THE Doraemon Exhibition Singapore (TDES) 2022 is the first time the exhibition is being held outside of Japan. Apart from that, there are many other “first time” in the Singapore edition of the exhibition such as the first time for the exhibition to feature art pieces by two Singapore artists, and the first time for the MANGA ORIGINAL Drawings and Sketches to be publicly displayed out of Fujiko F Fujio Museum which is located in Kawasaki City, Japan.
In today’s article, we will review the exhibition and provide a brief guide on how you should tour the exhibition, our recommendations and areas which we felt can be improved.
THE Experience
TDES 2022 is a 2-in-1 exhibition, featuring both THE Doraemon Exhibition and MANGA ORIGINAL Drawings Exhibition. Ticket holders for TDES 2022 are entitled to enter both exhibition sites (made up of three main ticketed areas) with one ticket. In the public areas, you will find a Doraemon Café and a Merchandise Store, specially set up for this exhibition, selling some exclusive merchandise imported directly from Fujiko F Fujio Museum as well as some specially designed Singapore-exclusive merchandise.
TDES 2022
TDES 2022 is made up of two ticketed areas and one open area within the National Museum of Singapore. All the exhibition areas are located in the basement of the museum, each area features one act. With the theme, Create Your Own Original Doraemon, THE Doraemon Exhibition displays art pieces by 28 leading contemporary Japanese artists and art groups who were invited to create their own unique version of Doraemon based on their own memories and situates Doraemon in the ever-changing modern world.
Act Singapore
Recommended Tour Time: 10 minutes ~ 15 minutes
Leslie Kee, ‘Imagine’ (2022), THE DORAEMON EXHIBITION SINGAPORE 2022 ©Fujiko-Pro / Image credit: Doraemon Fan Club, Singapore and @mattodology_.
Situated in The Canyon, Act Singapore features art pieces by two local artists, Jahan Loh and Leslie Kee. Both of them were specially commissioned to create their unique version of Doraemon for the Singapore edition of the exhibition.
Act 1: Artworks that respond to the prompt “Create Your Own Original Doraemon”
Recommended Tour Time: 1 hour ~ 1 hour 15 minutes
Act 1 is the first ticketed area for the entire TDES 2022 where you get started after visiting Act Singapore. It is located in the Exhibition Gallery, just next to The Canyon, where Act Singapore is being displayed. Here you can find art pieces from 18 Japanese contemporary artists and art groups that respond to the prompt “Create Your Own Original Doraemon“. Artworks from Takashi Murakami and Satomi Kondo are part of the 27 artworks that will be displayed in this area. Be mesmerised by Takashi Murakami‘s “Wouldn’t It Be Nice If We Could Do Such a Thing“, which is one of the first pieces you will see after entering the exhibition area. The display of the artwork is strategically positioned where you should spend some time admiring the work and taking some solo and group shots with the artwork!
After covering over two-thirds of the Act 1 exhibition area, you will find this “time cloth” where the flashlight on your smartphones will come in handy. The artwork named “Time DORAvel” by Nozomi Watanabe features something that looks like a “time cloth” to us, combined with one of the signature scenes in Doraemon, the time tunnel. In fact, this artwork is inspired by the “Time Machine“, and that explains the reason why we feel that the artwork looks like a time tunnel. On this artwork, use your flashlight to shine on it and you will find hidden gems revealing to you. Give it a try when you are at the exhibition!
Act 2: Inspiration from Doraemon movies
Recommended Tour Time: 45 minutes ~ 1 hour
After spending a good amount of time looking at the artworks in Act 1, you may want to take a short toilet break which you will pass by while heading to the Gallery Theatre, where Act 2 will be displayed.
Greeting you when you enter the Act 2 exhibition area, is a clip of about four minutes in length, showing a summary of all the Doraemon movies released over past years. Spend a good time watching this clip to refresh your memories of all the Doraemon movies as you are about to look at the artworks created with reference to some of these movies.
