Visual Art is a very various practice. While the visual fine art industry and the visual fine art market have been dominated by the Due west, it is high time that the focus shifts to underrepresented parts of the globe. Japan is home to several art schools that y'all may not have heard of but is certainly worthy of acclaim.

From the traditional woodblock painting to modern anime, the Arts is oft an underrated area to study in Japan

A academy's location plays a big office when choosing an fine art school. Unlike places generate specific cultures and their ain art circles, which has a great impact on how art students will learn exterior of their classes. As such, it's difficult to make a definitive ranking of fine art schools. Each schoolhouse volition have its own specialties and culture, which will piece of work best for certain types of students. In this commodity, we round upward some of the "best" fine art schools in Japan and where they are located. This is past no means an exhaustive list, but these are some of the institutions that are certainly worth looking into.

Before we dive into the list of art schools in each region, here are a few tips and reminders virtually finding art courses in Japan:

  1. Always double-cheque with the specific departments to know if the courses and the degree programs are offered all in English. If not, cheque what level of Japanese language proficiency is required for admission.
  2. Scan the academy's primary Japanese linguistic communication website. Most academy websites have a defended English language site separate from the chief website. Normally, the main website is more robust than the English website, so try to navigate the master website and employ browser extensions (such equally the Google Translate Chrome extension) to translate the Japanese linguistic communication content into English.
  3. Finally, if you cannot find information most international students entering specific courses that you are interested in, look for the university'due south "international student diplomacy" sectionalisation or an equivalent. Don't hesitate to send them an e-mail. Sometimes, international art students only don't know that there are programs and courses in Nippon that they can accept considering these kinds of information are not ever easy to find.

Without further ado, let the states most travel through the "all-time" art schools in various regions of Japan!

Tokyo

Photo past Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash

The bustling metropolis became the land's uppercase in 1868 during the Meiji Era, which is known as the flow when Japan went through rapid industrialization and modernization. At present, Tokyo is a global city center that houses Japan'southward central financial districts, major universities, and other industries. The megacity is home to some of the most prominent and popular art museums in Asia, such as the Mori Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and the Yayoi Kusama Museum, to name just a few. Moreover, small artist-run spaces and galleries are all over the city. Once yous get a grip of the sprawling city, in that location are certainly many pockets where artists gather, make, and present their works. Studying at an art university in Tokyo also ways gaining access to what the city has to offer.

Yayoi Kusama Museum located in Tokyo

one. Tokyo University of the Arts

Tokyo University of the Arts or 東京藝術大学 (Tokyo Geijitsu Daigaku) is the but national arts academy in Japan. Information technology was established in 1887 as The Tokyo Fine Arts Schoolhouse and Tokyo Music Schoolhouse, which were then merged into one school in 1949. The university has campuses in Ueno and Senju in Tokyo, as well as in Yokohama (Kanagawa Prefecture) and in Toride (Ibaraki Prefecture). The university includes the post-obit faculties: Fine Arts, Music, Film and New Media, and Global Arts. The Faculty of Fine Arts include majors in Painting, Sculpture, Crafts, Blueprint, Architecture, Intermedia Art, Aesthetics and Art History, and even special graduate courses like Woodworking, Glass, Fine art and Teaching, Artistic Beefcake, Conservation, and Global Art Practice.

The Global Art Exercise course offers a particularly interesting curriculum that includes joint projects with other universities away, such every bit the University of the Arts London, Central Saint Martins and École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris.

From the Global Art Practice website:

Global Fine art Exercise was established in April of 2016, as part of the Graduate School of Fine Arts at Tokyo University of the Arts (TUA). GAP aims to develop research and man resources with a global focus on social practice in contemporary fine art, while expanding alternative networks and mutual relationships across borders. With courses taught in English by internationally acclaimed artists and world-class experts, GAP offers a flexibly structured, innovative program, enabling graduate students to fulfill their roles as leading artists and researchers.

2. Tama Art University

Photograph embedded from https://a.tamabi.air conditioning.jp/dept/sd/

Originally founded as Tama Majestic Art School in 1935, Tama Art University is one of the meridian art schools in Japan. The Faculty of Fine art and Design offers the following: Japanese Painting; Oil Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Ceramic Glass and Metal Works, Graphic Design, Product Design; Environmental Design; Information Pattern; Fine art Studies; Integrated Design; and Scenography Design, Drama, and Trip the light fantastic.

