Upcoming Exhibitions

• NEGORO ― The Art of Fascinating Lacquerware in Red and Black

  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

• Kyosai's World: The Israel Goldman Collection

  April 22 to June 21, 2026

  Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831-89) was one of the most renowned artists of his day. His popularity has increased enormously in recent years, both in Japan and abroad. The artist's themes range from Shintō and Buddhist subjects to comic pictures with animals, ghosts and goblins. In each of Kyōsai's works we witness his technical brilliance and wit. This exhibition presents exquisite examples of paintings and prints from the Israel Goldman Collection, London, including many works that will be shown in Japan for the first time.

  

  Hell Courtesan, dancing Ikkyū and skeletons, Kawanabe Kyōsai, hanging scroll, 1871-89.
  Israel Goldman Collection, London.　Photo: Ken Adlard.

• A Feast for the Eyes: Tableware (TBD)

  July 8 to August 30, 2026

  This exhibition showcases ceramic tableware that accompanied entertaining with food and drink in the Momoyama and Edo periods. These dishes and other vessels convey the warmth of the host's welcome. Along with the delicious food served on them, these works are themselves a feast for the eyes, intended to add to the guest's delight. This exhibition introduces a variety of vessels used when entertaining. Produced at many production centers, by many potters, they feature a host of forms and motifs and were used in many ways. Here, please enjoy each of these works' creative forms while also encountering scenes of Edo-period hospitality for the events these works adorned.

  

  Oribe suhama-shaped dish with handle, Mino, Momoyama period, 17th century, Suntory Museum of Art

• Collection of Itsuo Art Museum (TBD)

  September 16 to November 8, 2026

  The Itsuo Art Museum was founded in Ikeda city, Osaka, in 1957. "Itsuo" was the pen name of Kobayashi Ichizō (1873-1957), a giant among the entrepreneurs who built modern Japan: founder of the Hankyu Toho Group (today's Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group), which includes railroads and many other businesses. The museum's collection of 5,500 works reflects Itsuo's approach to art, his multifaceted accomplishments and enterprising personality, in a truly diverse collection that ranges from kohitsugire (old calligraphy fragments) and tea utensils to paintings by Yosa Buson and Go Shun. This long-awaited exhibition is an opportunity to view these carefully selected masterpieces together in one setting.

  

  Important Cultural Property, White Plum Blossoms, Go Shun, Right of a pair of six-panel folding screens, Edo period, 18th century, Itsuo Art Museum, Hankyu Culture Foundation

• The Art of the Lotus Sutra (TBD)

  December 12, 2026 to February 7, 2027

  The Lotus Sutra has long been the greatest object of faith for Japanese Buddhists of every class and gender. This sutra teaches that all human beings can achieve enlightenment and be saved from this world’s tribulations. Faith in the Lotus Sutra has inspired a rich variety of works of art, from centuries ago to the present. This exhibition introduces lavishly decorated sutras, statues of the Buddha, Buddhist paintings, and other works associated with the Lotus Sutra, offering an opportunity to better understand the interconnections of that faith and its spread in Japan.

  

  Important Cultural Property, Lion (Manjushri’s Pedestal) and Elephant (Samantabhadra’s Pedestal), Kamakura period, 12th-13th century, Suntory Museum of Art, Photo: Kyosuke Sasaki