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  "description": "Nagoya hosts the first major posthumous retrospective of Leiji Matsumoto, tracing 70 years of manga and anime — from Galaxy Express 999 to his final works — at Nagoya City Art Museum. And It’s Not Just for Nostalgic Fans!",
  "path": "/leiji-matsumoto-retrospective-nagoya-2026/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-01-03T07:05:13.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.nagoyabuzz.com",
  "tags": [
    "https://leiji-m-exh.jp/",
    "Check out our handy guide to using the Nagoya Subway",
    "→ See what’s happening this week"
  ],
  "textContent": "### Nagoya City Art Museum Hosts a Major Leiji Matsumoto Retrospective\n\nIf you spent any time in Japan in the late ’70s through the ’80s — or if you’re a parent whose kids discovered anime through YouTube rabbit holes — you know **Leiji Matsumoto** ’s work even if you don’t know his name. _Galaxy Express 999_. _Space Pirate Captain Harlock_. The lanky, sad-eyed heroes. The mysterious women with hair that defies gravity. Space trains. Existential melancholy wrapped in adventure.\n\nMatsumoto died in February 2023 at 85, and this March **Nagoya City Art Museum is hosting his first major posthumous retrospective** — seven decades of manga, anime, and what the curators are calling his “creative cosmos.” The exhibition ran in Tokyo last summer at Roppongi Hills, and now it’s coming to Shirakawa Park from March 20 through June 7, 2026.\n\nThis isn’t a pop-up fan event. It’s not a touring show scaled down for a regional stop. Nagoya gets the full treatment: more than 300 original works and materials spanning from before Matsumoto’s professional debut in 1954 through his final projects. That includes original manuscripts from _999_ and _Harlock_ , early teenage works, newly discovered studio pieces, and the tools he used — pens, reference books, even the battered cap he wore while working.\n\nThe exhibition traces how Matsumoto built what fans call the “Leijiverse”: an interconnected web where space pirates, time-traveling trains, and doomed romantics all exist in the same melancholy universe. If you’ve ever wondered why Japanese sci-fi often feels more philosophical than action-driven — why memory, loss, and the passage of time loom so large — Matsumoto played a major role in shaping that sensibility.\n\nFor those coming in cold, Matsumoto’s most famous work,**_Galaxy Express 999_** , follows a boy named **Tetsurō** who rides a steam locomotive through space in search of a mechanical body that promises immortality. The series has been adapted into anime, films, and live-action productions, influencing generations of creators across genres. This year marks its 50th anniversary, which helps explain the timing and scale of the retrospective.\n\n**View His Creative Workspace!**\nOne detail worth noting: **this is not just a _Galaxy Express_ show**. The curators frame Matsumoto as a working artist whose career stretched across manga and anime for more than 70 years.\n\nYou’ll see how his visual language developed — the distinctive linework, the use of deep-space blues, and recurring motifs of trains, ships, and clocks. There’s also a recreated version of his creative workspace, which will either feel intimate or slightly voyeuristic, depending on how you feel about artists’ studios.\n\n**Nagoya’s version includes an exhibition-exclusive photo spot and limited-run merchandise** , both designed to tempt completists. Standing in front of original _999_ manuscripts in a quiet museum still beats scrolling through AI-generated anime commentary at 2 a.m.\n\nWhether you’re coming for nostalgia, bringing kids who need context for the cultural DNA behind their favorite shows, or simply curious about why Matsumoto mattered, three months is a solid run.\n\n__Leiji Matsumoto Exhibition: A Journey of Creation, marking 50 years of__ Galaxy Express 999, on view at the Nagoya City Art Museum from March 20 to June 7, 2026.\n\n## The Details\n\n**Galaxy Express 999\n50th Anniversary Project\nLeiji Matsumoto Exhibition\n\nDates:**\nMar. 20 – Jun. 7, 2026\n\n**Venue:** Nagoya City Art Museum\n(In Shirakawa Park)\n\n**Hours:**\n9:30–17:00\n(Fridays until 20:00)\n\n**Closed:**\nMondays (open May 4, closed May 7)\n\n**Tickets:**\n¥2,200 advance / ¥2,400 door (adults)\n**Official site:** https://leiji-m-exh.jp/\n\n### Access\n\nThe exhibition is at **Nagoya City Art Museum** in **Shirakawa Park** , next to the **Nagoya City Science Museum**.\n\nThe nearest stations are **Fushimi Station (H09 / T07)** on the **Higashiyama** and **Tsurumai** lines, about **8 minutes on foot** from **Exit 5** ; or **Osu Kannon Station (T08)** on the **Tsurumai Line** , about **7 minutes on foot** from **Exit 2**.\n\nFrom **Fushimi** , leave via **Exit 5** and walk **south** to Shirakawa Park.\nFrom **Osu Kannon** , leave via **Exit 2** and walk **north** to the park and museum.\n\n### Nagoya Subway Map\n\nCheck out our handy guide to using the Nagoya Subway\n\n## MAP\n\n****What else is going on in Nagoya?****\nWeekly guides to events, exhibitions, and small local things worth paying attention to.\n→ See what’s happening this week",
  "title": "Leiji Matsumoto Retrospective March 20 to June 7",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-08T04:37:23.167Z"
}