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Must-See Art and Cultural Hotspots in Japan

Museums

HOSOMI MUSEUM

Exhibition Room
HOSOMI MUSEUM

The museum was established in 1998, based on a collection amassed by three generations of the Hosomi family, starting with Hosomi Kokoan (1901–1979), a businessman and Japanese art collector. The collection spans nearly all periods and fields of Japanese art, from Shinto and Buddhist art to tea ceremony aesthetics, and Edo-period paintings such as those of the Rinpa school and Ito Jakuchu. The museum hosts a variety of special exhibitions centered around these collections, striving to preserve, promote, and carry forward the spirit of beauty found in classical art for future generations. The museum also features a tea room, a shop, and a café, aiming to serve as a welcoming space for art enthusiasts.

Tea Room
HOSOMI MUSEUM
Museum Exterior
HOSOMI MUSEUM

Visitors can casually experience the tea ceremony in a bright, open tea room while enjoying matcha from a long-established Kyoto tea shop paired with seasonal Japanese sweets. This experience is also available for international guests.

“Tea Ceremony” Short Lecture
A brief explanation in English about the history of tea ceremony and how to enjoy matcha.

Usucha (Thin Tea) Demonstration
Staff will perform a demonstration of the basic usucha tea ceremony. Guests can also try preparing their own matcha and savor it with traditional Japanese sweets.

Enjoy matcha from the long-established tea shop "Ippodo" paired with seasonal Japanese confections.

Main works

A piece by Jakuchu (1716–1800) created in his early thirties, when he was still running his family’s vegetable wholesale business and signed his works with the name "Keiwa."

The striking presence of the rooster searching for food in the snow is brought to life through the vivid contrast of its bright red comb and jet-black tail feathers, demonstrating Jakuchu’s exceptional observational and realistic depiction. Meanwhile, the bamboo, chrysanthemums, and snow in the background are depicted in peculiar shapes, reflecting the early inklings of the unique and innovative style he would develop later in life.

The posture of a rooster lowering its head to the ground while raising its tail feathers can be traced to Kano school sketches and painting manuals, as well as in Chinese paintings, particularly bird-and-flower works from the Nanpin school. In China, the rooster symbolizes virtue, and Jakuchu may have identified with the solitary, dignified image of the rooster.

While drawing on the artistic traditions of the past—both imported styles and the established Kano school motifs, Jakuchu sought to depict the vibrancy of a “rooster in the snow” as seen through his own eyes. This attempt may represent the essence of this painting's true brilliance.

Rooster in the Snow/Ito Jakuchu

A statue of a divine deer embodying the founding of Kasuga Taisha and the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism. It represents the moment in Jingo Keiun 1 (767) when the deity Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto is said to have descended from Kashima Shrine in Hitachi Province, riding on a deer to Mount Mikasa in Yamato Province.

The gilded bronze deer stands atop clouds, with a sacred mirror displayed on a sakaki branch mounted on a Tang-style saddle. Engraved on five circles are the honji-butsu (original Buddhist deities) of the four main shrines of Kasuga and Wakamiya.

This three-dimensional representation of the "Kasuga Deer Mandala" combines a large depiction of a deer with Kasuga’s honji-butsu. This grand and richly expressive statue is unparalleled elsewhere.

Important Cultual Property/ True Form of the Kasuga Sacred Deer
© HOSOMI MUSEUM
  • Important Cultual Property Gilt /Bronze Keman-type Temple Ornament with Openwork Design of Magpies and Floral Scrolls
  • Important Cultual Property/Five-pronged Bell
  • Important Cultual Property Shinnari Type Tea Kettle with Design of Maple and Deer on Hailstone Ground
  • Ritual Sake Bottle with Design of Tortoise Shell
  • Cherry Blossom Viewing at Yoshino
  • Ogata Korin/Incense Wrapper with Design of Willow
  • Katsushika Hokusai /Five Beauties
  • Ito Jakuchu/Dishcloth Gourds and Insects