The Beguiling World of Suspense and Mystery Films
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30 November 2025 - 29 March 2026
Suspense and mystery films captivate audiences with ingenious techniques devised by filmmakers; an accumulated wisdom of clever devices and narrative tricks that heighten the films’ dramatic impact.
Upon being invited to Hollywood from the United Kingdom, Alfred Hitchcock released his first American film, Rebecca, in 1940. It was around this time that “suspense” became established as a genre label, appearing in Variety alongside terms such as “mystery” and “whodunit.” Hitchcock, whose string of 1950s masterpieces earned him the title “Master of Suspense,” captivated audiences with stories of the crime and suspicion lurking beneath the calm surface of everyday life. From the 1960s onwards, works that focused more intently on their characters’ psychological state came to be known as “psychological thrillers,” and filmmakers experimented widely with visual expressions of dreams, flashbacks, and ambiguous memories.
Suspense films, which let us enjoy the thrill of being held in a state of tension, and mystery films, which invite us to enjoy the unfolding of a puzzle, share many common features. In contemporary cinema, which blends genres more freely than ever, these modes function like spices, adding depth and flavor to a wide variety of works. This exhibition explores both genres, from early classics to more recent titles, and delves into their enduring appeal. We invite you to immerse yourself in the beguiling world of suspense and mystery cinema, a realm that has long entertained and enthralled audiences with its thrills and enigmas.
Behind the Word “Beguiling” …
In Japanese, the word ayashii, which means “beguiling,” “strange,” “uncanny,” “mysterious”, can be written with several different characters, 怪しい, 妖しい, 異しい, and 奇しい, each evoking its own nuance of the inexplicable, the supernatural, or the bizarre. To pay tribute to the inventive, almost magical techniques in film history that grew out of early stage magic =奇術 in Japanese, the Japanese text in our exhibition writes the word using the character 奇しい, a term that suggests a world of wonder and uncanny charm.
Admission Fee for Special Exhibition: Adult 500yen, Child 250yen
※No photos in the exhibition area, allowed in the entrance only. If you need to use your translation app to read the captions, please ask the staff.
