Past Special Exhibitions

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Let’s Decode Calendars by Hokusai and Others!
Wed, December 18, 2024 - Sun, March 2, 2025
Until Japan adopted the solar Gregorian calendar in 1873, it used a lunar-solar calendar (commonly called “the old calendar”) that was different from the calendar we use today. The months had 30 or 29 days (long or short months), and the number of days in each month changed each year. Since it was important, in everyday life, to know which months were long or short that year, small privately commissioned calendars, woodblock prints that concealed the designations of long or short months amidst their witty, humorous designs, were produced. Known as picture calendars (egoyomi) or long-shorts (daishō), these calendars were vastly popular in the Edo period. This exhibition presents the daishō in our collection, introducing one aspect of the flourishing Edo-period calendar culture. Please decipher where the long and short months are hidden and enjoy the clever ideas and techniques applied in what were, after all, quite small works.
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The Courtly Hokusai: Heian Literature in Edo
Wed, September 18, 2024 - Sun, November 24, 2024
We introduce the worldview of the aristocrats and court literature of the Heian period as depicted by Hokusai and his students.
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The Impact of Hokusai’s Great Wave : Under the Wave off Kanagawa —Tracing Its Origins and Trajectory-
Tue, June 18, 2024 - Sun, August 25, 2024
Japanese banknotes will be redesigned in July 2024 with Hokusai's the "Great Wave" design. To commemorate the adoption of the new banknotes, we will trace the background behind the creation of "Under the Wave off Kanagawa from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji'' and the various ways in which its design has been used. And this exhibition will introduce the impact and spread of the worldwide popularity of the "Great Wave," as it is also called.
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Theater, Dance, Music —Enjoy the Edo Performing Arts with Hokusai
Tue, March 19, 2024 - Sun, May 26, 2024
While he has now earned world-wide acclaim, Hokusai too was once a novice, just getting his start. In his early art works, he has created a large volume of works related to the theater, including music and dance. This exhibition presents works that make us appreciate Hokusai’s deep connections to the theater, including actor prints from his Shunrō period, privately commissioned prints created as invitations to musical and other performances, and his depiction of the “sparrow dance” and its incorporation in many craft objects. Through these many works, please enjoy his vast-ranging oeuvre!