Tokyo’s National Art Center has opened the first large-scale exhibition of shojo manga ever mounted by a national museum in Japan, tracing six decades of work by three pioneering women who transformed what comics could say and how a page could say it.
“Shojo Manga Infinity: Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi and Waki Yamato” opened on Wednesday 28 October at the museum’s Special Exhibition Gallery 2E in Roppongi, as part of the institution’s 20th anniversary programme, and runs until 8 February 2027.
Three pioneers of a golden age
Hagio, Yamagishi and Yamato all began their careers in the late 1960s and became leading figures in the 1970s “golden age of shojo manga”, when the genre expanded far beyond conventional romance. Over nearly six decades their work has explored the inner self, relationships, women’s independence, diverse forms of sexuality, history and culture, spirituality, fantasy and science fiction, and new approaches to visual storytelling.
The exhibition brings together more than 800 original monochrome and colour artworks, including manuscripts from their best-known works and valuable archival material, giving visitors a rare chance to see the delicate lines, sophisticated compositions and subtle colours of original manga art — details that cannot be fully reproduced on the printed page.
Three distinctive territories
Each artist opened up her own creative territory. Hagio is celebrated for fantastic narratives and profound explorations of interior worlds; Yamagishi for incisive portrayals of human nature, spirituality and the body; and Yamato for vivid stories rooted in history and culture, often centred on women navigating social change.
Shojo manga is often loosely translated as “girls’ comics”, but the exhibition shows how misleading that label is: by the 1970s, artists in the tradition were telling stories about identity, death, desire, historical power and the difficulty of understanding other people, with panels dissolving into atmosphere and flowers and empty space carrying emotion as efficiently as words.
Visiting the exhibition
The show is presented in two terms, from 28 October to 14 December 2026 and from 16 December 2026 to 8 February 2027, with colour works rotated between terms. General admission is 2,200 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for college students and 500 yen for high school students, with advance tickets cheaper; admission is free for children aged 15 and under and for visitors with disabilities plus a caregiver. The gallery is closed on Tuesdays, on 4 November, and from 28 December to 5 January, and is open on 3 November and 8 December.
FAKTA
- “Shojo Manga Infinity” runs from 28 October 2026 to 8 February 2027 at the National Art Center, Tokyo, Special Exhibition Gallery 2E.
- It features Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi and Waki Yamato, who debuted in the late 1960s and led the 1970s golden age of shojo manga.
- More than 800 original monochrome and colour artworks are on display, in two terms with colour works rotated.
- It is the first large-scale shojo manga exhibition at a national museum in Japan, and part of the museum’s 20th anniversary programme.
- General adult admission is 2,200 yen; entry is free for children aged 15 and under.
Conclusion
By placing original manga drawings in a national art museum, “Shojo Manga Infinity” treats a popular art form with the seriousness its pioneers earned. For visitors, it is a chance to see how three women redrew the boundaries of comics — and, in doing so, changed Japanese visual culture.
