Saitama Hosts the 2026 38th National Health and Welfare Festival
Overview
The 38th National Health and Welfare Festival in Saitama (Nenrinpic Sainokuni Saitama 2026) will be held in Saitama Prefecture from November 7 to 10, 2026. The art exhibition received 493 entries across six categories, and 78 works won awards, including one Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award in each category. All works will be exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, during the festival.
Key points
- The festival will be held from November 7 to 10, 2026.
- The art exhibition received 493 entries across six categories, and 78 works won awards.
- All works will be exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, during the festival.
Overview
Nenrinpic is a nationwide festival of sports, culture, health, and welfare, centered on people aged 60 and over. It has been held since 1988, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ministry of Health, to promote older adults' sense of purpose, social participation, and intergenerational exchange. It is organized by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the host prefectures and ordinance-designated cities, and the Longevity Society Development Center; the Japan Sports Agency co-sponsors it.
The 38th National Health and Welfare Festival in Saitama (Nenrinpic Sainokuni Saitama 2026) will be held in Saitama Prefecture from November 7 to 10, 2026.
Details
The art exhibition comprised six categories: Japanese painting, Western painting, sculpture, crafts, calligraphy, and photography. It received 79 entries in Japanese painting, 91 in Western painting, 56 in sculpture, and 89 each in crafts, calligraphy, and photography, for a total of 493. Following judging, 78 works won awards, including one Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award in each category.
Eligible entries are previously unpublished works created by amateurs aged 60 or over in each category. The awards common to all categories are one Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award, one Saitama Prefecture Governor's Award, one Saitama City Mayor's Award, one Longevity Society Development Center President's Award, one Gold Award, two Silver Awards, four Bronze Awards, and two Oldest Participant Awards (one man and one woman).
The Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Award recipients are Teruaki Tsuboshima for Japanese painting, with “Summer Tea Flowers”; Harue Tomioka for Western painting, with “Tree”; Kenichi Masuda for sculpture, with “Peace Japan”; Atsushi Watanabe for crafts, with “Octagonal Box of Wiped Urushi and Inlaid Zelkova”; Tomiko Kaneda for calligraphy, with “Poem by Bai Juyi”; and Hironobu Marui for photography, with “Dotonbori.” The ages listed in order (80, 82, 80, 80, 84, and 85) are as of March 31, 2027.
The exhibition is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from November 7 to 9, 2026, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on November 10. It will be held in General Exhibition Rooms 1–4 on the basement level 1 of the Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, and admission is free.