When you enter the main section of this Act after having a short and quick memory refresh, you will find this giant Doraemon art piece named, “Final Weapon” by Sebastian Masuda. This is certainly the largest artwork you can find at TDES 2022. Furthermore, the choice of colours for the artwork makes it an eye-catching piece which you can hardly miss. The artwork drew references from the movie, Doraemon The Movie: Nobita‘s Dorabian Nights.
Not forgetting to mention, in this Act, there are a total of 13 artworks by 10 contemporary artists and Sebastian Masuda‘s “Final Weapon” is one of them. Don’t forget to snap some cool shots before moving off!
Doraemon Café
Recommended Break Time: 20 minutes ~ 30 minutes
After completing the three acts, why not consider taking a break at the Doraemon Café which is located conveniently at the exit of the Gallery Theatre, the exhibition space for Act 2. At the Café, you can take a seat and have a short break. Drink a cup of coffee and have some Dorayakis!
The Dorayakis are made by Japanese Confectionery Toraya (とらや), an esteemed wagashi (traditional Japanese confections) maker with a history of close to 500 years. You could also get your hands on some snacks imported from Japan!
MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition
Recommended Tour Time: 1 hour
After a break and gaining back some energy, skip the Merchandise Store first and head straight to the MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition. You will not want to carry your loot from the Merchandise Store while you tour the Stamford Gallery.
At the Stamford Gallery, which is situated next to the entrance of the museum, is the MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition. This is where you will find original drawings and sketches of the Doraemon MANGA. The over 70 drawings and sketches, making up a total of 127 panels are on loan from the Fujiko F Fujio Museum in Kawasaki City, Japan for the first public display outside of Fujiko F Fujio Museum. A thing to note is with an exception for the works displayed in the Fujiko F Fujio section, all the drawings and sketches are a replicate of the original work.
Despite that most of the works on display are a replicate, you will still not want to miss out on the details as they are exact replicas which looked like the original works. Although the MANGA is written in Japanese, Singapore’s exhibition is nice enough to provide an English translation for all the works displayed along with a brief description of where the drawings come from. You will be able to spend a good amount of time looking through all the drawings and sketches.
At the entrance of the Fujiko F Fujio section is where we can find information about Hiroshi Fujimoto, the creator of Doraemon. Fujiko F Fujio is actually the pen name for Mr Fujimoto. Learn more about him in this section of the exhibition. Here is also where the original works are displayed. Before leaving, remember to take a photo with Fujiko F Fujio‘s desk, The Desk Where “Doraemon” was Drawn!
Merchandise Store
Recommended Tour Time: At least 20 minutes (Not including queue times)
After having spent two to three hours on the two-in-one multi-site exhibition, and the first ever THE Doraemon Exhibition to be held outside of Japan, you should definitely visit the Merchandise Store and grab some limited exclusive merchandise before ending your tour.
At the exhibition, you can find merchandise exclusive to the exhibition. Puzzles, postcards, accessories, tote bags and T-Shirts bearing the designs from the artworks displayed in the exhibition.
If you have been to the Fujiko F Fujio Museum in Japan, you may find merchandise familiar as the Merchandise Store also imported merchandise from Fujiko F Fujio Museum directly for sale at this exhibition. You can finally purchase these merchandise without having to travel to Japan, for a limited time only.
After you have done your shopping at the Merchandise Store, you can declare that you have completed your tour at THE Doraemon Exhibition Singapore 2022.
THE Recommendation
TDES 2022
What makes this exhibition a Singapore edition is certainly the Act Singapore, unique to TDES 2022. With the Act being displayed in the public area, it must be a shame if you do not spend some time admiring these artworks by our local Singaporean artists Jahan Loh and Leslie Kee.
