New art fair Tokyo Gendai will introduce international contemporary artists to a younger generation of Japanese collectors

The team of art fair veterans who launched Art HK in 2008, sold it to Art Basel, and later started art fairs in five other Asia-Pacific cities, announced on June 9 that they will introduce a new fair in Tokyo to target a younger generation of Japanese collectors as well as returning overseas visitors.

Tokyo Gendai, which takes its name from the Japanese word for “contemporary”, will feature 80 to 100 mostly non-Japanese exhibitors at the Pacifico Yokohama convention centre in July 2023.

The international focus of the fair (with roughly one domestic gallery for every four international ones) will make Tokyo Gendai stand out from other well-established fairs in Japan, says Magnus Renfrew, who together with Tim Etchells and Sandy Angus head The Art Assembly, an affiliation of international art fairs that include Taipei Dangdai and Photofairs Shanghai.

Tokyo Gendai aims to capture the growing appetite among a new generation of Japanese collectors who are wealthy and interested in international contemporary art, he says. “The markets in Japan have enormous potential. It is a great centre of wealth. It is also a destination that people enjoy visiting because of its rich cultural offerings,” he says.

The country has a particularly wide “psychological catchment area”, he says. The Taiwanese have a close affinity to Japan because of Taiwan’s history as a Japanese colony and are close enough to visit easily, as are people in Hong Kong, he says, and Japanese traditional and contemporary culture greatly influence people around the world.

In contrast to existing fairs in Japan, Tokyo Gendai has an international selection panel that will vet applications and aims to deliver a consistent fair experience year after year, says fair director Eri Takane.