Past Exhibitions
2024 ~ 2025
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FY2024 2nd exhibition
The Rudiments of Ukiyo-e:
Learn from the Real Thing
Second Exhibition: See the Real Thing:
Techniques of the Surishi and HorishiMay 28 (Tue.) ~ July 28 (Sun.) 2024
“Ukiyo-e” is recognized as a representative culture of the Edo era that Japan with olds with national pride. There are some pieces that must come to mind when hearing the term. In recent days, Ukiyo-e has become familiar as they are used in new paper money, passports, packaging of products, and visual designs for events.
This exhibition will share the “rudiments” of Ukiyo-e using actual Ukiyo-e pieces of the Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art collection. Dive into the depth of the Ukiyo-e world by learning the rudiments of Ukiyo-e from the basics to slightly deep knowledge. -
FY2024 1st exhibition
Two Brushes:
Hiroshige’s Scenery and Toyokuni’s PortraitsApril 2 (Tue.) ~ May 26 (Sun.) 2024
According to the Ukiyo-e painter ranking in “Edo Sunago Saisenki”, a written commentary on significant events and figures published in 1853, three Eshi of the Bakumatsu era that represent the Utagawa style are introduced as “Toyokuni “Nikaho (portrait)”, Kuniyoshi “Musha (warrior)”, and Hiroshige “Meisho (famous sights)”. This exhibition will focus on two Eshi: Hiroshige who specialized in scenery prints and Toyokuni III (Kunisada) who specialized in painting Kabuki actors and beautiful women. These are “Souhitsu” (collaboration) pieces which had two Eshi designing the portion they specialized in, and combining them into one art piece. Part 1 displays “Fifty-three Stations by Two Brushes” in which Hiroshige designed the post-town scene based on the Tokaido and Toyokuni III illustrated the figures related to the post-town. Part 2 will feature “Famous Restaurants of the Eastern Capital” that has Hiroshige capturing the scene and characteristics of a famous restaurant in Edo while Toyokuni III has illustrated the portrait of an actor.
2023 ~ 2024
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FY2023 5th exhibition
Ukiyo-e Flower Calendar:
Edo Flowers Enjoyed Through Ukiyo-eJanuary 23 (Tue.) ~March 31 (Sun.) 2024
Flowers that bloom each season were the biggest forms of pleasure for the people of Edo. Enthusiasts visited popular areas known for beautiful flowers, enjoyed gardening by preparing potted plants at home, and occasionally incorporated seasonal plants, trees, and flowers into their kimonos or accents for garments. Enjoy the plants, flowers, and trees that were close and familiar to the lives of people in the Edo era through Ukiyo-e.
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FY2023 4th exhibition
EDO LIFE
Second Exhibition: Ukiyo-e Stories: Stories in Ukiyo-e Depicted by HiroshigeNovember 14 (Tue.) 2023 ~ January 21 (Sun.) 2024
Popular culture flourished in the Edo era. Ukiyo-e Hanga, which has developed as a media of the people, captures the lives and cultures of the people, as well as the trends of the times. This exhibition will introduce the “LIFE” (customs and living) of ordinary people in the Edo era through Ukiyo-e.
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FY2023 3rd exhibition
Enjoying Famous Sights and Specialties with Hiroshige
Second Exhibition: Comic Tokaido!August 15 (Tue.) ~ November 12 (Sun.) 2023
A variety of specialties and famous sights that are unique to each post-town appears within Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road” that depicts scenery from the Nihonbashi of Edo to the Great Bridge at Sanjo of Kyoto. This exhibition will feature Hiroshige’s Tokaido series in separate sessions including Part 1 with “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” (Tsutaya Edition), Part 2 with “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road” (Hoeido Edition), and Part 3 with “Famous Sights of the Fifty-three Stations” (The Vertical Tokaido). Each “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road” will be introduced along with the specialties and famous sights that appear within the series.
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FY2023 2nd exhibition
The 10th Anniversary of the Inscription of the World Heritage Fujisan
Hiroshige or Hokusai:
View of Mt. Fuji Depicted by TwoJune 6 (Tue.) ~ August 13 (Sun.) 2023
When discussing Ukiyo-e scenery prints, we must not forget Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige. In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of “Fujisan” being registered as the World Heritage, this exhibition will introduce three masterpiece series with Mt. Fuji as the motif depicted by the two Eshi (painter): Katsushika Hokusai’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” and Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (Horizontal Chuban) and “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (Vertical Ōban). Hokusai was known for his dynamic motifs and clever framing structure and Hiroshige was known for depicting iconic scenes based on sketches while effectively using expressions of seasons and weather. Please enjoy the view of Mt. Fuji depicted by two Eshi that represent the “Hiroshige or Hokusai” world of Ukiyo-e.
