Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum in Marunouchi, Tokyo is hosting a limited-time family event within its ongoing exhibition "Artists at the Café: From the Impressionists, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec to Picasso" (on view through September 23, 2026). The family event runs from July 14 (Tuesday) to July 20 (Monday, public holiday), with several additional programs continuing through the summer.
Find the Hidden Cats (July 14–20)
Inspired by the famous café names featured in the exhibition — Le Chat Noir (Black Cat) and Els Quatre Gats (Four Cats) — the museum has hidden cat motifs throughout the building for visitors to find. Children in junior high school and below can receive a "Hidden Cat Check Sheet" and pencil from museum staff at the elevator on the 1st floor before heading up to the exhibition.
Event Details
- Dates: July 14 (Tue) – July 20 (Mon, public holiday), 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
- July 17 (Fri): open until 8:00 PM; last entry 30 minutes before closing
- Location: Inside Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum; receive materials from staff at the 1st floor elevator
- Eligible participants: Children in junior high school and under, accompanied by guardians
- Participation fee: Free (exhibition ticket required; children in junior high school and under are admitted to the exhibition free of charge)
Prizes
- Complete Prize (find all cat motifs): Museum novelty set — original postcard, sticker, and cat badge
- Participation Prize: Cat badge
Available on a first-come, first-served basis each day. Prizes are for children only. Prize exchange takes place in the corridor on the 2nd floor after exiting the exhibition room.
Layered Stamp
A layered stamp — pressed in layers like a woodblock print to create a single completed image — is also available inside the museum through August 31, 2026. Visitors can enjoy this alongside the scavenger hunt.
Café 1894 Special Cat Decoration (July 14 – September 23)
Café 1894, the museum café and bar housed in the restored 1894 Meiji-era bank building, has introduced a limited-time black cat decoration inspired by the exhibition. This marks the first time the café has carried out themed decorations tied to a special exhibition.
Café 1894
- Location: 1F Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
- Hours: 11:00 AM – 11:00 PM (L.O. 10:00 PM)
- Phone: 03-3212-7156
Costume Event: "Let's Meet in Marunouchi — Dressed in 19th-Century Paris Style" (July 25)
Inspired by the 19th-century Paris café Café des Incoherents, known for its popular costume gatherings, the museum is hosting a one-day costume event on July 25, 2026. The theme is "19th-Century Paris," and visitors are welcome to explore the exhibition in costume. Photo opportunities are available in the museum's corridors, staircases, and select areas inside the exhibition rooms.
Event Details
- Date: July 25 (Sat), 2026, 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM (last entry 7:30 PM)
- Venue: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum
- Participation fee: Free (exhibition ticket required)
A changing space is available. Check the museum website for details.
A "talk-free" format is also in place during this event, allowing visitors to converse freely at any volume.
Evening at the Museum
The museum offers extended evening hours (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM) on every Friday, the second Wednesday of each month, July 25 (Sat), and September 19–23. During evening hours, selected exhibition rooms feature special musical presentations, along with some adult-oriented café-related stories and episodes.
Mini Concert: Gramophone and SP Records (Every Friday in August)
As part of the collaborative project "THE WAY OF→" between Tokyo University of the Arts and Mitsubishi Estate, a mini concert using a gramophone and SP records from the Tokyo University of the Arts Library will be held during August evening hours.
- Dates: August 7, 14, 21, 28, 2026 (every Friday)
- Time: 6:30 PM – approx. 6:50 PM each day
- Location: 3rd floor video screening corner inside the "Artists at the Café" exhibition
- Participation fee: Free (exhibition ticket required)
Details: https://mimt.jp/event/19789/
Talk-Free Days
The "Artists at the Café" exhibition designates select Mondays — normally closed days — as Talk-Free Days, opening the museum for visitors who wish to discuss the artworks freely at any volume. This was introduced in response to visitor requests for a more open-conversation experience, including families with young children.
- Talk-Free Days: June 29 (Mon), July 27 (Mon), August 31 (Mon)
Getting There
An underground passage connects the Hibiya, Marunouchi, and Otemachi areas, allowing visitors to travel from Tokyo Station to the museum without needing an umbrella on rainy or hot days.
Access details: https://mimt.jp/access/
About the Exhibition Room Temperature
To maintain conditions appropriate for artwork preservation, the exhibition rooms are kept at approximately 20°C and 50% humidity year-round. Even in midsummer, the galleries remain cool, so visitors who may feel cold are advised to bring a light jacket.
Artists at the Café: From the Impressionists, Van Gogh and Toulouse-Lautrec to Picasso
- Period: June 13 (Sat) – September 23 (Wed, public holiday), 2026
- Organizers: Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum; Hiroshima Museum of Art Foundation
In late 19th-century Paris, Édouard Manet and the artists who came to be known as the Impressionists gathered in cafés to debate and exchange ideas. Unlike the modern café as a place to relax, the cafés, cabarets, and dance halls of that era became venues for social exchange and the birthplace of new art — marking the beginning of an era in which art merged with the wider public, alongside a departure from the official Salon.
In 1897, the Catalan painter Ramon Casas opened Els Quatre Gats (Four Cats) in Barcelona, modeled after the famous Montmartre venue Le Chat Noir (Black Cat), and Pablo Picasso was among its regulars. Picasso was deeply influenced by the pleasures and solitudes that Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Casas depicted in café settings, a direction that guided him toward the Blue Period.
The exhibition brings together approximately 130 works, including masterpieces by the Impressionists, Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Pablo Picasso, as well as the Barcelona treasure Madeleine by Casas, tracing the broad influence of art born in the café.
