Shoji Toyama, a film director from Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, has been engaged in a wide range of activities, including the production of feature films focusing on local communities, art projects, stage productions, and serving as the general director of art festivals. This exhibition is a solo exhibition in the form of an installation, in which Toyama reconfigures his own films and art projects from the museum's collection, using “birds” as a starting point.
Featuring works such as the art project “Akasaki Wednesday Post Office”, which reimagines a school on the sea as a post office for exchanging letters, and the film “The River Breathes”, which documents the Kuma River after a heavy rain disaster, the exhibition will also showcase a new installation titled “Opening the Crane”, which highlights birds painted by Miyazaki Shizuo, an artist who depicted his experiences of Siberian detention through his artwork, as well as “Birds in Storage”, which shares the exhibition's title. Additionally, please enjoy the video work “White Breath”, created in collaboration with students from Kumamoto Prefectural Oguni High School.

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  Art Project  “Akasaki Wednesday Post Office”

  Send your Wednesday, and someone else's Wednesday will arrive.

  An art project implemented in Tsunagi-machi, Kumamoto Prefecture, in 2013. The former Akasaki Elementary School, standing on the sea, was transformed into a post office open only on Wednesdays. By writing stories of Wednesdays and sending them to the address “165 Fukuhama, Tsunagi-machi, Ashikita-gun, and beyond,” participants received letters from strangers in exchange. Toyama oversaw the overall direction and served as the postmaster of the Wednesday Post Office. Additionally, in 2016, he opened the “Same-ga-ura Wednesday Post Office” in Higashimatsushima City, Miyagi Prefecture. (2013–2016)

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  Art Project  “Point Hope”

  The story begins with the phone number “029-284-1900.”

  This was an art project directed by Toyama and implemented in Mito City in 2017. When you call the designated phone number (029-284-1900) from a public telephone in Japan, two women's voices narrate the prologue. Upon paying the participation fee, participants received a map and an original telephone card worth 500 yen. They then visited the four designated public telephones in Mito City listed on the map, made calls, and followed the story. (2017–2018)

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  Movie  “NOT LONG, AT NIGHT”

  A road movie set in Kumamoto and Amakusa.

  One day, a woman throws away everything she has accumulated over 34 years, steals a car, and sets off on a journey. On her journey to the sea, she experiences many encounters and farewells. This film was screened in the “Japanese Movie・Un Certain Regard” section of the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival. (Produced in 2012)

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  Movie  “The River Breathes”

  A story about “life” set against the backdrop of the Kuma River after a torrential rain disaster.

  Mizuha, 37, who is in the depths of despair after losing her newborn son, returns to her hometown of Yatsushiro for the first time in 10 years. She reunites with her childhood friends and together they explore the Kuma River, which still bears the scars of the torrential rain disaster. Standing before the river, the three share their memories of the disaster, and eventually encounter a mysterious phenomenon. 12th Balneário Camboriú International Film Festival Best Director Award and Best Acting Award. (Produced in 2022)

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  Installation  “Opening the Crane”

  80 Years After the War: A Film Director Interprets the Thoughts of an Artist Imprisoned in Siberia

  The “For the Dead” series painted by Shizuo Miyazaki, an artist from Oguni Town in Aso County, features birds as symbols of death and as beings that freely travel between Siberia and their homeland. Toyama interprets the thoughts Miyazaki sought to convey through his works, interweaving newly filmed interview footage with Miyazaki's wife, Hisako, to present the installation “Opening the Crane.”

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  Installation  “Birds in Storage”

  An “Exhibition” Created by a Film Director / About Museums and Storage Rooms

  During his research for this exhibition, Toyama visited the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum Network Center, where he saw a large number of stuffed birds, including endangered species and those that were once used in school science classrooms.
  Noting that “museums” are also media for conveying memories and information, Toyama conceived of the exhibition itself as a “storage room” for people's memories. Museum storage rooms are reaching their physical limits. What will we remember and pass on to the future? Through this exhibition, Toyama poses this question. (2025)

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  Movie  “White Breath”

  Video produced with Oguni High School students

  Toyama is also serving as the general director of the regional art festival “Small Land Project” (October 4 to November 3), which will be held in Oguni Town, Aso District, concurrently with this exhibition. Through the preparations for the festival, which aims to be a “festival of art and learning,” Toyama learned about the history and culture of Oguni. He collaborated with students from Oguni High School, an important educational institution in the town, to film a new video titled “Breathing White Breath” early in the morning in February. “White Breath” symbolizes the preciousness of life in the present. We hope you will experience its significance alongside Miyoshi Tatsuji's poem “Great Aso.” (2025)

Photography for this exhibition: Kenichi Mori (Graph) “Opening the Crane” “White Breath”
Venue design: Masaki Iwata (Sou Fujimoto Architects)

Shoji Toyama

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Film director

Born in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture, in 1984. Film director, producer, and art director. Completed a master's degree at Waseda University Graduate School of International Information and Communication Studies. In 2012, his first feature film, NOT LONG, AT NIGHT, set in Kumamoto and Amakusa, was officially selected for the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival's “Japanese Movie・Un Certain Regard” section and received high praise.

official website

Exhibition Information