Japan's Largest Hans Wegner Retrospective to Exhibit 100+ Chairs From a Storied Collector
Oda Noritsugu holds the “world’s largest private chair collection,” with a particular focus on Wegner’s work. Now, he’s opening his archive of the Danish designer’s chairs to the public.
Summary
- Late Danish designer Hans Wegner’s largest-ever retrospective in Japan will be held at the end of 2025.
- The exhibition will feature more than 160 pieces from the renowned ODA Collection, a private archive curated by chair collector Oda Noritsuga.
While late Danish designer Hans Wegner’s mid-century chairs continue to enjoy appeal globally, one of his most dedicated archivists lives thousands of miles away from Denmark in Japan. Oda Noritsugu, recipient of the 2015 “The 1st Hans J. Wegner Award,” holds what is believed to be the “largest private chair collection in the world” with a specialization in Scandinavian Modernism. Now, the famed collector is slated to exhibit Wegner’s largest Japanese retrospective at Shubuya’s Hikarie Hall at the end of the year.
The chair researcher’s ODA Collection, now held by the Higashikawa Township, will contribute more than 160 authentic Hans Wegner chairs in Japan’s largest-ever retrospective for the Danish design master. Having created more than 500 chairs in his life, from the Wishbone Chair (1950) to the curved Shell Chair (1963), Wegner lived to become one of the most influential visionaries of the mid-century design movement. While the full scope of the exhibition has yet to be revealed, exhibition organizer Bunkamara shares that it will showcase four variations of “The Chair,” including Wegner’s prototypes of “The Chair,” and an old edition with a rattan-wrapped top rail.
The ODA Collection Hans Wegner Exhibition will be open from December 2, 2025, to January 18, 202,6 at Hikarie Hall (Shibuya Hikarie 9F), 2-21-1 Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Further details on tickets and admission will be posted at the Bunkamura website as the exhibition nears.
