Adachi Museum of Art Announces Four Special Exhibitions for Fiscal 2027, Including a Bunten 120th Anniversary Show and an Autumn Show Featuring Yokoyama Taikan’s “Muga”

On September 25, 2026, the Adachi Museum of Art (Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture) announced four special exhibitions to be held in the Main Building’s Grand Exhibition Room in fiscal 2027. The spring special exhibition, opening on Monday, March 1, 2027, is “Bunten 120 Years: Weaving Beauty — Nihonga Painters of the Government-Sponsored Exhibitions.” The summer exhibition focuses on Nihonga in which invisible things can be felt, the autumn exhibition on works that marked turning points for painters, and the winter exhibition on the passage of time. All draw on the museum’s collection, selecting works by Yokoyama Taikan, Takeuchi Seiho and others.

Four special exhibitions for fiscal 2027: Dates and main works

• Spring special exhibition “Bunten 120 Years: Weaving Beauty — Nihonga Painters of the Government-Sponsored Exhibitions” (March 1 – May 31, 2027): Marking 120 years since the founding of the Bunten, it shows 30 works by modern Nihonga painters active from the Bunten through the Nitten, including Takeuchi Seiho’s “By the Hearth,” Yokoyama Taikan’s “Fisherman” and Uemura Shoen’s “Large Snowflakes.”

• Summer special exhibition “Feeling Nihonga: The Formless Things Painters Pursued” (June 1 – August 30, 2027): 37 Nihonga works in which invisible things, such as humid air, taut tension and the warmth of sunlight, can be felt, including Yokoyama Taikan’s “Towing Boats” (1901) and Kobayashi Kokei’s “Yang Guifei” (1951).

• Autumn special exhibition “Turning Points: Worlds of Beauty Opened by Painters” (August 31 – November 30, 2027): 34 works, including related pieces, that marked turning points for painters from the Meiji to the Showa era, including Yokoyama Taikan’s “Muga (Selflessness)” (1897), Takeuchi Seiho’s “Lion,” Hishida Shunso’s “Cat and Plum Blossoms” and Kawabata Ryushi’s “Aizen” (1934).

• Winter special exhibition “A Moment with Masterpieces: The Passage of Time in Nihonga” (December 1, 2027 – February 29, 2028): 33 Nihonga works that evoke the passage of time, the changing seasons and the flow of eras, including Takeuchi Seiho’s “After the Rain,” Uemura Shoen’s “Waiting for the Moon” (1944) and Kawai Gyokudo’s “Cormorant Fishing” (1931).

Why “Bunten 120 Years”? The lineage of the government-sponsored exhibitions and the “harmony of Japanese garden and Japanese painting”

The Bunten, the subject of the spring exhibition, was a government-sponsored exhibition launched in 1907. Painters from various schools and factions took part, presenting ambitious works as they spurred one another on. It was later reorganized repeatedly as the Teiten and the Shin-Bunten, and today’s Nitten carries on that lineage (our article on the 119th Nitten).

The Adachi Museum of Art opened in 1970 based on the collection of Zenko Adachi, a businessman from Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture. Its holdings total 2,000 items, including Nihonga, ceramics and lacquerware, and its works by Yokoyama Taikan are said to be outstanding in both quality and quantity. Its basic policy since its founding has been the “harmony of Japanese garden and Japanese painting.” The 50,000-tsubo Japanese garden surrounding the building was named “Japan’s best for 23 consecutive years” in a 2025 Japanese garden ranking by a US specialist magazine, and it has received three stars, the only such rating in the San’in region, in the “Michelin Green Guide Japon” (6th revised edition, 2021).

A New Wing displaying contemporary Nihonga was added in 2010, and the Rosanjin Hall, displaying works by Kitaoji Rosanjin, in 2020. In fiscal 2027, the New Wing will hold “Selected Masterpieces of Contemporary Nihonga” in three parts: I (March 12 – June 6, 2027), II (June 23 – October 25) and III (November 20 – mid-March 2028).

Admission, hours and access

The admission fees listed in the announcement are ¥2,500 for adults, ¥2,000 for university students, ¥1,000 for high school students and ¥500 for elementary and junior high school students. On Saturdays when public schools are closed, elementary, junior high and high school students are admitted free (student ID required). Opening hours are 9:00–17:30 from April to September and 9:00–17:00 from October to March, and the museum is open every day of the year. Only the New Wing has some closing days for exhibition changes.

A free shuttle bus runs from JR Yasugi Station, and by car it is 10 minutes from the Yasugi Interchange on the San’in Expressway (free parking available). Exhibitions around the country in 2027 are compiled in our 2027 exhibition schedule.

Overview

Spring special exhibition: Bunten 120 Years: Weaving Beauty — Nihonga Painters of the Government-Sponsored Exhibitions: Monday, March 1 – Monday, May 31, 2027
Summer special exhibition: Feeling Nihonga: The Formless Things Painters Pursued: Tuesday, June 1 – Monday, August 30, 2027
Autumn special exhibition: Turning Points: Worlds of Beauty Opened by Painters: Tuesday, August 31 – Tuesday, November 30, 2027
Winter special exhibition: A Moment with Masterpieces: The Passage of Time in Nihonga: Wednesday, December 1, 2027 – Tuesday, February 29, 2028
Venue: Adachi Museum of Art, Main Building, Grand Exhibition Room
Address: 320 Furukawacho, Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture
Hours: April–September 9:00–17:30; October–March 9:00–17:00
Closed: Open every day of the year (the New Wing has some closing days for exhibition changes)
Admission: Adults ¥2,500, university students ¥2,000, high school students ¥1,000, elementary and junior high school students ¥500
Inquiries: 0854-28-7111
Official website: https://www.adachi-museum.or.jp/
*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: The garden of the Adachi Museum of Art (Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture), July 2008 (Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on an announcement by the Adachi Museum of Art (September 25, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team