Contemporary art is difficult. Who in the world is it and how is it valued?
If you have ever tried to learn about contemporary art, you may have had such a puzzling experience.
Read the "100 People for Understanding Contemporary Art" series to get a comprehensive overview of the major domestic and international players in the art world.

1. Atsuko Ninagawa: Take Ninagawa

In just a few years since opening her gallery, Take Ninagawa has achieved some unprecedented successes among young galleries, including exhibiting at the world's leading art fairs Art Basel and Frieze, and being selected as a member of the Selection Committee for Art Basel Hong Kong, which opens this year. Ninagawa has achieved an unprecedented accomplishment among young galleries.
He focuses on the fact that art can approach social issues from a personal relationship, and operates a commercial gallery with an awareness of whether or not it has significance in history.
In only its third exhibition since its opening, TakeNinagawa has realized a solo show by Shinro Ohtake, an artist who has been active from the 1980s to the present. This international gallery is one of the youngest galleries in Japan that continues to make great strides. The gallery is one of the most important galleries in Japan to look out for in the future.

Gallery Information
Take Ninagawa
www.takeninagawa.com
Shinei Bldg. 1F, 2-12-4 Higashi-azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Tomio Koyama: Tomio Koyama Gallery

Tomio Koyama graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1987.
After holding numerous exhibitions of Japanese artists of his generation, including Yoshitomo Nara and Takashi Murakami, he now exhibits works by artists of different generations, including Shio Suga, Mika Ninagawa, Hiroshi Sugito, Shintaro Miyake, Atsushi Fukui, and Hideaki Kawashima.
The gallery has also introduced expatriate artists Richard Tuttle, Stefan Balkenhol, Tom Sachs, and Ryan McGinley to Japan.

Gallery Information
Tomio Koyama Gallery
http://tomiokoyamagallery.com/
3F complex665, 6-5-24 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

3. takayuki ishii: Taka Ishii Gallery

Born in Tokyo in 1963, Takayuki Ishii is the founder of Taka Ishii Gallery, one of Japan's leading contemporary art galleries.
The gallery mainly deals with photographers from Japan and abroad, and introduces internationally active artists.
Among the artists handled are major names in photography such as Nobuyoshi Araki and Daido Moriyama, as well as up-and-coming artists.

Gallery Information
Taka Ishii Gallery
www.takaishiigallery.com
3F complex665, 6-5-24 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

4. wako Kiyoshi: Wako Works of Art

Wako Kiyoshi is known as the driving force behind making the name of contemporary art master Gerhard Richter famous in Japan.
In 2020, the Pola Museum of Art won the bid for his work for approximately 3 billion yen, and the gallery has held 11 solo exhibitions of his work.
Celebrating the gallery's 30th anniversary in 2022, the gallery is armed with a unique and keen eye for introducing unique artists from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands who are unknown in Japan.

Gallery Information
Wako Works of Art
archive.wako-art.jp
3F Piramide Building, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

5. Shugo Satani: Shugo Arts

Independent from his father Kazuhiko Satani's Satani Gallery, Shugo Satani has been introducing Japanese and Asian artists since the 1980s.
The gallery features artists such as Masato Kobayashi and Shigeo Toya, who have realized the style of painting and sculpture after the Gutai and Mono-ha schools in Japan, as well as Masaya Chiba, Lee Kit, and other artists who are expanding the field of painting and exploring their own unique expressions.

Gallery Information
Shugo Arts
shugoarts.com
2F complex665, 6-5-24 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

6. ota Hidenori: Ota Fine Arts

Ota Fine Arts opened in Ebisu in 1994 and handled works by PH Studio, Miko Shimada, Bubu de la Madeleine, and others.
The gallery introduces artists based on the theme of how urban and social issues can be considered through art and activism. We also feature major artists such as Yayoi Kusama.

Gallery Information
www.otafinearts.com
3F Piramide Building, 6-6-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032, Japan

7. hiromiyoshii: hiromiyoshii

Hitomi Yoshii was born to a father named Chozo Yoshii, who owned galleries in Ginza and Paris.
He has been involved in cultural preservation for two generations since his father's generation in order to pass on historic culture and art to the next generation.
She manages the "Seishun Art Village" created by Chozo and her own gallery, hiromi yoshii, which introduces major artists from Japan and abroad.

Gallery Information
hiromiyoshii
hiromiyoshii.com
15F Studio, Shibuya Scramble Square, 2-24-12 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

8. Junko Shimada: Gallery Side 2

Gallery Side 2, owned by Junko Shimada, features works by Yuko Murata, Masaru Tazuke, Peter McDonald, Fumito Urabe, and Michelangelo Consani.
Rirkrit Tiravani, whom Shimada met in New York in the 1990s and has worked with since his first solo exhibition, and others are pushing the boundaries of art and everyday life, the individual and the public, and presenting an attempt to examine art history.

Gallery Information
Gallery Side 2
www.galleryside2.net
Barbizon 61, 1-8-12 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo