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The 51th artist room was created by artist Namonaki Sanemasa. The production is completed on March, 2026.
Room #3403 | Completion Date: 2026.03
The Tokaido is one of the most well-known historic roads in Japan, connecting Edo (now Tokyo) and Kyoto. On a map, it appears as a single line. Yet during the Edo period, it became a beloved subject in many works of art—paintings of famous places and stories describing journeys along the road. In those days, when travel was far less convenient than it is today, a journey was something special, separated from daily life.
In an age without modern transportation, travel was mainly on foot. People walked long distances, stopped to rest, looked out at unfamiliar scenery, stayed at roadside inns, and spoke with strangers they met along the way. Things often did not go as planned, and there must have been moments of inconvenience and uncertainty. And yet, travel has continued to fascinate people. Perhaps this is because the value of a journey lies not only in reaching a destination, but in the time spent along the way.
When unexpected things happen during a journey, each experience becomes unique and remains in memory. With this idea in mind, I created the artworks in this room.
I have heard that the assignment of the artist-designed rooms is random. At first, I was naturally drawn to the Tokaido, inspired by the hotel’s distinctly Japanese setting and its location along this historic route, with views of Mount Fuji. During the creative process, I also discovered traditional board games themed around the Tokaido, in which players move step by step toward a goal. In these games, players move their pieces toward a goal, sometimes resting along the way. This playful structure reflects the journey itself, and it further encouraged my choice of theme.
This room was created while incorporating elements of chance and play. It contains several subtle details. These may change over time, and some may never be noticed. Yet these unexpected discoveries are also part of the room’s theme.
Such encounters cannot be found by simply passing through. They appear when one pauses, rests, and allows time to unfold. In the same way, artworks may not reveal themselves to someone in a hurry. They become visible only when we slow down and take our time.
Like the post towns along the Tokaido, this guest room is not merely a place to pass through. It is a place to slow your steps and rest during your journey.
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1994, based in Fukuoka. Since 2015, he has been primarily active on Twitter using the acquired account @sanemasa5x. He creates works that reflect his interest in images and anime characters circulating on the internet, as well as an aesthetic influenced by technologies such as touch panels and social media platforms.
By combining images collected from the internet, he produces works where creation and searching occur in real time. These pieces, including the act of creation and the processes leading up to it, are presented as pastoral landscapes of the internet age. In addition to paintings, he also produces and exhibits a diverse range of works including installations, sculptures, and video pieces.
Solo Exhibition
2024
“I Captured Fragments of Light Within the Shadows of My Hands” IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
“@sanemasa5x #Fishy Story(๑•e ㅁ•๑)” Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo
2022
“@sanemasa5x #Zero Person Singular” Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo
“@sanemasa5x #landscape・and・so forthಠ_ಠ” Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo
2021
“Solo Exhibition”, OIL by bijutsutecho, Tokyo
“Solo Exhibition”, NADiff Gallery , Tokyo
“Solo Exhibition”,
IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
“Taishi URAKAWA × Namonaki Sanemasa Exhibition ‘Ikei no Mado’ ”, Contemporary HEIS, Tokyo
“Taishi URAKAWA × Namonaki Sanemasa: Ikei eno Mado”, Seiriki Art Museum, Fukuoka, JP
2020
“Solo Exhibition”, Light Seed Gallery, Tokyo
FUSE Rintaro & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition “Pandora Battery” IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
SAIKI Shunsuke & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition , IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
2019
URAKAWA Taishi & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition, NADiff Gallery, Tokyo
URAKAWA Taishi & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition “Owarumade Owaranaiyo”
Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, JP
KIMURA Shoma & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
“Solo Exhibition”, On Sundays, Tokyo
2018
“Solo Exhibition”, Gallery Sojiro, Hyogo, JP
2017
“URAKAWA Taishi & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition, IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
2016
“BARRACKOUT” at the Former Matsudatei , Tokyo
“Kotaro & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition, “jpeg and Ghost” Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
Curated Exhibition
2025
“MAD IMAGE” Curated by Namonaki Sanemasa × UMEZAWA Kazuki, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo
Participating Artists/Groups: Ikitsugi, imoutoid, UMEZAWA Kazuki, OIRA, OKUMURA Minami,
GILLOCHINDOX☆GILLOCHINDAE, Kukamura, Gekidan INUCURRY (DOROINU), SHIBUTA
Naoaki, Namonaki Sanemasa, TAKEHISA Naoki, NOHGOKU Yuni, HASEGAWA Asuki, FUKUCHI
Hideomi, YAGI Heijiro, YOSHIOKA Yamato
2020
“Manazashi wo karite”EUREKA,Fukuoka, JP
Participating Artists: KYN-CHOME,Taiyo Kobayashi＋Yuzuki Yaguchi, Kota Takeuchi
Group Exhibition
2025
“EYES” MEDEL GALLERY SHU, Tokyo
“Parplume Prep School: Drawings 1969–2025 — Vestiges of Avant-Garde Art and the Sentiments of the
Collective Era” Bigakko, Tokyo
”Rakugaki” Plaza North, Saitama city, JP
“Chirakashi Garden Place” Atelier Salon Koushinkyoku, Tokyo
“Walking in Another World” DDD ART ~nagi~, Tokyo
2024
“On Sundays’s BEST NEW ART 2024/25” Light Seed Gallery, Tokyo
“Winter Pottery Fair – Bonenkai Special (＾ω＾)” Artas Gallery, Fukuoka, Japan
“Rough & Pop”Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo
“Hidden Electromagnetic Waves” 福利社 FreeS Art Space , Taipei
“Zipangu – Contemporary artists who have run through the Heisei era” Hiroshima Museum of Art, Hiroshima,
JP
“Zipangu – Contemporary artists who have run through the Heisei era” Saga Prefectural Art Museum, Saga,
Japan
“A Personal View of Japanese Contemporary Art: Takahashi Ryutaro Collection” Museum of Contemporary.
Art Tokyo, Tokyo
“Beauties, Ghosts, and Samurai”, the National Gallery of Art, Vilnius, Lithuania
“Dance”, KOGANEI ART SPOT, Tokyo
2023
“CAMK Collection Exhibition Vol.7 Memory Storage for the Future”, CONTEMPORARY ART MUSEUM.
KUMAMOTO, Kumamoto, JP
“The Perspectives for the Future vol.1”, Seiriki Art Museum, Fukuoka, JP
2022
“Under Current Satellite Exhibition”, @N&A Art SITE, Tokyo
“Under Current”, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai
“The site where something happened and was left behind.”, Artas Gallery, Fukuoka, JP
“Yuudachi”, Shinjuku Ophthalmologist (GANKA) Gallery, Tokyo
“Oufuku(=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)Ourai”, art space tetra, Fukuoka, JP
“Planet Samsa”, Former Site of Odaka Bookbinding Company, Tokyo
2021
“Ripple Across the Water 2021”, Around Aoyama, Tokyo
“drawing and_”, Artas Gallery, Fukuoka, JP
“Perpetual Gaze”, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo
2020
“Collectors’ Collective Vol.3”, MEDEL GALLERY SHU, Tokyo
“CHAOS*LOUNGE X”, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
“FUSE Rintaro & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition ‘Pandora Battery’ ”, IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
“SAIKI Shunsuke & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition”, IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
“Kaiga no Kashi” TRiCERA Museum, Tokyo
2019
“TOKYO2021 un/real engine”, TODA BUILDING, Tokyo
“URAKAWA Taishi & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition”, NADiff Gallery, Tokyo
“URAKAWA Taishi & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition”, “Owarumade Owaranaiyo”.
Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto, Japan
“KIMURA Shoma & Namonaki Sanemasa Two Person Exhibition”, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
“Wall of March”, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
2018
“Gendaibijyutsu Yamiichi” BUCKLE KOBO, Tokyo
“CHAOS*LOUNGE “HAMETSU*after”, Roppongi Hills A/D Gallery, Tokyo
“The Disconnection＋α Exhibition”, Nakano ZERO Exhibition Gallery, Tokyo
“fachuasu☆metamarufo-ze!”, Muraokaya Gallery, Fukuoka, JP
2017
“CHAOS*LOUNGE New Art Festival 2017”, zitti etc., Fukushima, JP
“Disconnection + Parplume: One Day Exhibition”, Chikurinkaku, Tokyo
“Parplume University –Fantasia from top to end”, Gallery Toritachi-no-ie, Tottori, JP
“CHAOS*LOUNGE 9 Vapor Hell”, billiken gallery, Tokyo
“Urakawa Taishi・Namonaki Sanemasa”, IAF SHOP*, Fukuoka, JP
“Sojiro #2”, Sojiro, Hyogo, JP
“ISETAN New Artist Display”, ISETAN Shinjuku, Tokyo
“new loneliness”, honkbooks, Tokyo
2016
“CHAOS*LOUNGE 8 Debris*Lounge”, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
“BARRACKOUT BARRACKOUT”, Previous Matsuda House, Tokyo
“Society”, AGATSUMA Gin House, Tokyo
“jpeg to yuurei”, Genron-Cafe Atelier, Tokyo
Collection
Contemporary Art Museum Kumamoto (Japan)
Takahashi Ryutaro Collection (Japan)
Japigozzi Collection (Switzerland, USA)
