Exhibitions Archive - Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures

Making Tokyo’s Craftswomen Visible: Traditional Techniques in Motion
Tuesday 1 September, 2026 – Sunday 13 September, 2026 Exhibition at The Old Piano Shop Gallery, 19 St. Benedicts Street, Norwich NR2 4PE About the exhibition Behind the doors of Tokyo’s oldest family workshops, a generational change is taking place. Women in the traditional craft industry of Japan have long been working in the background of workshops – as family members, invisible to outsiders. Indeed, Japanese craft techniques were usually passed on within the family from the father to the eldest son. Women, on the other hand, were expected to assist without being known or their techniques being documented. Today, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, women […]

Art of Manga
Saturday 27 September, 2025 – Sunday 25 January, 2026de Young / Legion of Honor fine arts museum of San Francisco First large-scale exhibition in the Americas to explore manga as an art form, features artists Akatsuka Fujio, Araki Hirohiko, Chiba Tetsuya, Oda Eiichiro, Tagame Gengoroh, Takahashi Rumiko, Tanaami Keiichi, Taniguchi Jiro, Yamashita Kazumi, Yamazaki Mari, and Yoshinaga Fumi. Rare opportunity to experience original drawings by some of the world’s most influential manga artists, a number of which have never been on public view before. Curated by Professor Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere, Research Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, the exhibition explores iconic Japanese artwork […]

Hokusai: Art Beyond Boundaries
Wednesday 17 July, 2024 – Thursday 25 July, 2024The Shoe Factory, Norwich An exhibition by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in partnership with the Hokusai-kan Museum, Obuse. Co-curated by Dr Ryoko Matsuba – a report on the exhibitions is available here. This exhibition, building on the earlier displays for Hokusai: A Vision Above, marked the first time high-resolution reproductions of Hokusai’s works, housed at the Hokusai-kan Museum in Nagano, Japan, were displayed in the UK. Using these master replicas, this exhibition brought together a number of works from the extensive collection of Hokusai-kan, including Hokusai-painted works of a dragon, a phoenix, and a pair of […]

Hokusai: A Vision Above
Friday 5 July, 2024 – Saturday 13 July, 2024Wells Maltings, Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk An exhibition by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in partnership with the Hokusai-kan Museum, Obuse. Co-curated by Dr Ryoko Matsuba. Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) is perhaps Japan’s most renowned artist, particularly famous for his work The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Working as an ukiyo-e artist, Hokusai produced an impressive catalogue of works during his lifetime, spanning woodblock prints and paintings and mastering many impressive techniques relating to his craft. In his mid-80s, at the invitation of wealthy farmer and merchant Takai Kozan, Hokusai moved to Obuse where he created several of his masterpieces including Dragon and Phoenix […]

Celebrating 25 years of the Sainsbury Institute – Nara to Norwich
20 – 25 May 2024The Forum, Norwich A display and associated events by the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in collaboration with Hasedera. A full report on the activities of the week can be found here. As part of the Japan in Norwich programme celebrating 25 years of the Sainsbury Institute, a display and accompanying series of events was held in Norwich city centre at The Forum. The displays focused on two of the Institute’s major research projects: Nara to Norwich: Arts and Beliefs at the Ends of the Silk Roads, 500-1000 AD exploring the Silk Roads beyond their current limits of the Chinese and […]

Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan
Co-curated by Professor Simon Kaner, Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute Circles of Stone: Stonehenge and Prehistoric Japan, on display at the Stonehenge Visitor Centre 30 September 2022 – 3 September 2023, celebrates the rich culture of prehistoric Japan. Through a number of exquisite objects, some seen for the first time outside of Japan, the exhibition tells the story of Japanese settlements and stone circles of the middle and late Jomon periods, roughly the same time when Stonehenge was built and used. Although there was no contact between Japan and Britain in prehistory, there are surprising parallels between them. In both areas, people built stone circles, made elaborate pots and […]

Avebury and the Stone circles of Jomon Japan
On display at Avebury, Wiltshire from May 2023. The prehistoric Jomon inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago constructed stone monuments which, although not megalithic, are comparable in area and function to the great stone circles of Avebury and Stonehenge. They were built and used over many years spanning multiple generations. They were used to mark time and the passing of the seasons. They were oriented on skyscapes and features in the landscapes. They are associated with burials of ancestors. There are more than 50 stone circles and other comparable features known in Japan. This short film introduces some of these sites. One of the first to be fully investigated was at […]

Kyōsai: The Israel Goldman Collection
19 March – 19 June 2022
Royal Academy of Arts, London

Julius Bissier and East Asia: The Realm of My Imagination
19 May – 23 Sep 2018
Städtische Museen Freiburg, Germany

Japanese Art Dolls: Muñecas artísticas de Ohno Hatsuko
10 May – 23 Jun 2017
Centro Cultural Hispano-Japonés, Salamanca, Spain

Kakiemon: a history of making Japanese porcelain
23 June – 21 August 2016
British Museum, London

One Thing Leads to Another – A Ceramic Journey
3 Dec – 11 Nov 2015
Sainsbury Institute, Norwich

Dressed to impress: netsuke and Japanese men’s fashion
19 Jun – 17 Aug 2014
British Museum, London

JAKUCHU Exhibition with high resolution reproduction
11 – 15 Mar 2014
Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London

Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art
3 Oct – 5 Jan 2014
British Museum, London

Beauty in Detail: Japanese Art Dolls by Ohno Hatsuko
7 Jun 30 Oct 2013
Corfu Museum of Asian Art, Greece

1000 Years of the Art of Japanese Books: Treasures from the Tenri Central Library
Exhibition, Partners EventThursday 18 Apr 2013 – Saturday 22 Jun 2013 | The Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of LondonThornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG About the Workshop Tenri Central Library, in Japan, holds an extraordinary collection of rare books, including manuscripts and documents, about 1,830,000, roughly two-thirds of which are Japanese, Korean and Chinese books, and one-third Western, including Arabic and African books. 2013 will see J400 an international celebration of the 400th anniversary of Japan-UK relations with a series of cultural events planned in Japan and the UK throughout the year. This exhibition is to be part of that cultural programme intending to present together and show for […]