Upcoming Exhibitions

• More and More: Unsettling Japanese Art

  July 2 to August 24, 2025

  Have you had this experience? You go to an exhibition to “see” the works, but you end up working hard just to read the captions. You leave without any real impression of the works—the heart of the exhibition—themselves. You look but do not see. This, our second Unsettling Japanese Art exhibition (the first was in 2021), is designed to touch your heart, enable you to enjoy the experience of seeing the works, and allow you to savor the essence of Japanese art. In it you will see famous works, rare works and hidden treasures from the Suntory Museum of Art's collection as you have never “seen” them before.

  

  The Priest in a Bag (detail), one handscroll, Edo period, 17th–18th century, Suntory Museum of Art

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

  September 10 to November 3, 2025

  The Tosa painter Kinzō, better known as the enigmatic genius Ekin, has left us many dramatic folding screens from the closing days of the Edo period and early Meiji. In his home, Kōchi Prefecture, he has long been known by the nickname Ekin. His folding screen paintings are strikingly different in style from those produced by other painters from the same period. Even now, his works adorn shrines in Kōchi during summer festivals. The dramatic scenes, lit by candlelight, come to life, making a vivid impression on those who view them. This exhibition is the first large-scale display of Ekin’s works in a Tokyo museum. In it we introduce numerous examples of the unique character and appeal of Ekin’s masterpieces.

  

  Datekurabe Okuni Kabuki, Kasane, Two-panel folding screen, Colors on paper, Honmachi 2 Ward, Akaokachō, Kōnan City

• Negoro: The Colors and Construction
  Offerings to Gods and Buddhas (TBD)

  November 22, 2025 to January 12, 2026

  Negoro refers to a lacquerware technique or negoro-nuri lacquerware said to have reached its peak at Negoroji Temple (in what is now Wakayama Prefecture) during Japan’s medieval period. Vessels created by layering red on top of black lacquer are durable as well as beautiful and were long used at places where worshippers prayed to gods and Buddhas, including temples and shrines. In the early modern period, negoro vessels were beloved in everyday life. This exhibition traces the origins of negoro and brings together famous examples of negoro’s fascinating color and form.

  

  Red Lacquered Hot Water Pot, one pot and lid, Suntory Museum of Art