Inside Hajime Sorayama’s Major Tokyo Retrospective

The largest retrospective to date dedicated to Hajime Sorayama will take place at Creative Museum Tokyo in Kyobashi from March 14 to May 31, 2026. Titled SORAYAMA Light Transparency Reflection TOKYO, the exhibition arrives in Japan following a strong reception in Shanghai and presents a comprehensive survey of the artist’s work from the late 1970s to the present day.

Positioned as a summation of Sorayama’s career, the exhibition traces the evolution of his artistic language through key works that chart his sustained exploration of form, surface, and perception.

Central to Sorayama’s practice is his pursuit of beauty at the intersection of the human body and machinery. Since first introducing robotic imagery in 1978, he has become internationally recognised for the Sexy Robot series, in which the idealised female form is rendered in gleaming mechanical guise. These works reshaped the visual vocabulary of robots in popular culture, influencing representations ranging from Paul Verhoeven’s film RoboCop to Thierry Mugler’s 1995 fashion collection.

Sorayama’s influence has also extended into contemporary fashion. In 2018, he collaborated with Kim Jones, then artistic director of Dior Men, for a show in Japan where a monumental Sexy Robot sculpture was installed at the venue.

The Tokyo retrospective brings together an extensive selection of iconic and newly created works. On view are Sorayama’s earliest robot illustration produced in 1978 for a whisky advertisement, recent canvas works exploring robotic forms inspired by dinosaurs, unicorns, and marine life, as well as a wide array of representative sculptures.

Among the highlights is a newly created sculptural work that reimagines Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, originally created by Masamune Shirow, as a vision of the future body. Two sculptures based on this motif were produced. One will be shown as part of this exhibition, while the second will be exhibited at the Ghost in the Shell Exhibition Ghost and the Shell, held in Toranomon, Tokyo, from January 30 to April 5, 2026.

The exhibition also features original drawings created by Sorayama for the pet robot AIBO, artwork widely known as the cover for Aerosmith’s album Just Push Play, and newly unveiled sculptural works. Another focal point is a video installation featuring Space Traveler, one of Sorayama’s signature motifs, drifting through outer space. Visitors enter a transparent spacecraft to view the work, creating an immersive experience that parallels a journey through the cosmos.

The concepts of light, transparency, and reflection that appear in the exhibition title articulate the core of Sorayama’s artistic philosophy, one he has pursued for more than half a century. Sorayama has repeatedly spoken of the challenge of rendering light through paint alone, explaining that to depict light one must paint air, to paint air one must express transparency, and that mastering reflection is the essential key. The exhibition translates these ideas into spatial form through installations that allow visitors to experience the hallucinatory effects of light and reflection.

A standout installation, Mirror Maze, encloses sculptures within mirrored display cases, endlessly reflecting the forms to create a labyrinthine environment. In a dedicated space presenting Sorayama’s three dimensional works from the past decade, the sculptural expression of the body emerges through an intricate orchestration of light and reflective surfaces.

Exhibition Details

SORAYAMA Light Transparency Reflection TOKYO
Dates March 14 to May 31, 2026
Venue Creative Museum Tokyo
Address Toda Building 6F, 1 7 1 Kyobashi, Chuo ku, Tokyo

Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday Saturday days before public holidays April 28 to May 6 and May 31 10:00 am to 8:00 pm

Last admission is 30 minutes before closing
The museum is open daily with no scheduled closures