Open Call for International Creator Residency Program 2026

They provide financial support to allow creators to develop and present new works and ideas. The result of the residency will be presented at the Open Studio and/or the Result Presentation at TOKAS Hongo.

Focus Areas

• This program is aimed at those creators:
  • Who are willing to explore new creative activities in Tokyo.
  • Who practice in any of the following cultural/artistic fields: visual art, film, design, architecture.

Benefits

• Living space (single room)
• Shared studio
• Airfare: A round-trip economy-class air ticket between the nearest airport from the place of residence and Tokyo (either Narita or Haneda Airport) will be provided
• Living expenses (per diem): JPY 4,200 (consumption tax excluded) per day
• Fee for work/project: JPY 300,000 (consumption tax excluded)
• Income tax (20.42%) will be deducted from the above amounts
• A twin-bedded room will be provided to creators applying as a duo

Requirements

• Able to stay consecutively at TOKAS Residency during the proposed residency period.
• Shall create the work to be presented at OPEN STUDIO and submit a comprehensive report on the proposed project.
• Participate in the Result Presentation held at TOKAS Hongo or other programs if asked by TOKAS, and cooperates with its public relations activity.
• Do not carry out any commercial or profitable activities throughout the residency period.
• Do not conduct any activities that would make big noise or vibration in TOKAS Residency.
• The accommodation is provided for the participating creator only. Family members, partners, friends or guests are not permitted to stay at TOKAS Residency.

Eligibility Criteria

• Resides outside of Japan
• Has 5 years or more of experience in his/her specialized area of expertise
• Has sufficient ability to communicate in English with other residing creators and TOKAS staff for mutual understanding
• Independent and capable of working and living on his/her own
• Creators working as a duo are also eligible (A duo consisting of at least one creator residing outside of Japan is eligible)

Ineligibility Criteria

• Students are ineligible (except for Ph.D. candidates).

Application Requirements

• Application Form 1 and 2 (.pdf file): have to be filled in English.
• Two letters of recommendation (.pdf file): have to be prepared by two different referees (stated in “3) Referees” in Application Form 2) from art and cultural institutions, related educational organizations, or professionals specialized in the fields of art and culture.
• Letters must include signatures of the referees and the date of issue, written in either Japanese or
• English in A4 format
• Digital signature as well as hand-written signature will be accepted
• Portfolio
• Your portfolio should be no longer than 6 pages (A4, Landscape), including summaries of past activities, images of past projects, and links of videos or sounds. Please save it as one PDF file.
• The size of the portfolio file must be no larger than 10MB
• Please refer to Manual (.pdf file) for the details of instruction
• Please name the portfolio file as follows: Portfolio_YourNAME.pdf

For more information, visit Tokyo Arts and Space.