Exhibition

HOME > Exibitions > Current

Exhibitions

  • Now on View
  • Upcoming
  • Past Exhibitions
Museum Collection Exhibition
Beautiful Buddhas:
Masterpieces of Buddhist Painting from the Nezu Collection
Saturday, July 27 - Sunday, August 25, 2024
Beautiful Buddhas Masterpieces of Buddhist Painting from the Nezu Collection
Closed Mondays except August 12 and closed on August 13
Hours 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.(last entry: 4:30 p.m.)
General admission (On-line timed-entry tickets) Adult 1300 yen, Student 1000 yen
Gallery 1/2

The Nezu Collection includes many Buddhist paintings in scores of genres: Esoteric Buddhist or Shaka (Śākyamuni) and Pure Land types of paintings, illustrated biographies of the Buddha or eminent priests, illustrated tales of temple origin, suijaku-ga paintings of Buddhas manifesting as Shinto deities, Zen varieties, Buddhist paintings from Song- or Yuan-period China or from the Korean peninsula. Their quality, as well as quantity, are unsurpassed at other private museums in Japan. This exhibition presents the essence of our collection of Buddhist paintings, focusing on particularly beautiful masterpieces and rare examples. Please enjoy this invaluable opportunity to appreciate the glory of these Buddhist paintings and the many styles in which they were created.
Timed-Entry Reservations and Updated Requests of Visitors

Gallery Exhibits

National Treasure
Nachi Waterfall
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Japan Kamakura period, 13th-14th centuries
Nezu Museum
This large hanging scroll depicts the Nachi Waterfall, in which the spirit of the deity worshipped at the Kumano Nachi Grand Shrine resides. A masterly suijaku-ga, or painting in which a Shinto deity, regarded as an avatar of a Buddhist deity, is depicted, it is also an extraordinarily important landscape painting that integrates Yamato-e and Song – Yuan painting styles.
Important Cultural Property
Aizen-myōō (Rāgarāja)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Japan Kamakura period, 13th century
Nezu Museum
This famous painting of Aizen-myōō (Rāgarāja), with its distinctive iconography, copies the statue installed in the Round Hall of Hosshōji Temple, which was closely associated with Emperor Shirakawa. It is extremely significant as the only extant depiction of this image painted in color.
Important Cultural Property
Śākyamuni and Anan (Ananda)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Japan Kamakura period, 13th century
Nezu Museum
This peerless work, known as a miraculous Buddhist image, depicts the main focus of devotion at Seiryōji Temple in Kyoto arriving with a monk. It appears to have been created in Nara, the center of the worship of Shaka (Śākyamuni) that flourished in the Kamakura period (1185-1333).
Important Cultural Property
Kongōkai Mandara with Eighty-one Deities (Diamond Realm Mandala)
Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Japan Kamakura period, 13th century
Nezu Museum
This work presents only the Jōjin-e or perfected body assembly, the central precinct of the Kongōkai Mandala. In contrast to the stern expressions of the figures depicted in it, the floral motifs decorating the areas around them are extremely charming.
  • Exhibition
    • Upcoming
    • Past
  • Concurrent Exhibitions
  • Now on Exhibit
  • Exhibition Schedule

Page top