January 7 (Sat) - February 19 (Sun), 2012

Yamada Jōzan III
- "Living National Treasure", His Spirit and Ceramics

Yamada Jōzan III (1924 2005) was a ceramic artist, born in Tokoname city, Aichi prefecture in Taishō 13 (1924). He was designated an "Intangible Cultural Asset" (or more popularly called Living National Treasure) in Heisei 10 (1998) for his career in Tokoname ware, especially the making of tea pots. Over the past 20 years the Idemitsu Museum of Arts has collected Jōzan's ceramics, ranging from various pots, tea ceramics to Tokoname ware natural glaze jars. The year 2012 marks the seventh anniversary of the artist's death, and the exhibition is planned to show the entire collection for the first time. We hope that you will enjoy the simple, honest and warm art of Jōzan and that this show will provide the opportunity to learn about his life as an artist.

February 25 (Sat) - March 25 (Sun), 2012

Kohitsu Tekagami, Albums of Ancient Calligraphy of Poem Anthologies
- Focusing on National Treasures, Minuyo no Tomo and Moshiogusa

Kohitsu is a general term referring to the fragmented segments of calligraphy copied prior to the modern period, especially to the texts of poem anthologies in kana calligraphy. Well into the modern period, rare kohitsu were separated into segments. These segments, called kohitsu-gire, were collected and made into albums, and their appreciation developed in the Edo period. Concentrating on the album Minuyo no Tomo and Moshiogusa (in the collection of Kyoto National Museum) assembled by the Kohitsu family, who specialized in the appraisal of calligraphy in the Edo period, this exhibition will show various albums and masterpieces of kohitsu.We will also display the album of Heian-period segments of calligraphy Tanimizu-jo (Important Cultural Property, in the collection of Itsuo Art Museum) compiled in the modern times.

April 3 (Tue) - June 10 (Sun), 2012

Eternal Beauty
- From Karamono Tea Ceramics to Bronzeware

China takes pride in its tradition of eternal beauty and Japan has always admired and borrowed elements of the outstanding Chinese culture. Ink paintings and Chinese tea ceramics, known as karamono (literally, things Chinese) that were carefully transmitted, are representative examples of such Japanese reception. On the other hand, we are less familiar with bronzeware, jades and other ancient ceramics that are in the mainstream of Chinese art, although these craft items are the outcome of the technique and skill of their time period. This exhibition will trace the origin of Chinese art in the hope of presenting its true pleasures.

June 16 (Sat) - July 22 (Sun), 2012

Discover the Beauty of Japan VII
MATSURI - Amusements, Festivals and Famous Places

Paintings of festivals and community amusements popular during the Edo period are fascinating studies that vividly depict groups of people enjoying the events. In a way, these paintings can be considered as developing from the paintings of famous places that were created in relation to matsuri (festivals) designed to venerate the gods. The famous places that attract our attention are shrines and kabuki stages. This exhibition will concentrate on the "place" or the scene and the groups of people illustrated, examining the paintings of festivals and amusements in their relationship to matsuri.

August 4 (Sat) - October 21 (Sun), 2012

Getting to Know Ceramics IX
White Ceramics of the East - The Genuine Pure World
Also Exhibited: Zenga by Sengai

White porcelain is basically a type of ceramics made with pure white clay fired with transparent glaze. Due to its simplicity, it calls for precise forms and refined incised patterns. It also truly reflects the aesthetics of the time period and people. This exhibition will feature the highly praised white porcelain of the Song period as well as other examples of white porcelain from various areas and periods from China, Korea and Japan, all selected from the oriental ceramics collection of the Idemitsu Museum of Arts. We hope that the exhibition will take you to the world of white porcelain that will, figuratively speaking, cleanse your heart.Also exhibited are representative Zen paintings by Sengai, selected from the Idemitsu collection.

October 27 (Sat) - December 16 (Sun), 2012

The Art of Rimpa II

Sakai Hoitsu is the founder of Edo Rimpa, known for reviving the elegant art of Rimpa which was a tradition continued by Kyoto artists, Koetsu, Sotatsu and Korin. Last year, the special exhibition held to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Hoitsu’s birth was cancelled in the middle of the showing due to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake. This exhibition will give another chance for those who missed the show to enjoy and appreciate the art of Rimpa. With new elements added to the organization and theme, this display will introduce the esthetics of the Edo Rimpa School, concentrating on Sakai Hoitsu (1761-1828) and his best disciple, Suzuki Kiitsu (1796 -1858).

January 11 (Fri) - March 24 (Sun), 2013

Commemorating the Renewal of the Middle Eastern Culture Center in Japan
Art of the Orient

The art of the Middle and Near East in the Idemitsu collection is rich in archaeological materials chiefly composed of items from Egypt, Iran, Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean area, and is one of the best collections in Japan. The collection has been exhibited at the Middle Eastern Culture Center (Mitaka, Tokyo), but since the Center is closed for renovation, carefully selected masterpieces from ceramics, metalwork, glassware and stoneware will be exhibited in Marunouchi for the first time in thirty-four years. We hope that you will find much pleasure in the elaborate works created as a result of the exchange between the cultures of the East and West, including items from the three great ancient civilizations of the world.