Japanese creative art and design agency, NAKED inc., may have one of the quirkiest names in the industry, but don’t judge them by that – their exhibitions are not what you might be thinking.
Specialising in interactive video, installations and projection mapping, the company has held a variety of events throughout the country that focus on emphasising the undisguised, obvious and yes, naked beauty of some of Japan’s best destinations and venues.
From small scale projection mapping cafe displays, to sakura season-aquarium crossovers, chilled out sauna evenings underneath Tokyo Tower and full-scale monster hunter quest events, NAKED has done it all.

One of NAKED’s most popular events, ‘Flowers by NAKED’, mixes together the beauty of Japan’s sakura season with the artistic mysteries of interactive media. The event has taken place at a variety of venues across Japan, though arguably the most spectacular version takes place at Nijō Castle.

Last year, the live event had to be cancelled due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 infections throughout Japan. The celebration continued, though only through VR.
Returning for a live display this year, NAKED wants the event to make up for what we couldn’t enjoy in 2020. NAKED FLOWERS 2021 – Sakura – Nijō Castle will introduce new installations to NAKED’s art line up and provide an artistic view of Nijō Castle’s cherry blossoms at night. The event will be socially distanced, and will incorporate anti-infection methods throughout the venue. For those who have difficulty visiting, NAKED FLOWERS 2021 - Sakura – Nijō Castle will also be available to enjoy through VR as it was last year.

Taking part in the exhibition this year is the heir to Japan’s oldest and largest ikebana flower school - Yuki Ikenobō. Yuki will be working specifically on the ‘Breath/Bless project’ display which exhibits interactive dandelions. Originally, the display would send projected dandelion fluff dancing through the air when gently blown by a visitor, but as a countermeasure against the spread of infections, the display now interacts when smartphones are hovered over the flowers.
Additionally, the flowers that bloom at Nijō Castle’s event will also bloom over at Tokyo Tower’s exhibition space, which is holding its own ‘Flowers by NAKED’ event at the same time. This connection will see Tokyo and Kyoto linked through an interactive network display of flowers in bloom.

Flowers by NAKED - Sakura - World Heritage Nijō Castle

Dates: 19 March – 11 April, 2021
Time: 18:00 – 22:00
Venue: Nijō Castle, Kyoto

Monday – Thursday Admission

(Without VR Goggles)
Adults (Junior High School Students and above) : 1,400 yen
Children: 800 yen

(With VR Goggles)
Adults (Junior High School Students and above) : 2,000 yen
Children: 1,400 yen

Friday – Sunday Admission

(Without VR Goggles)
Adults (Junior High School Students and above) : 1,800 yen
Children: 1,000 yen

(With VR Goggles)
Adults (Junior High School Students and above) : 2,400 yen
Children: 1,600 yen

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Tickets for the event are available to purchase through various ticketing agencies (i.e Lawson Ticket, Seven Tickets, Rakuten Ticket e.t.c). For full details on where to purchase from, check out the official Flowers by NAKED 2021 event website.