Year of the Fire Horse by the Japanese Cultural Center

February 2026

The Japanese Culture Center presents a special gallery installation dedicated to the Year of the Horse. Drawing from the Center’s collection, the installation features selected artwork and cultural artifacts alongside a newly created neon sign spelling “Chicago” using a forgotten spelling from the Meiji period. Together, these elements reflect the spirit of the Fire Horse, energy, resilience, and forward motion while highlighting the enduring strength and presence of Japanese arts in Chicago.

The Japanese Culture Center was established in 1977 in Chicago by Aikido Shihan (Teacher of Teachers) and Zen Master Fumio Toyoda to make some of the martial arts, crafts, and philosophical riches of Japan available to the public.

Today the JCC continues this tradition, offering classes in over a dozen martial and cultural arts. The Center is not a museum where lifeless objects are displayed; it is a school where living skills are passed on person to person from generation to generation. You become an active participant in arts that have been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years.