Tama Fine art Academy is one of the few universities in Nihon that offers a course on Scenography Design, Drama, and Trip the light fantastic toe.

From Tama Art University Website:

The Department of Scenography Pattern, Drama, and Dance is a department that aims to foster sensitive artists in the realm of bodily expression equally a supporting colonnade of stage performances, and designers with an ability to create imaginative theatrical spaces. Considering the different roles and corresponding expertise involved in stage productions, the section is divided into the "Scenography Design Course" and the "Drama and Dance Form". In both courses, students acquire knowledge related to stage performances while enhancing their expertise and exchanging with each other. Bearing in mind a future vision of aesthetically conscious actors, dancers, stage directors, playwrights and fix artists, and regarding phase performances as composite art, the department pursues the realization of highly original phase productions that no-ane has ever seen before. Classes focus on thorough preparation of imaginative expressiveness and creativity with an accent on practical work, while raising students' sensation of the risks involved in existence an artist, and the responsibility of future leaders in the realm of civilisation. Teachers operating equally mainstream professionals in their respective fields offering on-the-spot technical guidance in actual expression methods, operation practice and staff work, training professional artists and future leaders in the performing arts earth.

Kaminoge Campus | iii-15-34 Kaminoge,Setagaya-ku,Tokyo 158-8558, JAPAN | Phone +81-3-3702-1141
Hachioji Campus | 2-1723 Yarimizu,Hachioji,Tokyo 192-0394, JAPAN | Phone +81-42-676-8611

Kyoto (Kansai Prefecture)

Photo past Han Min T on Unsplash

While Tokyo currently serves as Japan's capital city, many have come up to know the quondam capital, Kyoto, equally the country's cultural center. While Tokyo is an expansive and fast-paced metropolis that is, in fact, comprised of many cities, Kyoto is much smaller, and its stride of life is much slower than that of Tokyo. As such, many artists from different art fields choose to live in Kyoto or in nearby areas. Real estate and the cost of living in Kyoto are also cheaper, and nigh major places you will need to go to can be traveled by using a bike. The smaller size of the city means information technology'south easier to get to know Kyoto. Small-scale shops, performance venues, galleries, bookshops, and other creative person-run creative spaces and initiatives are all over the city.

Jasso has establish that the average monthly expenditure for international students in Tokyo is 100,000, while it is only 89,000 for those living in Kyoto (Kinki) area.

The artistic energy of Kyoto is unique in that information technology is steeped in tradition that can bring frontward the avant-garde. For case, Kyoto is habitation to Butoh-kan, the only theater in Japan dedicated to the avant-garde course of trip the light fantastic toe that emerged in the early 1950s. At the aforementioned time, Kyoto is also home to as many as 17 UNESCO cultural heritage sites, such as the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple, Nijo-jo Castle, and Shimogamo-Jinja Shrine.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto Photo past Antoine Cantoro on Unsplash

1. Kyoto University of the Arts:

Photo embedded from https://www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/graduate/configuration/cultural/

Kyoto University of the Arts (京都芸術大学, Kyōto geijutsu daigaku) is a private college pedagogy establishment with a history that dates back to 1934. The Faculty of Art and Design covers the fields of fine art, contemporary art, graphic design, animation, manga, moving picture, way design, jewelry pattern, interior blueprint, architecture, landscape architecture, theater, and literature. The university also offers research programs in art product and historical heritage. For international students interested in contemporary art, Kyoto University of the Arts offers a "Global Seminar" program where students are mentored past a host of artists and curators from unlike parts of the earth.

