Held every five years and frequently attracting tens of millions of visitors, world expositions are the largest global events. Known also as world’s fairs and, these days, as expos, participating countries showcase their current science, technology, and culture. Decorative arts used to be thought highly indicative of cultural achievement. Consequently, by showing the works of Hokusai and other earlier artists, as well as ambitious works by contemporary painters, feudal and modern governments of Japan actively used expos as an opportunity to gain international recognition for the nation’s art and culture.

For the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, Ōhashi Suiseki, Hashimoto Gahō, Yokoyama Taikan, Takeuchi Seihō, and Uemura Shōen eagerly rose to the challenge of creating paintings to show what Japan could do. Among the awards they won, Ōhashi Suiseki became the first-ever nihonga artist to win an expo gold medal.

To obtain valuable foreign currency, most Japanese paintings exhibited at expos were sold in the host country. Consequently, these works cannot easily be exhibited in Japan today. The passion and skill of the expo artists, however, is amply evident in works they created around the same time.
To commemorate the 2025 Expo being held here in Kansai, the museum is showing superlative works by painters who dared exhibit their art to the world.

 The exhibition is cohosted by the nearby Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture.

 

Exhibition Overview

Title	Japanese Art at World’s Fairs from the Late Edo Period Onwards Expo: Nihonga in Profusion Hokusai • Taikan • Suiseki
Dates	July 19 (Sat.) 2025 – September 28 (Sun.)  　1st period: July 19 (Sat.) – August 25 (Mon.) 　2nd period: August 27 (Wed.) – September 28 (Sun.)
Opening Hours	10:00 – 17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed	August 5 (Tue.), September 9 (Tue.) for facility inspection August 26 (Tue.) for exhibition exchange
Venue	Fukuda Art Museum: 3-16 Susukinobabachō Saga-Tenryuji, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture: 11 Susukinobabachō Saga-Tenryuji, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto
Entry Fee	General / University student: ¥1,500 (¥1,400) High school student: ¥900 (¥800) Elementary / Junior high school student: ¥500 (¥400) Disabled person and up to one helper: ¥900 (¥800) * Prices in parentheses are for groups of 20 or more. * Free for preschool children   <Combo Tickets with Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture> General / University student: ¥2,300 High school student: ¥1,300 Elementary / Junior high school student: ¥750 Disabled person and up to one helper: ¥1,300 *If you purchase an online ticket of the Fukuda Art Museum, you will get a discount for the entry fee of the Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture. Therefore, you can enter both museums as the same price of the combo ticket.
Supported by	Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, Kyoto City Board of Education