The Chain Museum Co., Ltd. (Head office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Masamichi Toyama; hereinafter referred to as "The Chain Museum") has begun implementing the ticket sales system of "ArtSticker," an art communication platform operated by our company, for the Tokyo Biennale 2025, an international art festival originating from Tokyo, which will run from Friday, October 17th to Sunday, December 14th, 2025.
Event theme
The Tokyo Biennale is a "social dive" international art festival that "dives" into various areas of the city of Tokyo, discovering and creating together the charm and new value that lives in the culture and lifestyles of the people who gather there.
This year's theme, "Would you like to take a walk together?" focuses on how the way we connect changes depending on "who" and "where" we walk, connecting us in a soft, gentle way. This year's Tokyo Biennale attempts to discover and create new relationships through a variety of artworks themed around "walking." The base venue, Toeizan Kan'ei-ji Temple, dates back to the Edo period, and Etoile Kaito was founded in 1902, making it a place with a long history in the region. You can experience the profound meaning of "walking" from the comfort of your own home at these two historic venues, or you can actually walk through the six areas. Why not experience this expression as a "social dive" that creates encounters between people, and between people and cities?
■Message from the General Producer
The mission is to dive into Tokyo and become deeply involved with the city.
The Tokyo Biennale is a "social dive" international art festival that "dives" into various areas of the city of Tokyo, discovering and creating together the charm and new value that lives in the culture and lifestyles of the people who gather there.
The theme of this year's event, "Would you like to take a walk with me?" focuses on the fact that the way we connect with others changes depending on "who" we walk with and "where," and is an attempt to create a new form of "walk" that gently and tenderly connects us. Through this uncharted walk, we will explore the expression of a "social dive" that creates encounters between people and people, and between people and cities.
Even in a world where conflicts are deepening, the physical act of walking side by side with someone, even if it's the first time we've met, can provide an opportunity to get to know each other, spark interest in the city and its culture, and become the seed of dialogue. Tokyo, a city twice reduced to ruins by the Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II, continues to nurture diverse streetscapes and people's lives. We want to cherish the miraculous moment of being able to walk together. In particular, we must not forget the existence of "underlying culture"—the wisdom, faith, self-governance, performing arts, and townspeople's culture of urban life that has continued since the Edo period. These traditions still live on inconspicuously throughout the city, and are important cultural resources that can serve as breeding ground for new creativity in the modern era. Tokyo Biennale 2025 will carefully uncover these hidden corners of Tokyo's culture and attempt to connect them to the future through art projects.
To that end, we will explore forms of expression that involve deliberately drifting around the streets of Tokyo, actively taking detours, using the imagination and methodology of artists. This art project, which involves a "stroll" that weaves new relationships, gently connects the city and its people. For example, when you go to see the installation at Toeizan Kan'ei-ji Temple, which is celebrating its 400th anniversary since its founding, or the collection of artworks quietly placed in the gaps of the city, it is in the scenery you encounter along the way and the casual interactions with people that you will make discoveries that can only be experienced here and now. When you come across something that catches your eye, be sure to stop and take a moment to look at it. There you may find an unexpected moment of spiritual opening.
Tokyo Biennale 2025 will dive into Tokyo through 14 exhibition venues, works by 39 participating artists, and numerous walking programs, creating art projects that are deeply connected to the city.
General Producer: Masato Nakamura
Three Features of Tokyo Biennale 2025
Feature 1: A citizen-led, participatory art festival with the theme "Stroll"
Tokyo Biennale 2025 will feature two exhibition locations and six areas filled with artworks and projects. Participating citizens will create their own routes and discover things beyond the artworks that make them wonder, "Is this really art?" This is an art festival created by citizens. A "Stroll University Special Lecture" will also be held before the event begins, sharing the meaning of strolling and new perspectives. Numerous walking-related workshops and tours will also be held during the event.
Feature 2: Two "art maps" – paper and digital – connecting two bases and six areas
Illustration: Kazuki Takahashi
The Art Map will accompany you on your walks and discoveries as you participate in Tokyo Biennale 2025. With fun illustrations and an art map that shows you the highlights at a glance, you can explore the exhibition venues and areas. In addition to the exhibits, the "This Is Art Discovery Team" has been formed to connect interesting information hidden in local cultural facilities, public art, and the city, and will conduct research and gather information in advance. Traces of social trends, culture, and people's lives will also be plotted based on "Edo/Tokyo Lifestyle Studies." These will be reflected on a single map in digital space, connecting the Tokyo Biennale's host areas.
Feature 3: International and local, where people intersect
Adam Roygard, FOR THE PUBLIC I-III, 2024
Through collaboration with artists invited from overseas, such as through the international artist open call project "SOCIAL DIVE" and the "Overseas Collaboration Project," we will rediscover and reconstruct the potential hidden in our lives, culture, behavior, and language from a multifaceted perspective. Through walks, events, dialogue, and more, we will discover new perspectives and possibilities for Tokyo together with the citizens that we would normally not notice.
■Venue and Exhibiting Artists—The venue will be in six diverse areas in northeastern Tokyo.
Tokyo Biennale 2025 will be held in multiple facilities and public spaces in the northeastern Tokyo wards of Chiyoda, Chuo, Bunkyo, and Taito. Centered around two main exhibition venues (fees apply), Toeizan Kan'ei-ji Temple and Etoile Kaito Living Hall, visitors can enjoy exhibitions and events in six free areas, each with its own history and culture.
