The New Kyoto: Takashi Murakami’s Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu at Gagosian Gallery, London

Image Credit: Takashi Murakami, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP, 2023–24, Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas mounted on wood panel, in 2 parts, Overall: 9 feet 10 ? inches × 42 feet 10 ? inches (3 × 13.1 m), ? 2023-2024 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Photo: Kei Okano, Courtesy Gagosian

Japanese artist Takashi Murakami pays tribute to his cultural roots by reimagining the 17th-century depiction of the imperial capital Kyoto in Iwasa Matabei’s Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu (Funaki Version), from the collection of the Tokyo National Museum. Murakami’s monumental 13-meter-wide canvas, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP (2023–24), is currently on display at the exhibition Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami at London’s Gagosian Gallery until March 8, 2025.

The rakuchū-rakugai-zu (scenes in and around Kyoto) from the 16th to the early 18th century, was a genre of panoramic cityscapes from an overhead view. Typically painted on folding screens, these works depicted well-known landmarks and significant monuments as backdrops for seasonal festivals and public events. The screens functioned as detailed vignettes of Kyoto and its people, illustrating customs, attire, performing arts, transportation, commerce, and individuals from various social backgrounds.

Iwasa Matabei’s work from c. 1615 depicts a continuous Kyoto landscape?in granular detail across two six-panel folding screens and is known as the "Funaki version" because it was owned by the Funaki family. It was created when Japan saw shifts in political power as military shoguns took control of the country away from the imperial family. However, rather than focusing on conflict, the painting conveys a celebratory and vibrant depiction of the city’s life with the Gion festival and kabuki dancers. The composition places the Tokugawa clan’s Nijō Castle on the left and the Toyotomi clan’s Hōkō-ji Great Buddha Hall on the right, facing each other, with the Kamo River flowing diagonally, linking the panels.

Exploring his persistent fascination with Japanese art history, Murakami reinterprets this historical painting, a national treasure, through a commission for the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art in 2024. The work then traveled to Gagosian, London, where it is currently featured in his exhibition.

Image Credit: Takashi Murakami, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP, 2023–24 (detail), Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas mounted on wood panel, in 2 parts, Overall: 9 feet 10 ? inches × 42 feet 10 ? inches (3 × 13.1 m), ? 2023-2024 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Photo: Kei Okano, Courtesy Gagosian

Murakami’s adaptation amplifies the original scene, enlarging it over three times its size. He openly talks about his use of AI for tracing the original screens which was then followed by meticulous hand-recreation. This is neither unexpected nor problematic. It would be unusual for an artist at the forefront of contemporary trends not to embrace the latest advancements in image-making technology.

Image Credit: Takashi Murakami, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP, 2023–24 (detail), Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas mounted on wood panel, in 2 parts, Overall: 9 feet 10 ? inches × 42 feet 10 ? inches (3 × 13.1 m), ? 2023-2024 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Photo: Kei Okano, Courtesy Gagosian

His version introduces his signature anime-inspired characters—brightly colored oversized smiling flower people and whimsical monsters including his familiar Mr. DOB—into a bustling historic landscape already brimming with human activity. The landscape features gold-leaf clouds with embossed cartoon skull motifs as a memento mori, referencing Kyoto’s Toribeno burial ground and its darker history. These additions highlight Murakami’s role in bridging ancient and contemporary art. Instead of presenting Kyoto solely as a scenic tourist destination, he focuses on how the city’s arts and culture were shaped within the context of significant historical and political conflicts.

Image Credit: Takashi Murakami, Rakuchū-Rakugai-zu Byōbu: Iwasa Matabei RIP, 2023–24 (detail), Acrylic and gold leaf on canvas mounted on wood panel, in 2 parts, Overall: 9 feet 10 ? inches × 42 feet 10 ? inches (3 × 13.1 m) ? 2023-2024 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Photo: Joshua White, Courtesy Gagosian

Ed Schad, curator at the Broad in Los Angeles, contends that the key challenge of the work lies in the blurred boundary between copy and original. Unlike Western perspectives, where this distinction is pivotal, in Japan a copy can hold equal value to the original, without ethical or aesthetic issues. Historically, copying in Japan has been a means of honoring and reinterpreting the past, allowing for personal transformation, renewal, or even rejecting tradition. Murakami, who often employs European and American art techniques to reassess Japanese art, faces the risk of his works being misinterpreted outside Japan—seen as mere copies or collages—and within Japan—as simply reinforcing traditional culture.[1]

Image Credit for Pnael Pic:

Takashi Murakami: Japanese Art History à la Takashi Murakami, 2024–2025 installation view, Artwork ? 2023-2024 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Photo: Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd. Courtesy Gagosian

[1] Ed Schad, “Back to the Future: Takashi Murakami’s Kyoto Paintings,” Gagosian Quarterly, December 19, 2024. Available online at https://gagosian.com/quarterly/2024/12/19/back-to-the-future-takashi-murakamis-kyoto-paintings/ (accessed February 17, 2025)