Japanese Art at World’s Fairs from the Late Edo Period Onwards Expo: Nihonga in Profusion Hokusai • Taikan • Suiseki
Fukuda Art Museum
Until Sep 28
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Held every five years and frequently attracting tens of millions of visitors, world expositions are the largest global events. Known also as world’s fairs and, these days, as expos, participating countries showcase their current science, technology, and culture. Decorative arts used to be thought highly indicative of cultural achievement. Consequently, by showing the works of Hokusai and other earlier artists, as well as ambitious works by contemporary painters, feudal and modern governments of Japan actively used expos as an opportunity to gain international recognition for the nation’s art and culture.
For the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Ōhashi Suiseki, Hashimoto Gahō, Yokoyama Taikan, Takeuchi Seihō, and Uemura Shōen eagerly rose to the challenge of creating paintings to show what Japan could do. Among the awards they won, Ōhashi Suiseki became the first-ever nihonga artist to win an expo gold medal.
To obtain valuable foreign currency, most Japanese paintings exhibited at expos were sold in the host country. Consequently, these works cannot easily be exhibited in Japan today. The passion and skill of the expo artists, however, is amply evident in works they created around the same time.
To commemorate the 2025 Expo being held here in Kansai, the museum is showing superlative works by painters who dared exhibit their art to the world.
The exhibition is cohosted by the nearby Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture.
In the hope that families will visit us during the summer holidays, admission for elementary school students will be free throughout August. In addition, due to popular demand, our ‘Lively Tuesday’ event will now be applied to Sundays from July 19. As you plan your summer break, we warmly invite you to stop by our museum—not just the Osaka-Kansai Expo!
1st period: July 19 (Sat.) – August 25 (Mon.)
2nd period: August 27 (Wed.) – September 28 (Sun.)
For the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Ōhashi Suiseki, Hashimoto Gahō, Yokoyama Taikan, Takeuchi Seihō, and Uemura Shōen eagerly rose to the challenge of creating paintings to show what Japan could do. Among the awards they won, Ōhashi Suiseki became the first-ever nihonga artist to win an expo gold medal.
To obtain valuable foreign currency, most Japanese paintings exhibited at expos were sold in the host country. Consequently, these works cannot easily be exhibited in Japan today. The passion and skill of the expo artists, however, is amply evident in works they created around the same time.
To commemorate the 2025 Expo being held here in Kansai, the museum is showing superlative works by painters who dared exhibit their art to the world.
The exhibition is cohosted by the nearby Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture.
In the hope that families will visit us during the summer holidays, admission for elementary school students will be free throughout August. In addition, due to popular demand, our ‘Lively Tuesday’ event will now be applied to Sundays from July 19. As you plan your summer break, we warmly invite you to stop by our museum—not just the Osaka-Kansai Expo!
1st period: July 19 (Sat.) – August 25 (Mon.)
2nd period: August 27 (Wed.) – September 28 (Sun.)
Schedule Now in session | Jul 19 (Sat) 2025-Sep 28 (Sun) 2025 55 days left Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults and University Students ¥1500; High School Students, Persons with Disability Certificates + 1 Companion ¥900; Junior High and Elementary School Students ¥500 | ||||
| Website | https://fukuda-art-museum.jp/en/exhibition/202503081571 | ||||
| Venue | Fukuda Art Museum https://fukuda-art-museum.jp/en/ | ||||
| Location | 3-16 Susukino Baba-cho, Sagatenryuji, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 616-8385 | ||||
| Access | 12 minute walk from Saga-Arashiyama Station on the JR San’in Main line (Sagano line), 11 minute walk from Arashiyama Station on the Hankyu line, 4 minute walk from Arashiyama Station on the Randen Arashiyama line. | ||||
| Phone | 075-863-0606 | ||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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