Do you know Yabe Mitsunori, a kamishibai and picture-book artist who grew up in Kurashiki?
He is the author of works such as Kaba-san and Hito wa Naku Mono, and was born in Osaka and raised in Kurashiki. His son, Taro Yabe, is active as a comedian, actor, and manga artist, and won the 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Short Story Manga Award for his manga My Landlord and I.
A special exhibition celebrating this father-and-son collaboration, “Yabe Mitsunori and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of My Father,” is currently being held at the Kurashiki City Art Museum through Sunday, December 21, 2025.
We introduce the exhibition alongside the thoughts of the Kurashiki City Art Museum curator who planned it.
The information presented was current when this article was published in November 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the special exhibition “Yabe Mitsunori and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of My Father”
“Yabe Mitsunori and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of My Father” is an exhibition being held at the Kurashiki City Art Museum from Friday, October 17, through Sunday, December 21, 2025.
Unlike the “The Complete Noboru Baba Exhibition,” which toured the country in 2024, this is the first 18 years that the museum has held an independently planned exhibition in collaboration with local media. It reportedly took two and a half years to prepare.
See the image below for an overview of the exhibition.
Inside the exhibition galleries
The exhibition is broadly divided into two sections.
- Original artwork for Yabe Mitsunori’s kamishibai and picture books
- Manga by Taro Yabe
The manga My Landlord and I is also on display and can be read.
What particularly caught my attention was Yabe Mitsunori’s parenting diaries. There are 41 volumes in all: 38 “Mitsuko Notebooks” depicting his eldest daughter, Mitsuko, and three “Taro Notebooks” depicting his eldest son, Taro.
Parenting by fathers is no longer unusual, but it must have been rare in the 1970s and 1980s, when Taro Yabe was a child. The diaries were not kept because it was unusual; seeing these natural, everyday illustrated diaries warmed my heart.
A book featuring carefully selected entries from the 38 “Mitsuko Notebooks” is available for purchase at the special exhibition. It is 992 pages long and as thick as a dictionary.
Several other events related to the special exhibition have also been planned.
Interview with the curator in charge of planning, Kurashiki City Art Museum
We spoke with Tomoko Yamabuki, curator at the Kurashiki City Art Museum, who planned the special exhibition “Yabe Mitsunori and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of My Father.”
Could you tell us how the special exhibition came about?
Yamabuki (titles omitted)
It began because I was already a fan of Taro Yabe’s manga. When I watched the anime My Landlord and I, I looked Taro up again and learned that his father, Yabe Mitsunori, grew up in Kurashiki, which sparked my interest.
I also became interested in kamishibai because Mitsunori is a kamishibai artist.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a stronger trend toward digitalization and avoiding contact with others. Against that backdrop, kamishibai—a medium for sharing stories in the same time and space, without electricity and unlike reading picture books aloud—seemed fresh to me.
I also learned about the family diaries from when Taro’s father stayed home and took care of the children.
Taro and I are the same generation (born in the 1970s), but my father was always frightening, and I felt I had to be careful around him. So when I thought, “There are fathers like this in the world,” I felt somewhat comforted.
Their works are wonderful, but I also wanted to shine a light on the way the Yabe family lives and its distinctive qualities. Also, although they have ties to Kurashiki, they are not well known among local residents, so I started planning the exhibition because I wanted Kurashiki residents to know about them.
How long did it take to bring the special exhibition to fruition?
Yamabuki
We first approached the two of them in June 2023.
The following year’s exhibition schedule is generally set, so we started by asking if we could hold an exhibition two years later.
As we talked, we learned that Mitsunori had kept all of his materials, while Taro’s were all digital data.
So we discussed with the two of them how to balance their works, and how to present the family diaries (the Mitsuko and Taro Notebooks), which would be a highlight but could not be shown in their entirety. After repeated meetings and preparations, we brought it to fruition over about two and a half years.
What are the highlights of the exhibition?
Yamabuki
First, it is rare to get to see original kamishibai artwork, so I hope visitors will pay attention to it. That is why the original kamishibai artwork is displayed first.
Next are the family diaries (the Mitsuko and Taro Notebooks).
They are private family materials rather than works of art, but they are compelling to look at, so we included them in this exhibition.
After Taro read these diaries, he created the manga My Father. My Father was the first work to shine a light on his father’s parenting, and I learned about it by reading the manga, so I wanted to express that in the exhibition as well.
For this reason, when we feature Taro’s activities, we always highlight and excerpt his relationship with his father.
Although they each have their own separate activities, they are deeply connected to one another.
I felt that Taro in particular has always respected his father and believes he deserves greater recognition, so we arranged the exhibition to convey that feeling.
I hope visitors will take a look at that aspect.
What would you especially like Kurashiki residents to take away from this exhibition?
Yamabuki
This exhibition is not specifically aimed at children. It includes content that will resonate with children, parents raising children, and even people beginning to think about issues such as dementia.
Although it focuses on two particular people, it is full of elements that can be viewed from many different angles.
I hope visitors will take a little time here to think about the people they want to cherish and the challenges they will have to face, and perhaps find some hints. And if they are feeling weighed down, I would be happy if they could spend a little time here in a relaxed atmosphere.
Do you have a message for readers considering a visit?
Yamabuki
This is an original exhibition planned by our museum and will not tour elsewhere, so it is an exhibition you can only see here.
We have not prepared a comprehensive book covering everything in the exhibition, so I hope you will come to the venue and experience the worlds of the two artists firsthand, as well as the freedom of different ways of being a family.
The exhibition is being held for two months, so please take this valuable opportunity to visit the Kurashiki City Art Museum.
From the Writer
To be honest, I did not know much about either Yabe Mitsunori or Taro Yabe, but I became interested in “the way the Yabe family lives” more than in their individual works.
Today, lifestyles such as “the mother works outside the home while the father works or does housework at home” are becoming more common. I am not an artist, but I have chosen a lifestyle somewhat like that myself, so I felt a sense of connection.
When we think of an art museum exhibition, we tend to focus only on the “works on display,” but I think this exhibition has appeal beyond that.
Since this is an original exhibition planned by the Kurashiki City Art Museum, it apparently has no plans to tour other regions in the future.
If you are interested, why not pay it a visit?
Articles about the Kurashiki City Art Museum
Special Exhibition “Mitsunori Yabe and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of ‘My Dad’” Information
| Name | Special Exhibition “Mitsunori Yabe and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of ‘My Dad’” |
|---|---|
| Dates | October 17–December 21, 2025 9:00 a.m.–5:15 p.m. *Closed on the following days: Mondays (open November 3 and November 24), Tuesday, November 4, and Tuesday, November 25 |
| Location | Kurashiki City Art Museum |
| Admission (tax included) | Adults: ¥1,200 High school and university students*: ¥500 Elementary and junior high school students*: ¥300 *Proof of age or affiliation, such as an ID or student ID, must be presented. *Elementary and junior high school students living in Kurashiki City are admitted free upon presentation of an Ikiiki Passport or student handbook. *Elementary school students presenting a Takahashi River Basin Passport are admitted free (except on weekdays). *People with disabilities and one accompanying person are admitted free (a physical disability certificate, rehabilitation certificate, or mental disability and health welfare certificate must be presented). |
| Website | Special Exhibition “Mitsunori Yabe and Taro Yabe: Kurashiki, the Hometown of ‘My Dad’” |
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