Since the 1950s, Japan has developed a rich body of practice, beginning with art education in schools for the blind and expanding to exhibitions in which artworks can be touched and to tactile modes of art appreciation.
Although internationally pioneering, these initiatives remain dispersed, and their historical significance has not been adequately documented or communicated.
Grounded in my practice of figurative sculpture, I have worked since 2005 with people with visual impairments through tactile art appreciation and hands-on art-making activities. In recent years, I have organized When We Touch Sculpture, an exhibition in which every work can be touched, and have studied how encounters with touchable sculpture shape the perception of form and embodied experience.
My research aims to systematize Japan’s rich practices from historical and theoretical perspectives, develop a theory of tactile art connecting artistic creation, appreciation, and education, and establish a hub for tactile art that will carry this legacy into the future.