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FY2023 1st exhibition
The Path: Connecting People and Things
Second Exhibition: Hiroshige Museum of Art: Fresh Releases!April 4 (Tue.) ~ June 4 (Sun.) 2023
One of the major aspects that drove cultural and economic development in the Edo era were development of traffic networks such as transportation on the roads beginning with the Go-Kaido Road (the five major roads starting from Edo) maintained in the Edo era, as well as water transportation of boats carrying cargo over rivers, lakes, and oceans. Enjoy the various “Paths” designed to connect people and things depicted in Ukiyo-e by Eshi (painter) including Hiroshige approximately 200 years after the Edo Shogunate was established.
2022 ~ 2023
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FY2022 5th exhibition
Ieyasu and Tokaido
~How It was Depicted by Hiroshige~January 24 (Tue.) ~ April 2 (Sun.) 2023
Tokugawa Ieyasu gained power with the victory in the Battle of Sekigahara, and in order to keep this power, the first thing he worked on was the maintenance of the “Tokaido Road” that connects his castle in Edo with Kyoto/Osaka. Each post-town was enacted by Ieyasu and as the roads developed, travelers increased, which resulted in a travel boom in the late Edo era. During the travel boom, the “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” Ukiyo-e series including Utagawa Hiroshige’s “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” (Hoeido Edition) was born.
This exhibition will introduce Ieyasu’s footsteps that remain in the “Tokaido Road” with particular focus on the series pieces of Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido”. -
FY2022 4th exhibition
Fifty-three Stations Collection Reveal!
November 15 (Tue.) 2022 ~ January 22 (Sun.) 2023
When we speak of Utagawa Hiroshige’s representative work, the first one that may come to mind is “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” (Hoeido Edition). During Hiroshige’s lifetime, it is said that Hiroshige had completed more than 20 “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” series other than his masterpiece.
This exhibition will feature “Fifty-three Stations” (Figure Tokaido) which puts spotlight on the figures in Part 1, and “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido Road” (Kyoka Tokaido) which reads Kyoka (comic tanka) within the piece in Part 2 from the 10 Hiroshige Tokaido series of the museum’s collection, and will display all pieces of each post town in the exhibition hall. Furthermore, the exhibition room will introduce unique variations such as “Pictorial Guide to the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” (displayed at Part1) and “Cutout Pictures of the Tokaido Road” (displayed at Part2) from the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” series.
Enjoy many varieties of Hiroshige’s “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido”. -
FY2022 3rd exhibition
Hiroshige and Kunisada:
Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido by Two EshiSeptember 13 (Tue.) ~ November 13 (Sun.) 2022
Many are familiar with “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” (Hoeido Edition) by Utagawa Hiroshige. However, not many are aware that there was another Eshi who had also depicted the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” with the Hoeido Edition Tokaido as the background. This exhibition will introduce three series including “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido” by Utagawa Hiroshige, “Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road” by Utagawa Kunisada, and the collaboration piece “Fifty-three Stations by Two Brushes” by the two Utagawa. Enjoy “Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido” depicted by two Eshi (painters) who represent the Utagawa style of the late Edo era.
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FY2022 2nd exhibition
Learning Japanese History in Ukiyo-e:
Battle of Genpei and the Kamakura Shogunate
Second Exhibition: New Collections of Shizuoka City
Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of ArtJuly 12 (Tue.) ~ September 11 (Sun.) 2022
There are many Ukiyo-e pieces that depict important figures and stories before the Edo era such as the Heian and Kamakura period. This exhibition will introduce Musha-e that captures the history of samurai during the Heian period in Ukiyo-e. Enjoy the history of Japan in Ukiyo-e from the rise of the Samurai and the Genpei War to the beginning of the Kamakura Shogunate.
In the exhibition room, we will be introducing new collections of the Shizuoka City Tokaido Hiroshige Museum of Art, which will include Hiroshige pieces from the first to the third generation. -
FY2022 1st exhibition
Popular Sights of Edo: Four Days Tour
~Day Trip in the South/West/North/East~April 5 (Tue.) ~ July 10 (Sun.) 2022
After Tokugawa Ieyasu entered Edo, the district evolved to a developed mega city and was visited by people of various regions with many reasons and purposes. This exhibition will feature Bakurō Chō, which relatively had many inns for tourists from various regions, and introduce Ukiyo-e that Hiroshige had created while referring to “Diagram for traveling around Edo in four days”, a travel guide diagram that highlighted Edo hotspots that could be visited in a day, and highlight areas of the east, west, south, and north.
2021 ~ 2022
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FY2021 5th exhibition
Hiroshige and Mount Fuji
Second Exhibition: Mount of Faith: FujiJanuary 25 (Tue.) ~ April 3 (Sun.) 2022
Mount Fuji had always been familiarized amongst the Japanese as a subject of faith and a symbol of art. The mountain was recognized as “Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration” or World heritage in 2013. This exhibition will introduce Mount Fuji from two different perspectives: art and faith.