The Yayoi Kusama Museum (107 Bentencho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo), the world-renowned avant-garde artist, will open on October 1st. Admission tickets are available by reservation with a designated date and time, with limited seating, and tickets are purchased in advance for four sessions per day of 90-minute rotations. However, due to its popularity, reservations are said to be fully booked up to two months in advance. The museum's opening exhibition, "Creation is a Solitary Activity; Love is the True Approach to Art," will feature Kusama's latest work, "My Eternal Soul," as well as her monochrome drawing series and new three-dimensional pumpkin works. At a press preview held on September 26th prior to the museum's general opening, Yayoi Kusama herself visited the venue and spoke of her thoughts on the museum's opening, saying, "It has been my lifelong dream to build the Yayoi Kusama Museum and have everyone view my work. My heartfelt wish has been fulfilled. This is the greatest emotion of my life. ... I want you to inspire me with your aspirations. I built this museum in the hope of conveying that strong wish to you. I hope that you will love my beloved museum with the utmost love for the rest of your lives."

The Yayoi Kusama Museum, located along Gaien Higashi-dori Street, is a five-story building with one basement floor, and is easily recognizable by its white polka-dot walls.

After passing through the first-floor entrance and climbing the stairs, you'll find the second-floor wall covered with 27 monochrome drawings from the "Love is Forever" series. Further up on the third floor, you'll find the 16 large-scale paintings from "My Eternal Soul," a series the artist has been working on since 2009. This year's newly completed works, "The Death of My Sad Youth Comes with Footsteps" and "I Want to Give You the Millions of Sparkles of My Love," are also on display. The monochrome world of the second floor is transformed into a world of vibrant, rich colors, drawing you in. Climbing the spiral staircase to the fourth floor, you'll find the never-before-seen mirror room, "Pumpkins Scream Love to Infinity and Beyond." Gazing at the infinite pumpkins floating in the darkness, you'll feel a comfortable sense of immersion.


"A pumpkin shouts love to infinity and beyond"

On the rooftop, a three-dimensional work called "Starry Pumpkin," decorated with gold and pink tiles, is on display, offering a panoramic view of Shinjuku and allowing visitors to appreciate Kusama's work. Another highlight is the exhibition room, designed to allow abundant natural light to pour in through the glass windows facing the staircase, as well as the polka dots that can be found throughout the elevators and toilets. The museum shop next to the entrance also sells cookies and handkerchiefs exclusive to the museum, so don't miss it.


"Starry Pumpkin"