Past Special Exhibitions

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Hokusai and the gourmets of Great Edo
November 20, 2018(Tue.) - January 20, 2019(Sun.)
Our Hokusai and the Gourmets of Great Edo exhibition is being held just five years after Washoku, the traditional dietary culture of the Japanese, was recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. The act of eating can be seen as a biological necessity for sustaining life. As a cultural activity, however, the nature of eating, of food and cuisine, reveals the distinctive qualities of each society. For Washoku, those characteristics include respecting the flavors intrinsic to ingredients and valuing seasonal differences. Japan’s food culture is, as its UNESCO status signifies, attracting intense interest from throughout the world.
The roots of that Washoku culture line in the Edo period. During two and a half centuries of peace, agriculture and fishing made great strides, the economy grew and became more complex, and, thanks to socio-economic advancement, people achieved a level of affluence that enabled them to enjoy dining as a source of pleasure. The Edo gourmet was born. Even Katsushika Hokusai, who was dedicatedly focused on his art throughout his long life, is known to have enjoyed eating sweets. Hokusai also created lively depictions of foods in Edo and of people enjoying eating them.
The exhibition is organized, in fact, with the flow of food, from farm and ocean to table, in mind. We hope you’ll enjoy every morsel of this Great Edo gourmet experience.　 Bon appetit!
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Hokusai’s Bridge Sumida Bridge – The Full Span
September 11, 2018(Tue.) - November 4, 2018(Sun.)
Bridges are a part of our history: human beings have built bridges since ancient times to overcome the natural obstacles posed by rivers and gorges, to facilitate travel and communication. Over the centuries, political and technological constraints have resulted in the development of types and structures for bridges specific to particular eras. We deal with bridges as both essential urban infrastructure and cultural monument.
The first section of this exhibition presents bridges depicted by Hokusai and his pupils including ”Remarkable Views of Bridges in Various Provinces”, a series regarded as one of Hokusai’s masterpieces. In the second section, our focus is on bridges in Sumida City and how bridges have developed and changed from Hokusai’s day on. The historic changes in bridge structures, are illustrated using postcards, blueprints and other materials. As we view the bridges Hokusai depicted, let us take this opportunity to notice and reflect upon the bridges we ourselves cross every day.
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MASUMURA Hiroshi Exhibition Featuring the Works of Hokusai ATAGOAL x HOKUSAI
June 26, 2018(Tue.) - August 26, 2018(Sun.)
Manga artist Hiroshi Masumura's 'ATAGAOL x Hokusai' series depicts a utopian world where cats and humans live as equals. That purry ideal meets ukiyo-e master Katsushika Hokusai's iconic works. Moreover Hokusai’s work which give inspiration for Masumira.
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Phantasmagoric! Hokusai’s Water Wonderland
April 24, 2018(Tue.) - June 10, 2018(Sun.)
Under the Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, is an iconic work known and loved the world around as The Great Wave. Hokusai’s depiction of that dynamic wave is, moreover, only one of his many works addressing the many faces of water. Portraying water, the shape-changer, is not simple, but Hokusai was able to capture its elusively decisive moments. His many works expressing the lively, fleeting movements of water speak of his acute powers of observation and his mastery of a broad range of painting techniques. What also enabled him to work in this way was his experience of residing in the Sumida area, with all its rivers and canals, and observing the flow, the rise and fall of the Sumida River and other watercourses day by day.
This exhibition consists of four sections: Section 1, Hokusai Dwells in Sumida, City of Rivers; Section 2, The Great Wave; Section 3, A Waterfall Tour with Hokusai; and Section 4, Hokusai and Water, A to Z. In them we present the phantasmagoric forms of water as Hokusai and his students portrayed it. Glistening, wriggling, raising waves, as though a living thing: meet water as Hokusai depicted it to experience a water wonderland—while being astounded by Hokusai’s distinctively unconventional compositions. Under the Wave off Kanagawa, from Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji will be on view throughout the exhibition period. The prints in his A Tour of the Waterfalls in Various Provinces, a thematic series of waterfalls throughout Japan, will be split between the first and second halves of the exhibition period. In addition, selected works from our collection will offer the delights of the many faces of water as captured by Hokusai and his students. How did Hokusai, who never ceased aspiring to become a true artist, depict water? This exhibition offers an opportunity to explore that question thoroughly.
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Hokusai Beauty The Brilliant women of Edo
February 14, 2018(Wed.) - April 8, 2018(Sun.)
In the changing of painting style, Hokusai established a distinctive style “Ukiyo-e portraying beautiful women”, which attracted many people by capturing the trend. The world of fabulous beauty paintings depicted by Hokusai and his pupils.