■ Impact: ★★☆☆☆
■ Space: ★★★☆☆
■ Originality: ★☆☆☆☆
A warehouse district in the south part of Tokyo. Beyond a maze of carbon-paper blocks, a vast, silent space opens up like a school gymnasium – art and stillness in the same breath.
A museum, or rather a gallery—or, as the name suggests, a “Factory”—in Ota Ward, Tokyo. I take the Keihin-Tohoku Line to Omori Station, then ride a bus for just under 30 minutes. It is located on an artificial island called Jonan island, a warehouse district. I get off at “Jonan Higashi 2-chome,” and the building is just nearby. From the outside, it looks like a neat office building, but I heard it was originally a warehouse for Toyoko Inn.
When I enter the building, I find a reception room on the left. In the space in front of it, artworks are displayed. I once saw an installation by Kimiyo Misima here. If I go further inside, I enter a space where blocks printed with carbon paper and newspaper are stacked up. It forms a maze-like structure. I enjoy walking through it. I can feel the artist’s strong energy.
When I exit this maze-like passage, a huge exhibition space appears. In the past, Kimiyo Misima’s work titled “Memories of the 20th Century,” made of brick-like forms laid across the floor, was installed here. When I visited in 2026, I saw a different work: ropes stretched across the space with light projected onto them.
I have visited four times, and every time I found no one else there. I was alone in this vast space. It feels like a very luxurious exhibition room. In regional art festivals, it is not unusual to see large-scale works installed in closed school gymnasiums or unused warehouses, but it is rare to experience such a space and such works in Tokyo.
At the edge of the building, there is a spiral staircase, and it leads to a walkable catwalk. In the past, photographs created by Picasso in collaboration with a photographer and a poet were exhibited along this catwalk.
On the third floor, there is an exhibition of ukiyo-e prints, and on the fourth floor there are studios where artists work. On my second visit, these studios were open to the public. I saw around ten divided rooms, and a few artists were working there. I could observe their creative process.
There is an Ukiyoe exhibition on the third floor of the building, and studios where artists create their works are on the fourth floor. When I visited at the second time, this studio opens to the public, and there were about 10 separate spaces where several artists were working.
Jonan island faces Haneda Airport across the sea, and from the rooftop I can see airplanes coming and going. The area is surrounded by warehouse districts, and especially on weekends there are very few people. As mentioned at the beginning, it takes about 30 minutes by bus from JR Ōmori Station, so the inconvenience likely explains the low number of visitors.
Tokyo has many famous art museums, but the silence and vast open space experienced here are hard to find elsewhere. It is a rare place where one can feel something truly out of the ordinary. I strongly recommend a visit.
Visited in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
Basic Information
■ Name：Art Factory Jonan Island
■ Address : 2 Chome-4-10 Jonanjima, Ota City, Tokyo, Japan
■ Homepage：https://gallery1045.com/en/top-english
