Schedule

The Saint Kūya and Rokuharamitsuji Temple

The year 2022 marks the 1050th anniversary of the death of the Buddhist saint Kūya. The oldest surviving sculpture of Kūya is said to be the principal image of Rokuharamitsuji Temple (called Saikōji Temple at the time of its founding) in the Higashiyama district of Kyoto. This realistic image, which shows Kūya chanting the devotional Nembutsu phrase while walking, was carved by Kōshō, son of the master sculptor Unkei. Rokuharamitsuji Temple is also closely connected to Unkei’s pupils, and home to a sculpture of the bodhisattva Jizō by Unkei himself.
The Saint Kūya and Rokuharamitsuji Temple brings together masterpieces of Buddhist sculpture from the Heian and Kamakura periods, including Kōshō’s image of Kūya, Four Heavenly Kings carved at the time of the founding of Rokuharamitsuji Temple, and a Jizō sculpture said to have been carved by the master sculptor Jōchō.

Special Exhibition Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Okinawa's Reversion to Japan RYUKYU

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan. Once a kingdom named Ryukyu with a unique history and culture, Okinawa began modernizing in the Meiji era (1868–1912) and later suffered hardships because of the Second World War. However, it has continuously striven to pass its history and culture down to future generations. Through fascinating cultural properties, this comprehensive exhibition explores the founding of the Ryukyu Kingdom in Asia, the formation and legacy of its unique culture, and the region’s postwar recovery.

Tokyo National Museum is home to one of Japan’s largest collections of works associated with Ryukyu. Many were purchased from Okinawa Prefecture during the Meiji era while others were later donated to the Museum. The Museum conducts research on Ryukyu’s history and culture, and shares its findings through exhibitions. An iconic example of its efforts was the special exhibition History and Culture of Okinawa Islands, which was held at the Museum in 1992, the 20th anniversary of Okinawa’s reversion to Japan. Building on this past success, RYUKYU is the largest exhibition about the magnificent history and culture of this region.

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between Japan and China
Special Digital Exhibition: The World of the Gu Gong Imperial Palace

Located in central Beijing, the Palace Museum was formerly a palace complex called the Forbidden City, from which the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties ruled China for approximately five hundred years. Today, the Museum is home to an extensive collection encompassing 1.9 million objects.

Visitors to this exhibition will experience the depth and richness of Chinese art: They will travel to the Forbidden City at the height of the Qing dynasty through virtual reality, witness beautiful decorative arts through high-resolution 3D imagery, and dive into A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains, a masterpiece of “blue-green” painting, via a massive theater screen. The exhibition will also present Chinese emperors and the tangible cultural heritage of the Qing dynasty through select artworks from Tokyo National Museum. These displays will present an immersive picture of the imperial palace during the brilliant Qing dynasty.

Tokyo National Museum: Its History and National Treasures

Planned in celebration of Tokyo National Museum’s 150th anniversary, this exhibition will comprehensively introduce the Museum through its masterpieces and historical records, including all eighty-nine National Treasures. Approximately 150 artworks and other objects will be exhibited in two parts.

“Part One: The National Treasures of Tokyo National Museum” will showcase eighty-nine National Treasures, with rotations midway. This kind of exhibition has never been attempted in the Museum’s 150-year history and promises to be a historic event worthy of this anniversary year. “Part Two: 150 Years at Tokyo National Museum” will present the Museum’s history—which is synonymous with museum history in Japan—through artworks, records, reproduction exhibits, and videos from the past, with two rotations midway.

Tokyo National Museum is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. In addition to displaying many important artworks, this exhibition will introduce the Museum from multiple angles, such as by presenting its efforts to conserve and exhibit tangible cultural heritage. With an engaging format and exhibition space, Tokyo National Museum: Its History and National Treasures will be a stage for new discoveries for regular and first-time visitors alike.

Special Exhibition: Tōfuku-ji

Famous for its springtime greenery and autumn foliage, Tōfuku-ji is one of Kyoto’s most prominent Zen temples. It was established at the behest of Regent Kujō Michiie—the most powerful official at the imperial court—and was inspired by the great temples of Tōdaiji and Kōfukuji in Nara. Tōfuku-ji’s buildings are collectively referred to as “the façade of Tōfuku-ji” for their massive, imposing scale.

This exhibition is the first ever to comprehensively introduce Tōfuku-ji’s temple treasures. These include The Five Hundred Arhats, a monumental work by the “painter-saint” Minchō, which will be displayed for the first time since conservation. Also included are countless examples of invaluable cultural heritage that survived the devastating Ōnin War as well as exquisite Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and works of calligraphy that mirror the grand scale of Tōfuku-ji’s buildings.

Tracing the history of Tōfuku-ji from its early years and exploring the Zen culture that flourished through exchange with mainland Asia, this exhibition presents in depth the significance of Tōfuku-ji in Japanese culture.