Special Exhibition “The Birth of Karamono” at Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo from November 3: About 80 Works Including Six National Treasures Trace the Origins of Tea Ceremony Design

The special exhibition “The Birth of Karamono: Exploring the Origins of Tea Ceremony Design” will be held from Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) to Sunday, December 13, 2026, at Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo in Roppongi, Tokyo. It traces the origins of “karamono,” prized as precious utensils in the tea ceremony of medieval Japan, back to ancient China about 3,000 years ago. According to the museum’s announcement, about 80 works will be shown, including six National Treasures and nine Important Cultural Properties, with changes between the first and second periods. It is said to be the first exhibition by the three partners: Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum, the Chado Research Center (Urasenke Konnichian) and Ashiya Kama no Sato.

What are “karamono”? A 3,000-year history of tea ceremony design

Citing the “Kokushi Daijiten” (Great Dictionary of Japanese History), the announcement explains karamono as “a general Japanese term applied to goods imported from China and elsewhere in ancient and medieval times.” Many were brought in during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods, when Japan–China trade flourished, and were valued as precious utensils in the tea ceremony. Items regarded as karamono were not limited to Chinese products, but also included things made on the Korean Peninsula and in Southeast Asia, as well as Japanese products.

Taking gudo (kodo) bronze flower vases as its starting point, the exhibition looks at designs shared by metalwork, ceramics and lacquerware, reframing the tea ceremony within the cultural history of East Asia. It traces how the base of tea ceremony design broadened as ancient Chinese forms were repeatedly imitated and adapted.

Why now? Joint research by three partners, and bronzes from the Sumitomo Collection

The exhibition is based on multiyear joint research by Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum, the Chado Research Center and Ashiya Kama no Sato. Another feature is that famous tea utensils are displayed in the same space as Shang and Zhou bronzes from the Sumitomo Collection. Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo is currently closed and reopens with the opening of this exhibition on November 3. According to the museum’s press materials, the exhibition is scheduled to tour to the Chado Research Center in 2027.

What can visitors see? Five chapters and the main works

The exhibition consists of five chapters and a special section. Chapter 1, “Longing for Antiquity,” shows through comparisons of ancient bronzes and later crafts how the forms of Shang and Zhou bronzes became models for later generations, with interest rising in the Song dynasty. Chapter 2, “The Formation of Norms: Tea Culture and Artifacts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties,” explores the establishment of “classics” through Song and Yuan painting and crafts, and Chapter 3, “Japan–China Trade and the Arrival of Tea Culture,” deals with items brought by maritime trade and their development into Japanese imitations and uniquely Japanese designs.

Chapter 4, “The Age of the ‘Kundaikan Sayu Choki’,” focuses on the “Higashiyama Gomotsu,” said to have been owned by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, and a manual on display and connoisseurship, looking at how karamono were selected and systematized in Japan. Chapter 5, titled “And Then to Rikyu” in the press materials, takes up the tea ceremony of later periods, showing that utensils of Sen no Rikyu’s time had many continental elements, including designs linked to ancient Chinese bronzes.

The main works are as follows (where no display period is given, the museum’s materials do not state one).

• National Treasures, “Autumn Landscape” and “Winter Landscape,” attributed to Huizong (China, Southern Song; Konchi-in, Kyoto): “Autumn Landscape” in the first period (November 3–23), “Winter Landscape” in the second period (November 25 – December 13)

• National Treasure, “Tenmoku Tea Bowl with Scattered Flowers in Tortoiseshell Glaze” (China, Southern Song; Shokoku-ji, Kyoto): first period

• Important Cultural Property, “Celadon Tea Bowl with Lobed Rim, named Bakohan” (China, Southern Song; Tokyo National Museum): second period

• Important Cultural Property, “Calligraphy by Wuer Kexuan” (China, Southern Song, 1268; Konnichian): first period

• National Treasure, “Herding Cattle in an Autumn Field,” attributed to Yan Ciping (China, Southern Song; Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum): second period according to the announcement updated August 30

• National Treasure, “Celadon Vase with Phoenix Handles, named Bansei” (China, Southern Song; Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi), Important Cultural Property, “Returning Sails off a Distant Shore,” attributed to Muqi (China, Southern Song; Kyoto National Museum; first period), and Important Cultural Property, “Celadon Cong-Shaped Vase” (China, Southern Song; Tokyo National Museum)

