Image: Museum of Modern Art, Saitama
The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama will present a free screening program on August 9 featuring three films related to Komura Settai, timed to its exhibition 'Komura Settai in Perspective: A Secret Sense of Beauty'. The program includes 'Osen' (fragment, 16mm film), 'Shunkyo: Koto and Sasuke', and 'Kaguya-hime', and is set for the museum’s second-floor auditorium with two sessions, at 11:00 and 13:30.
The screenings are part of a broader exhibition running from July 11 to September 23, 2026. The museum describes 'Komura Settai in Perspective: A Secret Sense of Beauty' as a comprehensive presentation of Settai’s work, including book design, illustrations, stage design and original paintings. The show is organized around the artist’s many roles and places his practice in relation to Japanese art and literature.
According to the museum’s exhibition page, the project surveys Settai’s approximately 25 years of activity in eight chapters and is built around roughly 700 works and related materials shown across the exhibition period. The display is divided into two phases: an initial run from July 11 to August 16, followed by a second phase from August 18 to September 23. The museum notes that the exhibition includes works and documents from a range of lenders, with material changing between the first and second halves.
The exhibition also frames Settai in relation to figures and traditions that shaped his work. The museum highlights writers and artists connected to Kyoka Izumi, along with works by Kaburaki Kiyokata, Satomi Ton, and Matsuoka Eikyu. It also cites ukiyo-e by Suzuki Harunobu and the first Utagawa Kunisada as part of the contextual display. Among the noted features are the first presentation in Settai’s solo exhibition of collaborative works such as 'Jūnikagetsu zue' and 'Kusamakura emaki'.
The film program draws on that same network of artistic and literary influence. The museum says 'Shunkyo: Koto and Sasuke' was a film for which Settai himself stated that cinema was his first job, and that he handled responsibilities ranging from sets to period research. 'Osen' is presented as a work whose illustrations had a major impact on the film, while 'Kaguya-hime' is described as a production on which Matsuoka Eikyu handled art supervision and which Settai also supported, according to the museum.
The August 9 program is free and does not require advance registration. The museum lists capacity at 50 people per session and sets the opening times at 10:45 for the morning screening and 13:15 for the afternoon screening. In the morning, 'Osen' begins at 11:00, followed by 'Kaguya-hime' at 11:30; the afternoon session starts with 'Shunkyo: Koto and Sasuke' at 13:30, then 'Kaguya-hime' at 15:30, and 'Osen' at 16:15. The exhibition is being shown at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama in Saitama, Japan, with general admission for the exhibition priced separately.
