Picture-Book Pleasures at Tokyo Yoshitake Shinsuke Exhibition

Taking a Trip to Yoshitake’s World

The illustrator and author Yoshitake Shinsuke has become one of Japan’s best-loved picture book creators since his 2013 debut with Ringo ka mo shirenai (translated as It Might Be an Apple). For the last three years his work has been celebrated with a traveling exhibition of his work in Japan, including original art from his books, his rough sketches, and much more. The tour kicked off in April 2022 at the Setagaya Literary Museum in Tokyo and has already attracted some 700,000 fans nationwide; it is currently running at the Creative Museum Tokyo in the Kyōbashi district of Chūō, with a vastly expanded range of pictures on display.

Before the Creative Museum Tokyo installment of the tour, its fourteenth stop in all, Yoshitake gave a public talk in which he discussed how it has gone so far. “Three years ago we were still in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions. Admission to the show was entirely by reservation, and it was difficult to put together displays that visitors could touch and interact with. Today we’re happy to let them physically touch and experience what we have to show them. At last we’ve realized the sort of show I was hoping for from the beginning. In that sense, I feel strongly that now, three years on, we’ve finally put the finishing touches on this exhibition.”

Wall displays showcase original drawings from Yoshitake’s works. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

A Glimpse Inside the Artist’s Mind

The show is titled It Might Be a Yoshitake Shinsuke Exhibition, a paean to his first book. The site’s walls are covered with 170 of the original illustrations that went into Yoshitake’s books. In this “expanded edition” of the show, the original collection of pictures has been joined by frames from four of his more recent picture books, including the 2023 Memen to Mori (Memen and Mori, about a pair of siblings with very different personalities) and Boku wa ittai doko ni irun da (translated as I Wonder Where I Am), from the same year. Here and there, the displayed drawings are annotated with adhesive labels written by Yoshitake himself. The exhibited materials also include three-dimensional presentations of some of his books’ characters.

In all, this show is designed to present various angles on the inner workings of Yoshitake’s mind as he creates his works. How did it come into being into the first place?

As the creator himself explains: “The original drafts I draw are quite small, and the pictures have no color at all. If you go to any other artist’s show, you get a lot of reactions along the lines of ‘wow, the pictures are much bigger than I expected’ or ‘look at these beautiful colors that weren’t in the finished books.’ It’s hard to get that sort of reaction with what I have to offer. So I thought about what sort of experience only I could offer, and eventually we arrived at the idea of presenting what was happening in my mind as I worked toward a new picture book.”

The “in my mind” perspective is on clear display at this show, particularly in the more than 7,500 tiny sketches, beginning with those produced at the beginning of Yoshitake’s career, that fill a titanic wall at the museum. This represents a massive leap from the 2,500 or so that were viewable at earlier installments in this traveling show. These drawings give a more complete view of Yoshitake’s take on the world—scenes captured in everyday life, images from his imagination—and offer a glimpse into his creative spark.

The exhibition’s wall of sketches gives visitors a look at Yoshitake’s entire creative process. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

“Thinking back,” says Yoshitake, “I originally started sketching to clear my mind, at times when I had been scolded by a family member, for instance.” He laughs as he notes: “There are always plenty of sources of stress in the world.”

But the products of this stress built up. “Whenever there was something else I needed to be doing, I’d head back to my room, as though I meant to clean it up, and start drawing. These sketches are the result of that. Some of them even ended up being core parts of the books I published, in the end. I’m pleased to be able to share every aspect of these images with everyone visiting this show. There might be too many to enjoy in full, but I have to admit that I hope people will feel a bit of a thrill as they see things that make them uncomfortable from time to time.”

Each sketch on the wall offers new angles for discovery. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

Charming Readers Around the World

A major section of the exhibit space is dedicated to a re-creation of the forest from Yoshitake’s Atsukattara nugeba ii (If It’s Hot, Just Take It Off). Dangling from the tree branches are rings to hang from, mirroring the page in the book telling readers, “If you get tired of being a grown-up, just take the soles of your feet off of the ground.” Another attraction features a panel with pictures of adults, their mouths open wide to yell at kids; visitors are invited to throw bright red, apple-shaped foam balls into the mouths to shut them up. These and many more installations offer the joy of play and a chance to experience the world of Yoshitake’s works.

Hang from the rings in the woods to take your feet off of the ground and forget for a moment that you are grown up. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

Toss apples into those noisy adults’ mouths to quiet them down. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

Yoshitake Shinsuke was born in 1973 in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was just a dozen years ago, in 2013, that he left his career as an illustrator behind and made his picture book debut with It Might Be an Apple. Since then his works have combined the clean, simple lines of his highly accessible art with a slightly off-kilter take on the everyday world, winning him numerous fans among children and their parents alike.

Ahead of the Kyōbashi show, Yoshitake talks about the second major exhibition of his work in Tokyo. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

His creations have also won him a considerable following overseas. His books have been translated into languages including English, Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, and Dutch. In 2019, The Boring Book—an English translation of the 2017 Tsumannai tsumannai—was picked by the New York Times and the New York Public Library for inclusion on their list of the Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the year.

A selection of Yoshitake’s beloved books in Japanese. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

The shop attached to the exhibition offers souvenirs including postcards showing multilingual versions of Yoshitake’s works. (© Matsumoto Sōichi, Nippon.com)

It Might Be a Yoshitake Shinsuke Exhibition: Expanded Edition

• Where: Creative Museum Tokyo (Toda Bldg. 6F, 1-7-1 Kyōbashi, Chūō, Tokyo).
• When: Every day through Tuesday, June 3, 2025; open daily 10:00–18:00 (doors open at 9:00 on weekends and holidays and stay open until 20:00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and May 4 and 5). Tickets for May 3–6 and May 31–June 1 are for entry at designated times only.
• Price: ¥2,000 for adults, ¥1,500 for high school and university students, ¥1,000 for elementary and junior high school students, and free for preschool-age children. Save ¥200 with advance ticket purchases.
• Website (in Japanese): https://yoshitake-ten.exhibit.jp/tokyo/

(Originally written in Japanese by Matsumoto Sōichi of Nippon.com. Banner photo © Matsumoto Sōichi. All artwork © Yoshitake Shinsuke.)