On September 24, 2025, the Fukuda Art Museum located in Arashiyama Kyoto, in collaboration with Google Arts & Culture—whose mission is to make art and culture accessible to anyone, anywhere—launched “Moving Paintings”, the world’s first project to apply Google’s video generation technology, Veo, to the museum’s collection.

Through “Moving Paintings”, we aim to delve deeply into the very experience of viewing static artworks, using technology to unlock new stories within each painting. Using Veo, we bring motion to 24 masterpieces from the Fukuda Art Museum’s collection, igniting a dialogue between the art and the viewer. Our goal is not merely to animate the works, but to unlock their hidden narratives, transforming their static beauty into vivid, living stories and opening a digital door to an entirely new way of experiencing them.

By accessing “Moving Paintings”, you can explore the “next chapter” of 24 works from our collection in two modes—animation mode and photorealistic mode. Animation mode is driven by expert-defined inputs. Photorealistic mode addresses the question of what could actually have been here. It focuses purely on contextual and environmental plausibility.

We invite you to watch the trailer. In Utagawa Hiroshige’s Shōno from The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō, rain pours down as travelers hurry along the road. In Konoshima Ōkoku’s Misty Rain and Fallen Leaves, a fawn leaps about with lively energy, while in Kawai Gyokudō’s Cormorant Fishing, cormorants swim vigorously under the glow of torches.

Nothing can replace the unique experience of standing before a masterpiece, yet by infusing these timeless works with movement, we aim to deepen the connection between the artwork, the painter, and the audience—creating a richer, more immersive encounter with art. Please step into the stories and experience art in a way you’ve never imagined.