Overview: Exhibitions, Events and Publications

Exhibitions:

Kupferstichkabinett: Japan on Paper in Dresden. Utamaro, Hokusai, Hiroshige and the Graphic Arts of Modernism | Until 20 September

A selection from the museum's large collection of Japanese objects, many displayed publicly for the first time. Juxtaposed by with those of international artists – among them Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edvard Munch, James McNeill Whistler, and Mary Cassatt. 

Paleis op de Dam Amsterdam: The Netherlands and Japan - Links through Time | Until 27 September 2026

Featuring imperial gifts and other Japanese masterpieces from the Royal Collections on display in the Palace’s Throne Room.

Vincent van Gogh Huis Zundert, Netherlands: DUET – Holland + Japan | Until 4 October 2026

This exhibition showcases the results of exchanges with Japan. The museum in Zundert combines works by Dutch and Japanese artists, like a ‘duet’. Inspiration from Van Gogh serves as a guiding principle in this process.

Design Museum London: NIGO - From Japan with Love | Until 4 October 2026

Explore the vision and legacy of Japanese designer and creative director NIGO – from street style to music and beyond, in the first UK exhibition showcasing his multifaceted creative work, alongside vintage objects and traditional crafts from his personal collection.

Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art: Edo in Focus -  Japanese Treasures from the British Museum | Until 17 October 2026

This exhibition will showcase selected masterpieces from the British Museum’s some 40,000-piece Japanese collection with a focus on Edo-period paintings on folding screens (byobu), hanging scrolls (kakejiku), and handscrolls (emaki), as well as prints by eight renowned ukiyo-e artists including Utamaro, Sharaku, Hokusai, and Hiroshige.

Japan House London: Kyotographie - Kawada Kikuji x Iwane Ai | Until 18 October 2026

Encounter two of Japan’s most exciting photographers – Kawada Kikuji and Iwane Ai – in a rare opportunity to see their thought-provoking works in the UK. Kyotographie (awarded five stars by The Guardian) is the first time both artists have been presented together, with their works displayed in large, immersive projections and prints that make visitors feel part of the images themselves.

Abdij van Stavelot Stavelot, Belgium: From Woodblock Print to Manga - Artistic Japan | Until 29 November 2026

From the great masters of Edo-period woodblock printing to the renowned mangaka of contemporary times, the exhibition highlights a graphic tradition and aesthetic culture that has been passed down in Japan since the medieval era.

Asian Art Museum, Turin: Dreamscapes | Until 29 November 2026

An exhibition dedicated to Utagawa Hiroshige's celebrated series The 53 Stations of the Tōkaidō, one of the greatest masterpieces of nineteenth-century Japanese art, from the UniCredit collection.

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago: Utamaro - Elements of Beauty | 23 September – 21 December 2026

This exhibition brings together more than 40 of Utamaro’s most celebrated designs, all drawn from the Art Institute’s collection.

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam: Yayoi Kusama | 11 September 2026 – 17 January 2027

A retrospective exhibition spanning Kusama's seven-decade career. 

Japanmuseum Sieboldhuis: Licht over Deshima | 25 September 2026 – 8 February 2027

Light over Deshima invites visitors to discover the earliest photographs of Japan. The exhibition explores how Dutch and Japanese scholars, physicians, and photographers came together on Deshima in the mid-nineteenth century, and how photography became an invaluable means of documenting a society in transition.

The Met, New York City: The Infinite Artistry of Japanese Ceramics | Until 8 August 2027

Featuring refined ceramics and other artworks from the Museum’s Harry G. C. Packard Collection, this exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of this landmark acquisition that established the foundation of The Met’s Japanese art holdings. 

Events:

SJA Youth and Student Member Event: A Visit To Matsuo Haruka's Ceramics Studio + Tea Ceremony | 26 September 2026

Haruka Matsuo invites the SJA to her studio and tea hut. An afternoon focused on ceramics, art and the Japanese tea tradition.

Boekpresentatie: Getuigenissen van Hofdame Nijō, vertaald door Jos Vos | Spui 25, Amsterdam | 9 Oktober

Wereldklassieker voor het eerst in het Nederlands vertaald door meestervertaler Jos Vos. Nijōs memoires werden pas in de twintigste eeuw ontdekt en deden algauw het nodige stof opwaaien: nooit eerder was de Japanse hoge adel zo openhartig en ontluisterend beschreven. Het is verleidelijk de auteur te beschouwen als slachtoffer van haar omgeving, maar bij aandachtige lezing van haar werk blijkt dat ze zeer zelfbewust was en een uitzonderlijke poëtische gevoeligheid bezat. Getuigenissen van hofdame Nijō is een meesterwerk van de wereldliteratuur, en we horen een van de aangrijpendste vrouwenstemmen uit de middeleeuwen.

 Symposium Yosano Akiko: The Hidden Lives of a Japanese Woman Writer | Leiden University | 16 September

Although Yosano Akiko died more than eighty years ago, the story of her life is being retold even today. What is it about her life and work that continues to appeal to our imagination?

Licht over Deshima - symposium, boekpresentatie en opening tentoonstelling | Leiden University | 24 September

Portretten, ontmoetingen, huiselijke taferelen, straatgezichten en landschappen. De vroegste foto’s van Japan tonen niet alleen de ontwikkeling van een nieuwe techniek, maar vormen ook een zeldzaam visueel verslag van een samenleving in verandering. Hoe bereikte de fotografie Japan in de negentiende eeuw?

 Camera Japan Festival | Rotterdam: 23–27 September | Amsterdam: 1–4 October

CAMERA JAPAN Festival is a multidisciplinary Japanese arts and culture festival held each year in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

 Tokugawa Ieyasu as Medicine King | Lecture by Timon Screech | Leiden University | 3 December 2026

This lecture will look at the ongoing worship of Ieyasu as healer throughout the Edo Period.

Publications:

Arlette van Kouwenhoven. Brandende IJver: Siebold. De Biografie. Published by LM Publishers. 2025. 

Een ware ontdekkingstocht naar de wijze waarop 19de-eeuwse wetenschappers en naturalisten hun drang naar kennis en persoonlijke roem gestalte gaven. Philipp Franz von Siebold speelde daarmee een cruciale rol in de culturele uitwisseling tussen Japan en het Westen. Zijn werk legde de basis voor de moderne Japanse geneeskunde en botanie en zijn invloed reikt tot op de dag van vandaag. Het boek is een must-read voor iedereen die geïnteresseerd is in geschiedenis, wetenschap en de boeiende verhalen van 19de-eeuwse avonturiers en culturele bruggenbouwers.

Wei-Cheng Lin and Chelsea Foxwell (eds.). Exhibiting East Asian Art in a Global Context. Published by Art Media Resources. 2026. 

Essential reading for students, scholars, and museum professionals, this book offers new insights into the stakes and possibilities of curating today’s East Asian art.

Kuniko Forrer, Matthi Forrer. Nippon: Japan through the Eyes of Philipp Franz von Siebold, 1832-1852. Published by Universiteit Leiden en Lannoo. May 2026. 

This unique single-volume reissue contains all the original plates, featuring fascinating illustrations of Japanese rituals, warfare, court culture, traditional dress, landscapes and much more. Kuniko Forrer and Matthi Forrer, experts on Japan, provide the historical context and detailed commentary accompanying all the illustrations.

This new edition of Nippon achieves what Siebold set out to do: introducing readers to the land of the shogun and inspiring wonder at the extraordinary beauty of Japan.

Recommendations for to the list can be submitted to: secretary[at]societyforjapaneseart.org