Departures of note

Morio Shinoda was a Japanese sculptor celebrated for architectural and mechanical metal works that combined tension and playfulness. Born in Tokyo, he began creating sculpture largely self-taught while working at the National Industrial Arts Research Institute, and later studied in the United States, including at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and as a visiting professor at UCLA.

His works are held in museums across Japan. In 1966 he was one of the artists representing Japan at the Venice Biennale and received the Takamura Kotaro Prize, along with the Nakahara Teijiro Prize for Excellence and the Asakura Fumio Prize. He was best known for his TC (Tension and Compression) series, which suspended metal masses in space through the tension and pressure of steel wire.

Shinoda taught at Musashino Art University, served as a professor at the University of Tsukuba, and was a full professor at Kanazawa College of Art. Among his students were actor Naomasa Musaka, Maywa Denki's Nobumichi Tosa, and artists Toshio Iwai and Satoru Tamura. He died of illness on 27 August 2026 at the age of 95.