“Hakuin World” at the Eisei Bunko Museum and Waseda University’s Aizu Museum: The First Joint Project Linking the Collections of Moritatsu Hosokawa and Shigenori Tomioka

“Hakuin World,” the first joint project in which the Eisei Bunko Museum and the Waseda University Aizu Museum simultaneously present paintings and calligraphy by Hakuin Ekaku (1685–1768), a Zen monk of the mid-Edo period, is under way. The Eisei Bunko Museum’s “Hakuin World: The Beginnings of the Moritatsu Hosokawa Collection” (Mejirodai, Bunkyo City) runs until Sunday, November 29, and the Aizu Museum’s “Hakuin World: The Encounter of the Shigenori Tomioka and Moritatsu Hosokawa Collections” (Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku City) until Tuesday, December 8. Both make major changes to their displays between the first and second periods. Admission to the Eisei Bunko Museum is ¥1,000 for adults, and the Aizu Museum is free.

What do the two museums show? “Works formerly owned by Moritatsu” revealed by research

Both museums introduce Hakuin as a monk called “the restorer of the Rinzai school,” who created an enormous number of paintings and calligraphic works and spread the teachings of Zen widely.

Moritatsu Hosokawa (1883–1970), who founded the Eisei Bunko Museum, suffered from pleurisy at the age of 16 and, deeply moved by Hakuin’s book “Yasen Kanna” (Idle Talk on a Night Boat) during his recuperation, began collecting Hakuin’s paintings and calligraphy. The Eisei Bunko Museum holds more than 300 of Hakuin’s works collected by Moritatsu, and the museum describes the collection as “among the finest in Japan in both quality and quantity.”

The Aizu Museum holds about 900 works of art collected by Shigenori Tomioka (1896–1979), first president of Japan Metals & Chemicals Co. About a third of them are early modern Zen paintings and calligraphy, mostly collected in the latter half of his life. No records survive indicating his motives for collecting. According to the museum’s 2016 commentary, the private Tomioka Museum of Art closed in 2004, and all of its roughly 900 works were donated to Waseda University.

Working together, the two museums spent about two years researching the paintings and calligraphy by Hakuin and related Zen monks held by the Eisei Bunko Museum. In the process, they discovered that Tomioka’s Zen painting and calligraphy collection included works formerly owned by Moritatsu. In this exhibition, the Eisei Bunko Museum shows works selected from Moritatsu’s Hakuin collection, and the Aizu Museum shows the Zen painting and calligraphy collections of Moritatsu and Tomioka, introducing the links between and breadth of the two collections.

Eisei Bunko Museum: Bodhidharma paintings, self-portraits and a draft of “Yasen Kanna”

The Eisei Bunko Museum’s list of works includes 68 numbered items and four special exhibits (all from the Eisei Bunko collection). The list features headings such as “Welcome to Hakuin World,” “Hakuin’s Disciples,” “Welcome to the World of Zen Painting” and “Moritatsu Hosokawa and Hakuin.”

Among the main works the museum highlights are Hakuin’s “Bodhidharma” (1767, Meiwa 4), “Self-Portrait in an Enso Circle” (1764, Meiwa 1), “Portrait of Hakuin Ekaku,” painted by Torei Enji with an inscription by Hakuin, “Kannon on a Lotus Leaf,” “Hotei in Zazen” and “Ox Herding.” These are on view throughout, while “Echigo Sanshakubo” and “Ofuku Applying Moxibustion” are shown in the first period, and “Portrait of National Master Daito” and the calligraphy “One Arrow Breaks Through Three Barriers” in the second.

There are also materials showing the relationship between Moritatsu and Hakuin, such as a draft of “Yasen Kanna” in Hakuin’s own hand (1755, Horeki 5), Moritatsu’s attestation (kakitsuke) for a “Bodhidharma” painting (1944, Showa 19) and the “Record of the 5th Seishokai” of 1940 (Showa 15). As works by related Zen monks, paintings by Suio Genro, Shunso Shoju and others are also on display.

There is also a special showing of the “Hosokawa Family Documents” to mark the completion of their restoration: a letter of commendation in Oda Nobunaga’s own hand (addressed to Hosokawa Tadaoki, 1577, Tensho 5), a memorandum by Akechi Mitsuhide and an oath sealed in blood by Hashiba Hideyoshi (both 1582, Tensho 10), and a letter by Hosokawa Gracia—four items, all Important Cultural Properties, on view throughout.

Aizu Museum: Special showing of Shoin-ji Temple’s “Self-Portrait” of Hakuin

The Aizu Museum uses the Grand Gallery on the 2nd floor and the Shigenori Tomioka Collection Gallery on the 1st floor. One of the main works is the “Self-Portrait” of Hakuin owned by Shoin-ji Temple in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture (painted by Hakuin Ekaku with an inscription by Torei Enji, c. 1755–56, Horeki 5–6), shown throughout as a special exhibit. According to Numazu City, Hakuin became head priest of Shoin-ji in 1717 (Kyoho 2), and Hakuin’s grave (a Shizuoka Prefecture Historic Site) is on the temple grounds.

From the museum’s own collection, works on display include “Sutasuta Bozu” (throughout), the calligraphy “Endonsho” of 1767 (Meiwa 4) (throughout) and “Clam Kannon” (first period only). A catalog, “Hakuin’s Zen Painting and Calligraphy: The Complete Moritatsu Hosokawa and Shigenori Tomioka Collections” (297 × 210 mm, 208 pages, ¥2,000), has also been published.