• “Gudo Flower Vase with Peach-Shaped Base” (China, Ming; private collection), “Zun of Father Ji, Ding Clan” (China, late Shang; Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum), “Bunrin Tea Caddy, named Wakakusa” (China, Southern Song to Yuan; Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo), “Ashiya Kettle in Shin Form with Hail-Pattern Ground” (Japan, Muromachi; Ashiya Kama no Sato) and “Ko-Ido Tea Bowl, named Rokujizo” (Korea; Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo)

The special section, “Exploring the Casting Technique of Gudo,” deals with gudo, which the announcement explains is valued in the tea world as the most formal “shin flower vase.” While often treated as karamono because of designs modeled on ancient Chinese bronzes, much about gudo, including where it was made, remains unclear. Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum, together with the Chado Research Center and Ashiya Kama no Sato, has studied its casting techniques and carried out a casting experiment on the “Gudo Flower Vase with Peach-Shaped Base,” and the display presents the results.

Tickets, prices, opening hours and related events

Admission is ¥1,500 for adults and ¥800 for students, and free for those 18 and under. Advance tickets are sold online only until November 2, at ¥1,300 for adults and ¥700 for students (the same prices apply to groups of 20 or more). A second visit during the exhibition is half price on showing the ticket stub from this exhibition (once per person). Holders of a disability certificate or similar and one companion are admitted free, and the “Grutto Pass 2026” and the museum’s annual passport can also be used (our guide to the Grutto Pass). No date-and-time reservation is required.

Opening hours are 11:00–18:00, until 19:00 on Fridays (last entry 30 minutes before closing). The museum is closed on Mondays (open on November 23) and Tuesday, November 24. It is located at 1-5-1 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo, about a 3-minute walk from the Izumi Garden 1F exit of Roppongi-itchome Station on the Tokyo Metro Namboku Line via an outdoor escalator, and about a 10-minute walk from Exit 4b of Kamiyacho Station on the Hibiya Line and Exit 13 of Tameike-sanno Station on the Ginza and Namboku lines.

Related events include the lecture “A Cultural History of Gudo in the Tea Ceremony” by Reijiro Isumi (deputy director, Chado Research Center) on November 3, the “Art with” lecture “Creating Anew by Emulating the Old: Learning from Ashiya Kettles and Chinese Bronzes” by Ashiya caster Yosuke Higuchi on November 27 (fee ¥500), and the commemorative symposium “Japanese Traditional Culture and Chinese Metalwork” on November 29. These require reservations, accepted online on a first-come basis from noon on October 19. Slide talks by curators (November 12 and 28) require no reservation, with numbered tickets distributed from 11:00 on the day. All require an exhibition ticket for the day.

Editor’s perspective

The two landscapes attributed to Huizong, Shokoku-ji’s tortoiseshell-glaze tenmoku and the Tokyo National Museum’s “Bakohan” are each shown in only one of the two periods. With “Autumn Landscape” and the tortoiseshell tenmoku in the first period and “Winter Landscape” and “Bakohan” in the second, the best time to visit depends on which works you want to see. The half-price second visit with a ticket stub suits those who want to compare the two periods. Presenting everything from Shang and Zhou bronzes to the utensils of Rikyu’s time as a single continuous lineage of design offers a way to read tea utensils not only as masterpieces to admire but also as forms with a history. Autumn and winter design and craft exhibitions are compiled in our guide to design, craft and architecture exhibitions. For Chinese calligraphy, “Dynamic Calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty” is on view at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts until December 20.

Overview

Name: Special exhibition “The Birth of Karamono: Exploring the Origins of Tea Ceremony Design”
Dates: Tuesday, November 3 (national holiday) – Sunday, December 13, 2026. First period: November 3–23; second period: November 25 – December 13
Hours: 11:00–18:00 (until 19:00 on Fridays; last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed: Mondays (open on November 23), Tuesday, November 24
Venue: Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum Tokyo
Address: 1-5-1 Roppongi, Minato City, Tokyo
Admission: Adults ¥1,500, students ¥800, 18 and under free. Advance (online, until November 2) and groups: adults ¥1,300, students ¥700
Organizers: Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum, The Mainichi Newspapers
Special cooperation: Chado Research Center (Konnichian), Ashiya Kama no Sato
Supporter: TOKYO MX
Grant: Japan Arts Fund
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Official website: https://sen-oku.or.jp/program/t_202611_karamono/
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Important Cultural Property “Celadon Tea Bowl with Lobed Rim, named Bakohan,” Southern Song dynasty, 13th century, Tokyo National Museum (source: ColBase [National Institutes for Cultural Heritage], CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on an announcement by Sen-oku Hakukokan Museum (updated August 30, 2026) and information on the official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team