Base Exhibition
Kan'ei-ji Temple, Toeizan (1-14-11 Ueno Sakuragi, Taito Ward)
Etoile Kaito Living Hall (1-15-15 Higashikanda, Chiyoda-ku)
Exhibition Area
Ueno/Okachimachi area, Suidobashi area, Kanda/Akihabara area, Otemachi/Marunouchi/Yurakucho area, Nihonbashi/Makuicho area, Yaesu/Kyobashi area
Tokyo Biennale 2025 Events
Sanpo University Special Lecture No. 4 "Sanpo no Machi" (Strolling Town)
President of Sanpo University Professor at the Faculty of Tourism and Urban Planning, Kokugakuin University
General admission: 1,500 yen / Students: 500 yen
We will listen to the genius loci hidden in the local areas of Tokyo and engage in dialogue with the history and memories that have been passed down there.
Date and time: November 6, 2025 (Thursday) 18:30~20:00
Guest: Naoki Oshiro (Professor of Cultural Geography, Faculty of Letters, Meiji University)
Event Overview
title
Tokyo Biennale 2025: An international art festival originating from Tokyo
theme
Would you like to take a walk with me?
Dates
October 17, 2025 (Friday) – December 14, 2025 (Sunday)
venue
Base exhibition (2 venues): Toeizan Kan'eiji Temple, Etoile Kaito Living Hall
Exhibition areas (6 locations): Ueno/Okachimachi area, Kanda/Akihabara area, Suidobashi area, Nihonbashi/Bakurocho area, Yaesu/Kyobashi area, Otemachi/Marunouchi/Yurakucho area
*Historic buildings, public spaces, stores, unused buildings, etc. in each area
Ticket prices
Advance tickets (two venues common ticket)
General admission: 2,500 yen
Students: 1,500 yen
General ticket (two venues common ticket)
General admission: 2,900 yen
Students: 1,700 yen
Tickets by venue: Etoile Kaito Living Hall
General admission: 2,100 yen
Students: 1,400 yen
Tickets by venue: Toeizan Kan'eiji Temple
General admission: 1,100 yen
Students: 400 yen
Organizer
Tokyo Biennale General Incorporated Association
Sponsor
Chiyoda Ward, Chuo Ward, Bunkyo Ward, Taito Ward, Chiyoda Ward Tourism Association, Chuo Ward Tourism Association, Bunkyo Ward Tourism Association, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Japan, Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Embassy of Norway, Embassy of Brazil in Japan, Polish Information and Cultural Center
Special Grant
Ishibashi Foundation
Grant
Arts Council Tokyo [Tokyo Arts and Culture Appreciation Support Grant]
The Japan Foundation
Sponsorship
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd., Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores Co., Ltd., Palace Hotel Tokyo, Fujifilm Business Innovation Japan Co., Ltd., YKK Corporation, Park Hotel Tokyo, Wonder Powered You Co., Ltd.
Business Partner
Tokyo Dome Corporation
Special Cooperation
Kan'ei-ji Temple, Etoile Kaito Co., Ltd.
cooperation
Kyobashi Saiku Area Management General Incorporated Association, NTT East Japan, Ebiwara Shoten, Otemachi First Square Co., Ltd., Command A LLC, Tokyo University of the Arts, Toda Corporation, East Japan Railway Company
Subsidy project
FY2025 Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 Project (Japan Arts Council/Agency for Cultural Affairs)
This project supports the "All Welcome Tokyo" campaign, which aims to create a Tokyo that everyone can enjoy, regardless of whether they have a disability or not, or whether they have a language or cultural difference.
List of participating artists (in alphabetical order)
[Domestic]
Tamari Akiyama, Junko Iwaoka, L PACK., Kaze Ouchi, Junya Kataoka + Rie Iwatake, Mari Katayama, Nozomu Kubota, Yoshiaki Kurihara, Takeru Kurokawa, Mami Osemura, SIDE CORE, Naoki Sato, 6lines studio + Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, Shingo Suzuki, Akio Suzuki, Risaku Suzuki, Kazuki Takahashi, Mika Terauchi, Sachiko Toda, Yasuko Toyoshima, Masato Nakamura, Naoya Hatakeyama, Nobuyuki Fujiwara, Hogarty, Chihiro Minato, Milk Warehouse The Coconuts, Goro Murayama, Junichi Mori, Yasushi Mori, Shun Yonaha, Eiji Watanabe
[abroad]
Naraka Wijewardene (Sri Lanka), Camilla Svensson (Brazil), Tenthaus Art Collective and the OVEN Network (Norway/Thailand), Mariam Tovmasyan (Armenia), Truong Que Chi/Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam), Piotr Buyak (Poland), Elke Leinhuber (Germany), Adam Leugert (Sweden)
Website
About ArtSticker
Operated by The Chain Museum Co., Ltd., this platform provides opportunities to encounter art and places to enjoy dialogue, "connecting a series of experiences" in art appreciation. It features a wide range of works, from well-known artists to up-and-coming young artists. The genres of the works are also diverse, including installations, paintings, and performing arts.
ArtSticker also hopes to connect art and artists directly with the world by connecting them to unique real-life locations, not just digitally.
▽ArtSticker Website
▽ArtSticker download URL
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/artsticker/id1446438049
For museums and event organizers who want to implement ticket sales functionality
ArtSticker is currently looking for event organizers who would like to implement the ticketing feature.
It is also possible to sell and link audio guides to the exhibits.
For more information, please see below and contact us.
▽Contact us here
Ticket: https://artsticker.app/services/ticket/
Audio guide: https://artsticker.app/services/audio-guide/
Overview of The Chain Museum Co., Ltd.
Company name: The Chain Museum Co., Ltd. (pronounced: The Chain Museum)
Address: Daikanyama TOKO, 3rd floor, Daikanyama Art Village, 17-10 Sarugakucho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Representative Director Masamichi Toyama
▽The Chain Museum Official Website
