Returning from prisoner-of-war camp in China in June 1946, Taro Okamoto set up a studio in the Kaminoge district of Tokyo in November of the same year and prepared to resume his career. For the next fifty years, until his death in 1996, he never paused in his creative activities.

More than one hundred years have passed since his birth and we have moved into a new century, but we wanted to create a direct experience of Taro Okamoto’s fifty years of creativity. That was the motive behind this exhibition. Starting with his monumental Lightning Bolt (1947), that is thought to be his first major work of the postwar years, to his final work, Thunder Man (1996) that he created immediately prior to his death, we will present an overview of the path his career took through his paintings.

What changed over this period of fifty years and what remained the same? Everybody is sure to make their own discoveries.

We will also present a video, entitled ‘Taro Okamoto’ that contains a wealth of valuable information on the artist. This video was created specially for the museum, and a single screening of it was presented at last October’s ‘Roll Over TARO’ event, which was held to celebrate Taro’s one hundredth birthday.