In Act 1, be sure not to miss Takashi Murakami‘s two artworks which you will be greeted by after entering Act 1‘s exhibition area. Take a few photos, group photos and solo shots! These shots will definitely be Insta-worthy. Heading further in, you will find all forms of art, drawings, paintings, videos and more! Do spend some time looking at the ‘Optical Appariton’ by Yasuyuki Nishio, which uses 3D computer graphics. Do remember to look around the back of the artwork too, which gives you a totally different view. We do not want to spoil your experience so that is all we can say.
In Act 2, where artworks take references from Doraemon movies, you can find many artworks that you can correlate to. There are two artworks which you may want to spend more time at. They are, Ryota Kuwakubo‘s ‘The bell and the sun — Secret Gadgets Museum’ and Akinori Goto‘s ‘Chrono-space‘, which took reference from Doraemon The Movie: Nobita’s Secret Gadgets Museum and Doraemon The Movie: New Records of Nobita‘s Spaceblazer respectively.
MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition
At the MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition, the most recommended section is Fujiko F Fujio‘s section where you learn more about Mr Fujimoto, look at his original drawings and sketches, and have a chance to take a photo with Mr Fujimoto‘s desk where he drew Doraemon!
Doraemon Café
The highlight of the Café is the Dorayaki, Doraemon’s favourite snack. With a special design on the Dorayaki, it makes this Doraemon’s favourite snack just even more special. Not to mention, the red bean paste made to a perfect sweetness and wrapped in between two fluffy and fragrant pancakes, giving this Dorayaki which is made on the spot just the perfection which you will not want to miss. The chef is specially flown in from Japan to make these delicious Dorayakis! You can even watch the chef making them at the Café! So, do not miss it as they are sold in limited quantities daily.
Merchandise Store
The Merchandise Store is certainly a place not to be missed as you can find exhibition exclusive merchandise and definitely, and you will find something to bring home as something to keep and display, or something to use or play with.
THE Areas We Felt Can Be Improved
TDES 2022
There’s really nothing much we could pick on for the exhibition. The organisers set it up so perfectly that you can easily walk through the exhibition.
MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition
Similarly, the MANGA Original Drawings Exhibition is perfectly set up. However, we do feel that having a staff stationed at Fujiko F Fujio‘s Desk area will be good as sometimes there may be a queue of people waiting for their turns to take a photo there. Having someone to manage the queue, especially during peak hours will be great!
Doraemon Café
Despite the café being marketed as a Doraemon-themed café, not everything on the menu is related to Doraemon. In fact, the only item related is just the Dorayaki. All other items on the menu such as the pizzas, burgers and drinks are unrelated to Doraemon sadly, not even any special designs which we expected due to the higher price tag. Hence, we recommend fans have a proper meal first before heading to the exhibition or have their meals at the other restaurant located in the museum. At the café, we advise you to purchase only the Dorayakis as that is what we feel, the only must-try item.
Merchandise Store
Due to a technical fault on an opening day, long queues formed at the store since opening and wait times can last as long as three hours before you are allowed to start shopping. We believe the problem is being solved and the queue times should further improve soon, especially after the opening crowd has eased.
THE Conclusion
We feel that THE Doraemon Exhibition Singapore 2022 is very well planned and organised, although there are some hiccups on the opening those issues should be ironed out soon. It will also be an eye-opening experience, especially for fans who did not visit any of THE Doraemon Exhibitions in Japan.
Although there were some disappointments like the food sold at the Doraemon Café, we feel that it is still a great exhibition where you should spend time at. Just remember our advice to only try the Dorayakis at the café and avoid the other food options. With the items having a high price tag, we feel it is certainly not worth the try as you can find better ones elsewhere.
Admission Information
Ticket prices
SGD 30 for Adults
SGD 25 for Individuals under 18 years old
Free-of-Charge for children under 6 years old
All prices include tax.
Present a certificate or student ID to confirm age and affiliation
Ticketing Platform
Opening Hours
Exhibition: 10AM – 7PM (Last admission: 6.30PM)
Merchandise Store: 10AM – 7PM
Doraemon Café: 10AM – 6:30PM
