DDDART Gallery Explores Identity in a New Shimokitazawa Art Exhibition
Sep 14, 2026 at 12:00pm ~ Oct 04, 2026 at 7:00pm
Japan counted a record 9 million vacant homes in the government’s 2023 Housing and Land Statistical Survey, a figure that has roughly doubled since 1993. Most of those akiya [vacant houses] just sit empty. DDDART, a gallery in Shimokitazawa, took the opposite route: it renovated one instead, and this month it opens a Shimokitazawa art exhibition that asks a simple question with no simple answer.
The show, titled “What Is Your Name? ×××,” gathers five artists whose work spans portraiture, manga-inspired imagery and other depictions of the human figure. It runs Sept. 14 through Oct. 4, 2026, and admission is free.
A Shimokitazawa Art Exhibition on Self and Reflection
Kaori Miyano, Ayano Takaki, Shinji Nakakaze, Runa Wakamatsu and Misaki Serizawa each bring a different lens to the same idea. The exhibition works through three separate selves: the one reflected in a mirror, the one other people see and the one a person imagines themselves to be.
On paper, those three should line up. In practice, small gaps appear between all of them, and closing that gap, piece by piece, is what the show sets out to do.
Inside DDDART, a Renovated House in Shimokitazawa
DDDART occupies a converted kominka [old Japanese house] at 4-41-2 Daizawa, Setagaya-ku, a few minutes’ walk from Shimokitazawa Station. The gallery kept the building’s original wooden frame and joinery, then built an exhibition space inside it — the kind of renovation that would please a minimalist and a structural engineer in equal measure.
That fits a neighborhood built on secondhand shops and small independent businesses rather than chain stores, as Metropolis has covered in its guide to Shimokitazawa and its thrifting scene. DDDART is one of several galleries putting the neighborhood’s old housing stock to new use, alongside the spaces in Metropolis’ guide to museums and art galleries in Tokyo.
Part of Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa 2026
The exhibition also counts as part of Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa 2026, which turns parking lots and vacant land across the neighborhood into open-air exhibition space through early October. The festival ties its installations to tsukimi [moon-viewing], an autumn tradition, alongside food stalls and other limited-run events.
Exhibition Details
- What: “What Is Your Name? ×××,” a group exhibition featuring Kaori Miyano, Ayano Takaki, Shinji Nakakaze, Runa Wakamatsu and Misaki Serizawa
- When: Sep 14–Oct 4, 2026. Wed–Fri, 2–9 pm; Sat–Sun, 12–7 pm; closed Mon–Tue
- Where: DDDART, 4-41-2 Daizawa, Setagaya-ku
- Price: Free
- More info: DDDART on Instagram or Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa
Information
Start: Sep 14th 2026 at 12:00pm
End: Oct 4th 2026 at 7:00pm
Free
