HITOHATA’s “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” Wins Gold at MUSE Creative Awards 2026

“Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition,” produced by HITOHATA, INC. (Representative Director: Takeaki Higashiyama), has won Gold in the “Experiential & Immersive - Exhibition Experience” category at the international creative awards program MUSE Creative Awards 2026. The MUSE Creative Awards were established in 2015 by the U.S.-based International Awards Associate (IAA) to honor outstanding creative work worldwide in advertising, design, and digital media. Together, the MUSE Creative and Design Awards receive more than 10,000 entries annually from around the world, and “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” was selected as a Gold Winner. The exhibition is described as the world’s first immersive, experiential digital art museum dedicated to Japanese yokai art. It combines cutting-edge visual technologies and three-dimensional modeling to immerse visitors in works inspired by Japan’s renowned yokai imagery, including “Hyakki Yagyo Emaki,” “Hyakumonogatari,” oni, tengu, kappa, and tsukumogami, as depicted by various artists from the Edo and Meiji periods and beyond. Born from ancient Japanese myths, folklore, and rich imagination, yokai have been loved across generations and around the world. The exhibition uses advanced digital technologies such as 3DCG, projection mapping, and holographic screens to dynamically animate the humorous figures found in yokai paintings and caricatures, while three-dimensional modeling recreates a vivid and realistic yokai world. With cooperation from Nishio City Iwase Bunko, Japan’s first museum of antiquarian books, and the Yokai Art Museum on Shodoshima, the exhibition also explains yokai culture, yokai paintings, caricatures, and yokai art, while tracing the cultural and historical links between yokai and contemporary pop culture. “Yokai Immersive Experience Exhibition” was held in Nagoya in the summer of 2025 and attracted more than 120,000 visitors. HITOHATA is also currently presenting “Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition TOKYO” at Warehouse TERRADA G1 Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo, through June 28, 2026, and will hold “Ukiyoe Immersive Art Exhibition KAGOSHIMA” from July 3 to August 31, 2026, at Reimeikan, Kagoshima Prefectural Center for Historical Material. The award recognizes the exhibition’s focus on Japan’s unique yokai culture and its immersive experience created by combining advanced digital visuals with three-dimensional modeling as a world-class creative work. HITOHATA states that it will continue to share the appeal of Japan’s traditional and folk cultures, including yokai, through cutting-edge technology and staging, contributing to stronger global communication of Japanese culture and the creation of new value for traditional culture. Official website: https://www.yokaiimmersive.com/ Founded in 2019, HITOHATA, INC. is a digital creative company that provides content combining art and technology. With bases in Nagoya, Tokyo, Osaka, and Milan, the company has produced and directed more than 80 projection mapping projects, immersive art museums, and related events in Japan and overseas, while continuing to pursue digital transformation in cultural tourism by combining advanced digital technology with regional cultural tourism resources and Japanese traditional culture.