Travel the world with Anno Mitsumasa in this online tour of Japan House London’s first 3D virtual exhibition ‘Anno’s Journey: The World of Anno Mitsumasa’.

One of Japan’s most beloved and prolific artists, Anno Mitsumasa has illustrated hundreds of books since the 1960s, and each new generation of readers in Japan has grown up intimately knowing his works as if they were a part of the family.

For this event, exhibition curator and Japan House London Programming Director Simon Wright will be joined in conversation by two special guests who have been fans of Anno’s works since childhood: acclaimed manga artist Kubo Kiriko and multi-talented Japanese furniture, product and interior designer, Tomoko Azumi.

This gallery tour focuses on Anno’s internationally renowned series of delightfully whimsical and exquisitely detailed travel picture books. It takes a closer look at two works in this series: the original Anno’s Journey, which follows a lone traveller through various European landscapes, and the third in the series, Anno’s Britain. Guided by the panel, guests can take a trip around the UK through Anno’s eyes by exploring the full set of illustrations from this book, arriving near the White Cliffs of Dover, returning home from Scottish shores, and on the way spotting numerous references to British art, literature, history and folklore.

During this live online event, guests will have the opportunity to pose questions to the panellists.

The exhibition Anno's Journey: The World of Anno Mitsumasa was originally on display in the Japan House Gallery from 22 August until 27 October 2019. Experience it digitally using the 3D Virtual Tour on our website.

About the panelists

Kubo Kiriko
Kubo Kiriko was born in Tokyo and made her debut as a cartoonist (manga-ka) in the early 1980s. After the huge success of ‘Cynical Hysterie Hour’ and ‘Imadoki no kodomo’, Kiriko has directed animation films, designed CD and book covers, written essays, children’s books and other manga comics, including ‘Buckets de Gohan’ (animated for television in 1996) and ‘Dobutsu uranai’ (1999-2007). More recent works include ‘Londo-nya’ (London Miaow, 2017) and ‘Susume-Candem chikyū bōeitai’ (The Candem World Self-Defence Force, 2019-2020). Kiriko has lived in London for more than 20 years. Her work has been exhibited at the Japanese Embassy in London, and she has given talks at the ICA and other venues across the UK. Kiriko has worked on a series of design projects for UK hospitals, including the Evelina Children’s Hospital (2013) and the Children’s Dept. at St Thomas’ Hospital (2014-2019). An English translation of two of her best-known manga, ‘Cynical Hysterie Hour’ and ‘Children Nowadays’, are now available as e-books.

Tomoko Azumi
Born in Hiroshima, Japan in 1966, Tomoko Azumi trained as an architect at Kyoto City University of Arts before working for an architectural practice in Tokyo. She later studied Furniture Design at the Royal College of Art. Following a ten-year partnership as AZUMI, Tomoko Azumi opened t.n.a. Design Studio in 2005. Alongside her design practice, she has been involved in teaching at both BA and MA level, giving workshops and being a member of design prize juries including D&AD Design Award, UK; imm Köln Design Award, Germany; and Good Design Award, Japan. Her studio’s work ‘The Geometrist’, a paper DIY kit which can be used to make beautiful and complex polyhedral structures, was featured in a pop-up installation at Japan House London in 2018.