From Kyoto University of the Arts Website:

Since 1990, the contemporary art surround such as the organisation of art museums, international exhibitions, and galleries, as well as the human relationship betwixt earth politics, economic system, and the art market take apace become more complicated around the world. To that end, it is no longer possible to grasp the overall picture. In order to be a tiptop-level artist within this context, information technology is necessary that students empathize the complicated circumstances of contemporary art from a comprehensive and global perspective, while, at the same fourth dimension, accept a deep knowledge of their own cultural context. At the Graduate School "Global Seminar," we aim to make the most of Kyoto as our location and this special intensive program in a small group, so that students tin empathize their position from historical and geographical perspectives and become cosmopolitans of a new generation who tin speak, have discourse, limited, and give presentations on an international stage. At the Global Seminar we are property special classes with renowned international and domestic guests such as artists who are already participating in top-level international exhibitions and whose piece of work are collected by world-famous museums, leading curators, among others.

2. Kyoto Seika University

A relatively young university, Kyoto Seika University is a great establishment for those who want to explore a more progressive type of education. In 2017 the university appointed Oussouby Sacko, a Mali national, as academy president. Sacko is the get-go person of African descent to become president of a university in Japan. SEIKA consists of v faculties—Art, Design, Manga, Popular Culture, and Humanities— and associated Graduate Schools.

Check out this video where Sacko himself talks about the liberal and humanist ideals of Kyoto Seika Academy, and become a peek inside the university with this campus tour video made past an international student.

Osaka

Osaka is the third-largest city in Japan and is only near an hour away from Kyoto. Being a huge metropolis ways that Osaka has a lot of fine art galleries —from big museums to small artist-run residencies. Art Osaka is one of the biggest art fairs in Japan that focuses on gimmicky fine art. Maybe more importantly, the civilisation in Osaka and the Kansai area is quite unique to the region. The Japanese dialect spoken in the Kansai region is oft called Osaka-ben. The dialect is livelier than the Japanese spoken in Tokyo. Did we mention that Osaka is as well hailed as the nutrient capital of Japan?

one. Osaka College of Art in Association with Osaka University of Arts

Osaka is the third largest city in Nihon and is only about an hour away from Kyoto. Osaka College of Art is a professional training college in association with the Osaka University of the Arts. The Department of General Pattern is home to the following majors: Digital Design, Graphic Design, Illustration, Product Design, and Interior Design.

Meanwhile, fans of manga and anime should check out the Comics and Art Department which houses the post-obit majors: Arts and Crafts (Painting, Printmaking, Accessories, Ceramics), Cartoons, Comic Illustration, and Animation. Courses generally take simply 2 years to consummate.

From the Osaka College of Art website: In this form, from analog to digital, you can learn the thoughts and know-how of manga making that textbooks cannot acquire from manga artists who are active on the front lines. You can acquire practical skills while looking at the easily of professional teachers.

Meanwhile, the Fine Arts Section of the Osaka University of the Arts (大阪芸術大学, Ōsaka Geijutsu Daigaku) offers courses in Oil Painting, Japanese Painting, and Sculpture.

From the Osaka University of the Arts website: In our curriculums, students can experience all four courses (oil painting, Japanese painting, printmaking, and sculpture) during the commencement year. By expressing a wide range of expressions, students can find their own artistic methods which are suitable to them. From the second twelvemonth onward, in their selected courses, each student tin main specialized techniques and methods, and explore new artistic fields such equally reckoner arts. For iv years hither, students not just brand a profound study of techniques, but also ask about what and how they should express themselves in their own ways. They construct solid bases for people who can express themselves.

Simply expect…

…there are certainly more! Y'all may likewise check out these art universities in Tokyo: Musashino Art Academy, Tokyo Zokei Art Academy, and Jyoshibi Fine art University; and these universities all over Japan: Kanazawa Art and Craft University, Aichi Fine art University, Okinawa Art University, and Shikoku Gakuin University. As an creative person, you must certainly be open to so many possibilities. Dig deeper and y'all may but find the perfect university that volition help you develop your skills and abilities. Study abroad in Nihon and take advantage of the opportunities that Japan has to offering.

References:

  • Tokyo University of the Arts: https://world wide web.geidai.ac.jp/
  • Tama Art University: https://www.tamabi.air-conditioning.jp/index_j.htm
  • Kyoto University of the Arts: https://www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/
  • Kyoto Seika University: http://www.kyoto-seika.air-conditioning.jp/int/en
  • Osaka College of Art: https://www.bisen.ac.jp
  • Osaka University of the Arts: https://www.osaka-geidai.ac.jp/