British Museum Edo Painting Exhibition “Hyakka Ryoran” Opens October 31 at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, with a Utamaro Painting Returning to Japan for the First Time

“The British Museum Collection of Japanese Art: Hyakka Ryoran – Edo Painting Across the Sea” opened at the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka on Saturday, October 31, 2026. It runs until Sunday, January 31, 2027. From the British Museum’s Japanese collection of some 40,000 items, it presents mainly Edo-period folding screens, hanging scrolls and handscrolls, as well as prints by eight ukiyo-e artists. Touring from the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (July 25 – October 18), it is organized by the museum, the British Museum, The Asahi Shimbun and others.

Highlights of the British Museum “Hyakka Ryoran” exhibition

The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka describes the British Museum’s Japanese art collection as “regarded as the most comprehensive outside Japan.” The exhibition consists of “Edo-period paintings, including screens, hanging scrolls and handscrolls, some shown in Japan for the first time,” and ukiyo-e prints, along with paintings by Hokusai, Utamaro, Kyosai and others.

Kitagawa Utamaro’s painting “Courtesan Reading a Letter” is described by the organizers as “returning from Britain for the first time.” Works connected with Osaka are also among the highlights, including Yoshimura Shuzan’s “Osaka Screen.”

Another pillar is “sliding-door paintings that crossed the sea.” The bird-and-flower sliding-door paintings by the Kano school have been held separately by the British Museum, the Miyakoshi family, an old family of Nakadomari, Aomori Prefecture, and the Seattle Art Museum in the United States. The exhibition displays the works from London, Aomori and Seattle together, which the organizers call a reunion after about 150 years.

Main works (all in the collection of the British Museum)

• Katsushika Hokusai, “Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)” from “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” c. 1831

• Katsushika Hokusai, block-ready drawing for “The Great Picture Book of Everything”: “India: Raising a Great Elephant,” c. 1820–1849

• Toshusai Sharaku, “Segawa Tomisaburo II as Yadorigi, Wife of Ogishi Kurando,” 1794

• Utagawa Hiroshige, “Plum Garden at Kameido” from “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo,” 1857

• Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “The Old Palace at Soma,” 1845–1846

• Kitagawa Utamaro, “Courtesan Reading a Letter,” c. 1804–1806

• Maruyama Okyo, “Tiger Cubs Crossing a River” screen, 1781–1782, and “Birds and Flowers,” 1764–1772

• Yoshimura Shuzan, “Osaka Screen,” 1725–1776

• Kawanabe Kyosai, “Frolicking Animals: Cat Riding on a Melon Pulled by Mice,” 1879

The number of works and the display periods of individual works are not given on the official page. However, the app version of the audio guide is to include “all guides, including changes of display,” so there will be changes of display during the exhibition.

Touring from the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum to Osaka

The exhibition was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum from Saturday, July 25 to Sunday, October 18, 2026, as an exhibition commemorating that museum’s 100th anniversary. The Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka is its touring venue. According to the exhibition’s official website, the Tokyo venue moved its opening time to 9:15 from Tuesday, September 29 to the end of the run to ease crowding.

The organizers of the Osaka venue include, in addition to the British Museum, The Asahi Shimbun and NHK Osaka. On the opening day, Saturday, October 31, a commemorative lecture, “The British Museum’s Japanese Art Collection and the Highlights of This Exhibition,” will be given by British Museum curator Moreen de Vries. On Saturday, November 28, a special lecture by Shugo Asano, “The British Museum’s Ukiyo-e Collection,” is also planned.

Tickets, and how to avoid crowds

Admission is 2,300 yen for adults, 1,400 yen for high school and university students and 500 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Advance and group (20 or more) tickets are 2,100 yen for adults, 1,200 yen for high school and university students and 300 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Advance tickets have been on sale from 10:00 on Monday, August 24 through ticket outlets and elsewhere, and cannot be bought at the museum. Holders of a disability certificate, including one caregiver, pay half the same-day price.

The official page makes no mention of timed entry. Opening hours are 10:00 to 17:00, and until 20:00 on Fridays (last entry 30 minutes before closing). The museum is closed on Mondays and on Tuesday, November 24, Thursday, December 31, Friday, January 1 (national holiday) and Tuesday, January 12, but open on Monday, November 23 (national holiday) and Monday, January 11 (national holiday).

The lectures are held in the first-floor hall with a capacity of 150 each (first come, first served; no application required; free), but an exhibition ticket (stub accepted) is required. The audio guide navigators are kabuki actor Ichikawa Somegoro and voice actor Atsumi Tanezaki; rental at the venue costs 700 yen and the app version 750 yen. On the museum’s fifth floor, the “NHK Nichiyo Bijutsukan 50 Years Exhibition” is also on until December 20.

Editor’s perspective

What distinguishes this exhibition is the chance to see Edo paintings that went overseas, in both prints and paintings, all together. They include works shown in Japan for the first time, as well as Utamaro’s “Courtesan Reading a Letter,” which the organizers describe as returning home for the first time. The reunion of the dispersed sliding-door paintings can be called an attempt to present, as an exhibition, the very history of how works traveled across the sea.

The basics of how to look at ukiyo-e are introduced in our introduction to enjoying ukiyo-e, and autumn and winter exhibitions in Kansai in our guide to exhibitions in Kyoto, Osaka, Nara and Hyogo. The light event in Nakanoshima Park, “NAKANOSHIMA ART LIGHTS 2026,” is covered in a separate article.

Overview

Name: The British Museum Collection of Japanese Art: Hyakka Ryoran – Edo Painting Across the Sea
Dates: Saturday, October 31, 2026 – Sunday, January 31, 2027
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (until 20:00 on Fridays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays, Tuesday, November 24, Thursday, December 31, Friday, January 1 (national holiday) and Tuesday, January 12 (open on Monday, November 23 (national holiday) and Monday, January 11 (national holiday))
Venue: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka, 4th-floor galleries
Admission: Adults 2,300 yen, high school and university students 1,400 yen, elementary and junior high school students 500 yen (advance and group: adults 2,100 yen, high school and university students 1,200 yen, elementary and junior high school students 300 yen)
Organizers: Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka; The British Museum; The Asahi Shimbun; NHK Osaka; NHK Enterprises Kinki
Official website: https://daiei-ten2026.exhibit.jp/
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

For Kitagawa Utamaro, see our guide to his life, major works and where to see them.

For Toshusai Sharaku, see our guide to his major works, the theories about his identity and where to see his prints.

*Top image: Utagawa Kuniyoshi, “Sanuki-no-in Sends His Retainers to Rescue Tametomo” (detail), Edo period, 1851, collection of the British Museum © The Trustees of the British Museum (from a press release by the public relations office of “The British Museum Collection of Japanese Art” exhibition)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the official website of the Nakanoshima Museum of Art, Osaka and the exhibition’s official website (as of October 19, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team