Suntory Museum of Art
Exhibitions
Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosa at the End of the Edo Period

Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosa
at the End of the Edo Period

September 10 to November 3, 2025

*There will be an exhibition change during the course of exhibition.
*This traveling exhibition was previously held at the Abeno Harukas Art Museum in 2023 and the Tottori Prefectural Museum in 2024.

Kinzō, a painter of Tosa, worked on many paintings such as folding screens of Kabuki play, Ema lanterns, May festival banners, etc., from the end of the Edo period to the beginning of the Meiji era. He has been familiar with his hometown of Kōchi for many years under the nickname “Ekin-san.” The custom of displaying folding screens of Ekin for several days during the summer festival has not changed. Scenes from frightening Kabuki stories are lit up by lanterns and candles in the precincts of shrines and under the eaves of shopping streets in various places in Kōchi. They leave a vivid impression on those who see them in the darkness of a midsummer night.

Ekin’s folding screens were such a part of everyday life that there was an old saying, “When a rain shower came at a summer festival, I put away the paper lanterns before the folding screens.” Ekingura was opened in Akaoka-chō, Kōnan City, Kōchi Prefecture in 2005. Also, the Ekin School Art Gallery was established at Creative Park ACTLAND, which opened in Noichi-chō, Kōnan City in 2015. As a result, Ekin’s achievements have been reevaluated, and the environment for preserving, researching and exhibiting his works has improved in recent years. The Museum of Art, Kōchi held large-scale exhibitions of Ekin in 1996 and 2012, but most of the approximately 200 existing folding screens are owned by shrines, residents’ associations, neighborhood associations, community centers, etc. For that reason, it is a rare opportunity to see Ekin’s work in one place.

“Ekin” was featured in the magazine “Taiyō” in 1966, and “Ekin” became a temporary boom, including novels, stage performances and movies. Exhibitions of Ekin were held at department stores in Tokyo and Osaka around 1970. This will be the first large-scale exhibition outside Kōchi Prefecture in half a century, bringing together Ekin’s representative works.

Works from the exhibition

Period

September 10 to November 3, 2025

*There will be an exhibition change during the course of exhibition.
*This traveling exhibition was previously held at the Abeno Harukas Art Museum in 2023 and the Tottori Prefectural Museum in 2024.

Hours

10:00-18:00　*Friday 10:00-20:00

*Open until 20:00 on November 1 and 2
*Open until 21:00 on September 26 and 27 due to "Roppongi Art Night"
*Last admission: 30 minutes before closing

Closed

Tuesdays

*Open until 18:00 on September 23 and October 28

Admission

Adult	General ¥1,800	Advance ¥1,600
University Student	General ¥1,200	Advance ¥1,000
High School Student	General ¥1,000	Advance ¥800

Online Ticket Sales

Elementary, junior high school students and under are free.
*Advance tickets will be available on the website from July 2 to September 9.

Discount

◇100 Yen Discount
•For presenting a ticket to a thematic exhibition at the National Art Center, Tokyo, or Mori Art Museum
•For parties of 20 or more

*Only one discount per person

Organized by

Suntory Museum of Art, The Yomiuri Shimbun

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Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosaat the End of the Edo Period

SUNTORY MUSEUM of ART

About Suntory Group

About Suntory Group

Ekin: A Genius Painter from Tosa
at the End of the Edo Period