How to visit both museums: Hours, admission and access

The official websites of both museums say they are “within walking distance” of each other. The Eisei Bunko Museum is a 15-minute walk from Exit 3a of Waseda Station on the Tokyo Metro Tozai Line (10 minutes from Waseda on the Toden Arakawa Line), and the Aizu Museum a 5-minute walk from Exits 3a and 3b of the same station (also 5 minutes from Waseda on the Toden line). The Eisei Bunko Museum is also a 15-minute walk from Edogawabashi Station (Exit 1a) on the Yurakucho Line. Neither museum has public parking.

The Eisei Bunko Museum is open 10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00), and the Aizu Museum 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30).

The Eisei Bunko Museum is closed on Mondays (open November 23) and also on November 4 (Wed), 5 (Thu) and 24 (Tue). Admission is ¥1,000 for adults, ¥800 for seniors (70 and over) and ¥500 for university and high school students, and free for junior high school students and younger and for holders of a disability certificate with one caregiver. Showing a tea ticket from the tea room “Tsubaki” in Higo Hosokawa Garden gets ¥100 off admission, and there is also a stamp rally with the Shinjuku City Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum. The reception desk lends out one wheelchair and one stroller.

Admission to the Aizu Museum is free. It is generally closed on Wednesdays, and also on days the university is temporarily closed, so check the official website before visiting.

Frequently asked questions

How can I see both museums in the same period?

At both museums, the first period runs until Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) (the Eisei Bunko Museum is closed Monday, November 2). The second period began on Friday, November 6 at the Eisei Bunko Museum and Saturday, November 7 at the Aizu Museum, so the second periods of both overlap from November 7 to Sunday, November 29.

Which should I visit first?

Visiting the Eisei Bunko Museum first, with its early last entry time of 16:00, gives you time to see both museums at a comfortable pace. Only the Eisei Bunko Museum charges admission; the Aizu Museum is free.

Editor’s perspective

Splitting one project between two museums maps the provenance of the collections onto the layout of the venues. The Eisei Bunko Museum was founded by Moritatsu in 1950 (Showa 25), and its building was constructed in 1930 (Showa 5) as the household administration office of the former Hosokawa marquis family. The Aizu Museum is a university museum that has shown Tomioka’s collection, donated by a closed private museum, in a dedicated gallery. Visitors can walk between the museum of the family that began collecting Hakuin and the university museum that inherited a collection including some of its former holdings. Another opportunity to see the treasures of a Zen temple together is Tokyo National Museum’s special exhibition, introduced in our article on the Daitoku-ji exhibition.

The exhibition also includes works that incorporate familiar figures and wordplay. The Eisei Bunko Museum’s English list of works explains “Kurisonbutsu” in “Kurisonbutsu and Hanshan” as a pun on the name of a Buddha, and describes “Bodhidharma Facing the Wall in the Form of the Character Nin” as a picture of Bodhidharma facing a wall in the shape of the character “nin” (endurance). In its 2016 commentary, the Aizu Museum introduces “sutasuta bozu” as people of the Edo period who earned money by performing and visiting shrines and temples on behalf of busy people, and notes that Hakuin often painted Hotei as his alter ego. Familiar subjects and wordplay offer clues to how Hakuin conveyed the teachings of Zen.

Alongside the works are materials from those who collected and introduced them, such as the attestation and the Seishokai record mentioned above and Kurt Brasch’s book “Zenga” (1962). A Hakuin exhibition planned in Kyoto was mentioned in our article on the Zen and Ghibli exhibition. Autumn and winter exhibitions of Japanese art are summarized in our guide to Japanese art exhibitions.

Exhibition overview

Overview of the two venues of “Hakuin World,” a joint project of the Eisei Bunko Museum and the Waseda University Aizu Museum.

Eisei Bunko Museum

Title: Autumn exhibition “Hakuin World: The Beginnings of the Moritatsu Hosokawa Collection”
Dates: Saturday, October 3 – Sunday, November 29, 2026 (first period: until Tuesday, November 3 [national holiday]; second period: from Friday, November 6)
Hours: 10:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00)
Closed: Mondays (open November 23), November 4 (Wed), 5 (Thu) and 24 (Tue)
Venue: Eisei Bunko Museum
Address: 1-1-1 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Adults ¥1,000; seniors (70 and over) ¥800; university and high school students ¥500; free for junior high school students and younger and holders of a disability certificate with one caregiver
Organizer: Eisei Bunko Museum
Official website: https://www.eiseibunko.com/

Waseda University Aizu Museum

Title: “Hakuin World: The Encounter of the Shigenori Tomioka and Moritatsu Hosokawa Collections”
Dates: Friday, October 9 – Tuesday, December 8, 2026 (first period: until Tuesday, November 3 [national holiday]; second period: from Saturday, November 7)
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Generally Wednesdays (also on days the university is temporarily closed; see the official website for details)
Venue: Grand Gallery (2F) and Shigenori Tomioka Collection Gallery (1F), Waseda University Aizu Museum
Address: Building 2, Waseda Campus, Waseda University, 1-6-1 Nishi-Waseda, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Admission: Free
Organizers: Waseda University Aizu Museum and Eisei Bunko Museum (special cooperation: Shoin-ji Temple)
Official website: https://www.waseda.jp/culture/aizu-museum/news/2026/06/12/9021/
*Information as of October 30, 2026. Please check each museum’s official website for the latest information.

*Top image: The Eisei Bunko Museum (Photo: Kakidai, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information from the Eisei Bunko Museum’s official website (exhibition information, list of works and more), press releases (June 12 and October 6, 2026) and the official website of the Waseda University Aizu Museum, and Numazu City’s official website (all accessed October 30, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team