Two major exhibitions related to Japanese art

The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan,¹ will finally be held on April 13th.
There will be many art events related to this expo. Still, the special exhibitions at two national museums in the Kansai region are rare opportunities to see a collection of national treasures and other treasures of Japanese art, including many national treasures that are not usually on public display, all in one place.
In this article, we will introduce these two special exhibitions.

Special Exhibition Commemorating EXPO 2025 OSAKA, KANSAI “Japan, an Artistic Melting Pot”² [Kyoto National Museum]

This exhibition brings together the finest treasures of Japanese art from the exchange of artistic culture from ancient times to the present day.
From ancient times, Japan has been brought into contact with different cultures through maritime trade, and this encounter has led to the creation of a wide range of artistic works.
This exhibition traces the history of Japanese art, which developed through interaction with other cultures, through approximately 200 masterpieces from three perspectives: “Japanese art as seen by the world,” “Japanese art that wanted to be seen by the world,” and “Japanese art that blended with the world,” and reveals the appeal of Japanese art from a variety of perspectives.

Highlight 1: The new appeal of masterpieces born from interaction

At the end of the 19th century, Japan compiled an art history that emphasized its uniqueness in response to the Japanese craftwork that attracted attention at the world fairs in Europe and America. This exhibition offers a new experience of discovering new charms by reinterpreting masterpieces from various perspectives, including the world’s perspective, the image that Japan sought to present, and the fusion of different cultures.

Highlight 2: Experience the “Crucible of Beauty” through 200 masterpieces

The exhibition will use the keyword “crucible” to express the aspects of Japanese art, which has produced diverse beauty through blending different cultures, by displaying around 200 works, including 16 national treasures and 50 important cultural properties. The encounter with masterpieces that transcend time and origin, such as the “Standing Image of Priest Hōshi,” a valuable Heian-period carving of a priest from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period in China, and the powerful “Image of Rāhula,” a Buddhist statue from the Edo period by a Chinese Buddhist sculptor, illustrates the depth of Japanese art.

There are so many recommended works on display that it’s impossible to narrow it down. Still, if I had to choose, I would say the masterpiece by Katsushika Hokusai³, “Fugaku Sanjurokkei⁴: Kanagawa-oki Nami-ura,” which is a representative work of Japanese art that has been highly praised around the world and is also used as the main visual for the exhibition, and “National Treasure: Wind and Thunder Gods” by Tawaraya Sotatsu⁵, the founder of the Rimpa school, which is the face of Japanese beauty to the world.

Special Exhibition Celebrating the Nara National Museum’s 130th Anniversary “Oh! KOKUHŌ Resplendent Treasures of Devotion and Heritage”⁷

As a museum specializing in Buddhist art, the Nara National Museum preserves, researches, and displays cultural properties in various fields, including sculpture, painting, calligraphy, crafts, archaeology, information, and conservation.
To commemorate the museum’s 130th anniversary of founding, this exhibition will introduce around 140 masterpieces of Japanese Buddhist and Shinto art, including around 110 national treasures and around 20 important cultural properties. It will focus on national treasures closely related to the history of Nara and the Nara National Museum, and significant works that could be called future national treasures.

Highlight 1: The First “National Treasure Exhibition”

The Nara National Museum has an extensive collection of national treasures. Surprisingly, this is the first exhibition on “national treasures.”
Incidentally, the exhibition title “Super National Treasures” means that the works on display are the best and expresses the Nara National Museum’s desire to pass on the cultural heritage passed down from our predecessors to future generations.

Highlight 2: 100% Buddhist and Shinto Art

This exhibition features 100% Buddhist and Shinto art, including Buddhist statues, Shinto statues, Buddhist paintings, sutras, and Buddhist ritual implements, which researchers in each field have carefully selected. You can enjoy a wide range of one-of-a-kind treasures imbued with prayer.

It’s challenging to narrow down the recommended exhibits here, but the “National Treasure: Seated Bodhisattva (Attributed to Jyorai Kannon)”⁸ is a Buddhist sculpture representing the Asuka period. It is so famous that it can be said that every Japanese person knows about it.
Another sculpture is the “National Treasure: Standing Kannon Bodhisattva (Baekje Kannon)”, a masterpiece of Buddhist sculpture representing the Asuka period that everyone knows about.

Footnotes

1. The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan -Official Site ↩︎
2. Japan, an Artistic Melting Pot – Official Site ↩︎
3. Hokusai – Wikipedia ↩︎
4. Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji – Wikipedia ↩︎
5. Tawaraya Sotatsu – Wikipedia ↩︎
6. Kyoto National Museum Official Site ↩︎
7. Oh! KOKUHŌ Resplendent Treasures of Devotion and Heritage – Nara National Museum Official Site ↩︎
8. Nyoirin Kannon Bosatsu – Chuguji Temple Official Site ↩︎
9. Nara National Museum – Official Site ↩︎