka, both exploring the expressive interplay between tanka and illustration. A selection of award-winning works will also be presented at the exhibition.
■Exhibition Overview
Title: The Landscape of Emotion — In Tanka Poems and Illustration
Dates : Friday, February 13 to Sunday, March 29, 2026
Venue: Kadokawa Culture Museum, 3rd Floor Exhibition Room, Tokorozawa Sakura Town
3-31-3 Higashi-Tokorozawa Wada, Tokorozawa City, Saitama 359-0023, Japan
■Official website:
https://tokorozawa-sakuratown.com/special/kanjyoten/
Exhibition information will be posted on the official X account:
https://x.com/kanjyoten
■About the Exhibition
Under the creative direction of illustrator Mika Pikazo, this exhibition endeavors to create a spatial immersive experience of emotion, centered on two seemingly disparate expressive forms: Japanese tanka poems and illustration. Tanka and illustration share a process that begins with emotion felt in the heart and unfolds into creative expression.
Tanka is a literary art form with a long history in Japan of captivating people across the ages. Illustration, as an independent medium, on the other hand, has been evolving from its more literary origins into a leading form of visual expression in contemporary pop art culture.
Tanka preserves tradition while continuously transforming as a form of creation, whereas illustration can be seen as an expressive medium that constantly changes its form and even redefines its own framework.
Despite these differences in approach and history, the emotions embedded in tanka and illustration are universal and absolute, both for the creator and the audience.
This exhibition focuses on these emotions. How do people come to feel emotion? What kinds of emotions exist, fade away, and continue to live on?
Through the distinct expressive forms of tanka and illustration, we hope to explore these questions and provide visitors with an opportunity to reconnect with their own emotions.
■Profile of Mika Pikazo
Illustrator and Creative Director
After graduating high school, Mika Pikazo developed an interest in South American film and music and moved to Brazil for about two and a half years. Upon returning to Japan, she began her career as an illustrator. In addition to character design and illustration, she started working in animation in 2022.
She has worked on designs for “Disney Collection by Mika Pikazo” which features illustrations of Disney works, the Nintendo role-playing game Fire Emblem Engage, and VTubers Kaguya Luna and Hakos Baelz, among other projects.
She has also created visuals across wide-ranging fields, including key visuals for the VTuber Hoshimachi Suisei's third album and Nippon Budokan performance, outdoor ads for Kyogen by Ado, merchandise collaborations for the exhibition titled Tokyo National Museum: Its History and National Treasures, and promotional illustrations for Vivienne Westwood.
Since 2019, she has held numerous solo exhibitions, attracting a total of 110,000 visitors.
■“The Landscape of Emotion” × pixiv: Two Contests to Be Held — From Tanka to Illustration / From Illustration to Tanka
KADOKAWA CORPORATION and pixiv Inc. will jointly hold illustration and tanka poem contests on the pixiv platform in connection with this exhibition. The theme of the contests is the interplay between tanka poems and illustration, with submissions accepted separately for the two contests. Selected award-winning works will be displayed at the exhibition.
[Submission Categories]
(1) "The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration
Create an illustration inspired by the provided tanka poem
Submission format: Upload your illustration to pixiv
Your submission will be confirmed if posted with the specified tag
(2) "The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Illustration to Tanka
Write a tanka poem inspired by the provided illustration
Submission format: Upload your tanka (in novel format) to pixiv (one tanka poem per submission)
Your submission will be confirmed if posted with the specified tag
*For detailed submission instructions, please refer to the application guidelines on the contest page.
[Submission Period]
Wednesday, September 10, 2025 - Sunday, October 19, 2025, at 11:59 PM (JST)
[Eligibility]
Individuals who can submit work online (minors must have parental consent)
*Joint submissions with companies or organizations are not allowed
*A pixiv account is necessary for submission
[Prizes]
First Prize
1 winner per category
・100,000 JPY (approx. 680 USD)
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” official catalog and exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
Award of Excellence
2 winners per category
・50,000 JPY (approx. 340 USD)
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” official catalog and exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
Honorable Mentions
Several winners per category
・Artwork featured in the “The Landscape of Emotion” exhibition
・Invitation ticket to the exhibition
・Exhibition-themed merchandise
[Submission and Details]
"The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Tanka to Illustration
https://www.pixiv.net/contest/tankatoillust
"The Landscape of Emotion" × pixiv: From Illustration to Tanka
https://www.pixiv.net/novel/contest/illusttotanka
Submissions are welcome from all over Japan and overseas. We look forward to receiving tanka and illustrations that freely express your emotions.
■Organization
Organizers: KADOKAWA CORPORATION, Japan Arts Council, Agency for Cultural Affairs, and the Government of Japan.
Outsourced to: 2025 Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 project
※This exhibition was commissioned as part of the Japan Cultural Expo 2.0, a national project that promotes Japan's culture and arts, which embody “The Beauty and The Spirit of Japan”, and communicates their diverse and universal appeals.
Supported by: Tokorozawa City
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