Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens will serve as the exclusive U.S. venue for AKIRA: The Architecture of Neo-Tokyo, an unprecedented exhibition presenting the original background artwork of the classic science-fiction animation.
The exhibit, which runs November 9, 2024 through April 6, 2025, traces the architectural world-building process of Japan’s most influential animated science fiction film, AKIRA. To highlight the artists, designers and director of the meticulous backdrops that bring to life the futuristic urban environments of this classic anime, co-curators Stefan Riekeles of Reikeles Gallery, Potsdam, Germany and Hiroko Kimura-Myokam of Eizo Workshop, Kaga City, Japan, spent years compiling these hand-drawn works of art.
Since its release in 1988, AKIRA was almost solely responsible for the boom in Japanese animation (anime) among an international audience during the early 1990s. For many viewers AKIRA was the first film that they perceived as anime – as specifically Japanese animation. As such, it had a tremendous influence on a whole generation of film enthusiasts. Much of AKIRA’s cinematic power stems from the opulent representation of the film’s iconic city of Neo-Tokyo.
More than 50 original production backgrounds, layout drawings and concept designs which had been used to create Neo-Tokyo in the animated feature will be on display. Exclusive access to the studio archives of the artists involved in AKIRA’s production allows the presentation of artworks that are rarely shown outside of Japan and only very few of them have ever been published. The exhibition includes works by Toshiharu Mizutani who served as the production’s art director and his colleagues Hiroshi Ono and Katsufumi Hariu.
This exhibition is presented in part by the Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation.
Museum admission is $16 for adults; $14 for seniors; $12 for students and Military with ID; and $10 for children ages 6 to 17. Museum members and children under 6 are free.
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens is located at 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach. For more information, call (561) 495-0233 or visit morikami.org.
