Rijks RP-P-1980-6 hokusai fuji sakura

About SJA

The Society for Japanese Art (SJA) is based in the Netherlands. The SJA currently has over 500 members in 24 countries, including prominent museums and institutions. 

Individual members include collectors of Japanese art, art dealers, individuals with a general interest in Japanese art, and academics specialising in various aspects of Japanese art.

The SJA provides an inspiring platform for sharing knowledge and experience regarding every aspect of the visual and applied arts of Japan. We organize activities such as lectures, symposia, guided exhibition tours by curators or other experts and museum depot visits. Through these activities we provide a forum in which members can exchange ideas and experiences with experts about Japanese art.

Our periodical Andon appears twice a year. Over the years Andon has developed into a scholarly journal with an international reputation. We are also active in social media. On our website we provide seasonal exhibition selections, regular overviews of publications devoted to Japanese art, 'members picks' showcasing Japanese art objects and exhibition reviews.  

Discussion at the Laquer Symposium in the Rijksmuseum
Andon 87

Top: Discussion with the speakers Jan Dees (lacquer expert), Ching-Ling Wang (curator of Chinese art, Rijksmuseum), Dave van Gompel (Japanese lacquer expert and restorer) and Menno Fitski (head of the department of Asian art, Rijksmuseum) at the end of the Laquer Symposium in the Rijksmuseum, 3 July 2022.

Bottom: the cover of the Andon special issue published on the occasion of the Japan Tattoo exhibition in the Japan Museum SieboldHuis, Leiden.

Conferences and exhibitions

Over the years the SJA has (co-)organised several conferences. In February 2023 the SJA hosted the two-day conference The Context of Ukiyo-e, on the occasion of the society’s 85th anniversary. Other conferences the SJA (co)organized are: the Lacquer Symposium (2022, in collaboration with Royal Asian Art Society), Taishō – Years of Irony and Paradox (2013, on the occasion of the SJA’s 75th anniversary) and Yoshitoshi, his Life and Works (2011).

In addition, the Heinz Kaempfer Fund organized the Kunisada symposium on 3 March 2017 to celebrate the SJA’s 80th anniversary.

Items from SJA members’ collections have graced major and minor exhibitions all over the world. In addition, the SJA has, over the years, taken the initiative for several successful exhibitions, often with accompanying catalogues:

  • 2009 - Japan Tattoo: Tattoos in Japanese Prints - Japan Museum SieboldHuis, Leiden
  • 2007 - A Brush with Animals: Japanese Paintings 1700-1950 - Kunsthal, Rotterdam
  • 1998 - Kuniyoshi: Heroes & Ghosts - Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
  • 1992 - Yoshitoshi: Beauty and Violence - Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
  • 1987 - Meiji: Japanese Art in Transition - Kunstmuseum, The Hague
from sketch to woodblock print

Museum Volkenkunde’s Japanese department curator Daan Kok during the workshop ‘From Sketch to Woodblock Print’ in the Volkenkunde Museum depot in 2022.

Activities

In addition to conferences and exhibitions, the SJA organizes all sorts of smaller activities, such as guided tours through exhibitions, city trips, and workshops. Members are also welcome to take the initiative and organize events themselves with the support of the SJA.

 

Benefits of SJA Membership

Members receive: 

  • the English-language journal Andon twice a year
  • full access to the website 
  • access to the Andon Archive
  • access to activities organized and/or hosted by the SJA
  • monthly Newsletter to keep you informed on news about Japanese art
  • a world wide network of connoisseurship of and love for Japanese art

Most activities are organized in the Netherlands. Some are recorded and posted on our website. 

    The SJA Board

    • Chris Uhlenbeck - Vice-Chairman
    • Jim Dwinger - Secretary
    • Cisca van Wonderen - Treasurer 
    • Teatske Kramer - Social Media
    • Arlette Kouwenhoven
    • Daan Kok

    History

    The Society for Japanese Arts was founded in 1937 by a group of Dutch collectors of and dealers in Japanese art in order to “bring together people interested in or having an interest in the different genres of Japanese art to further the appreciation and encourage the study of the same.” This, in fact, is still the Society’s aim.

    Krieger en Modderman

    Chris C. Krieger, a Japan scholar and curator of Asia at the Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, was the Society’s first chairman. Berend Modderman, a bookseller and collector of Japanese prints, became the editor-in-chief of the Society’s Bulletin. In these pre-internet years it was not always easy to find sound, reliable information, and the publication of a periodical was high on the founders’ list of intentions. The first issue of the Bulletin (in Dutch) appeared in October 1938 and was received with general enthusiasm by the Society’s 38(!) members. The organisation of study meetings and (small) exhibitions also formed part of the Society’s activities right from the start.

    After the war, attempts were made to restore lost contacts and revive the Society. The Bulletin re-emerged in 1948, but it proved difficult to keep the momentum. It appeared at ever greater intervals and was, in the early 1960s, gradually replaced by a newsletter. As the number of non-Dutch members was steadily increasing, it was decided in 1963 to publish the newsletter in both Dutch and English. In 1972 the Society officially changed its name from Vereeniging voor Japansche Grafiek en Kleinkunst (Society for Japanese Graphic and Minor Arts) to Society for Japanese Arts and Crafts – the ‘Crafts’ were gone by the Society’s 50th anniversary in 1987. The first issue of the English-language journal Andon appeared in 1981. The quarterly newsletter continued to be sent to members by post, until it was replaced by the now familiar email version. The Society is proud of its Heinz Kaempfer Fund, created in 1989 to provide financial support for young scholars.