【Soon】Special Exhibition “Faces and Flora – Japan’s Native Tree Photography at Koishikawa Botanical Garden”

2026.05.19-2026.08.16
Koishikawa Botanical Garden, in front of the Glasshouse

In April 2025, Manila-based photographer Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo created the Japan edition of his Faces and Flora series, using Japan’s native plants growing at the Koishikawa Botanical Garden (Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo). This project was developed as part of an international collaboration between The University Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT), and the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP).
The series consists of portrait photographs of models adorned with plants, alongside still-life photographs of the plants themselves. These newly produced works, together with those from the first edition (the Philippines edition), were presented in combination with corresponding herbarium specimens in the special exhibition “Faces and Flora – Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” (2025) at the Intermediatheque.
This outdoor exhibition reconfigures that presentation within the Koishikawa Botanical Garden, where the photographs were originally taken. Installed within a living botanical environment, the exhibition brings together photographic panels and images of herbarium specimens from the Herbarium of the University of Tokyo (TI). Visitors are invited to observe and appreciate these materials, and to extend their attention to the living plants in the garden, encountering the diverse forms of native flora.
The exhibition aims to foster interest in native plants of Japan while presenting the outcomes of international collaboration, and forms part of the commemorative events for the 70th Anniversary of the Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between the Philippines and Japan. It also contributes to UMUT’s “Mobilemuseum” project, which seeks to share university-based research with the wider public.


Organizers: The University Museum, The University of Tokyo + National Museum of the Philippines
Special Partner Photographer: Jan Zoilo Rafael Mayo
Cooperation: Botanical Gardens, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
Major Partner: Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines

* This exhibition can be viewed during the opening hours of the Koishikawa Botanical Garden. An admission fee is required. For details, please see the garden’s website.
* The exhibition period may change due to weather conditions and other circumstances.

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Related Event
Koishikawa Annex, UMUT
AnnEX Lab. SOTOLABO “Faces and Flora @ Koishikawa Botanical Garden”
[More information coming soon]
2026.05.22

Past Special Exhibition
“Faces and Flora – Philippines and Japan Native Plant Photography” (2025)