Exhibitions in Kyoto
July 2026
July 2026 at a glance: 5 exhibitions opened, 0 closed, and 5 more were on view across the city.
Opened in July
Domoto Insho, Create a Museum7 JulKyoto Prefectural Insho-Domoto Museum of Fine ArtsPast
60th-anniversary show tracing how Insho designed his own museum, inside and out: design sketches, the original poster, furniture and paintings.
The 7th Kyoto Craft Artist Exhibition7 JulKyoto Prefectural Insho-Domoto Museum of Fine ArtsPast
Four Kyoto craft artists show new work in ceramics, dyed textiles, glass and maki-e lacquer in the museum's New Wing gallery.
The Pinnacle of Edo Entertainment: UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI – the Super Creator of Ukiyo-e!18 JulKyoto City KYOCERA Museum of ArtPast
Some 200 prints and immersive videos on Utagawa Kuniyoshi, the 19th-century ukiyo-e master of Water Margin warriors, beauties, landscapes and cats.
Antonio Fontanesi: Transcending Landscape ― A European Artist at the Opening of Japan18 JulThe National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK)Past
Career survey of the Italian landscape painter who taught Western painting in Meiji Japan, with loans from GAM Turin and works by his Japanese students.
2nd Collection Gallery Exhibition 202618 JulThe National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK)Past
MoMAK Masters highlights plus rooms on Kamisaka Sekka's 160th anniversary, Lizzi Ueno-Rix textiles, Asai Chu, dyed textiles and photography.
Was on view in July
Calligraphy by Modern Artists: Kahitsukan Collectionto 27 SeptKahitsukan – Kyoto Museum of Contemporary ArtPast
About 60 works of calligraphy from the collection by 14 modern Japanese painters, potters, sculptors and poets, incl. Rosanjin, Munakata Shiko and Kumagai Morikazu.
Go, go go! Team Ōkyo - Maruyama Ōkyo and the Artists He Mentoredto 27 SeptSaga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & CulturePast
Maruyama Ōkyo's Tiger and Tao Yuanming screen alongside disciples like Nagasawa Rosetsu, plus about 40 newly discovered works by his grand-disciple Yano Yachō.
- Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai: The Legacy of the Sumitomo Pavilionto 18 Oct
Sen-oku Hakuko KanPast
A small display in the museum's Taotie Room of objects from the Sumitomo Pavilion at Expo 2025, including its forest diorama, a wooden bench and lanterns.
Plum Tree and Nasori (Ume ni Nasori-zu): Sugito-e at the Honmaru-goten Palaceto 18 OctNijo Castle (Nijo-jo)Past
Hara Zaisho's 1852 painted cedar doors of two Bugaku dancers performing Nasori beside a white plum, one of 14 door sets shown one at a time in the Honmaru-goten Palace.
- 10th Anniversary: The Kyoto Railway Museum's Journey in Photographsto 29 Dec
Kyoto Railway Museum
Archive photos of how the museum came to be: construction, trains being moved in and installed, and the halls at the 2016 opening.
Image credits
8
- Domoto Insho, Create a MuseumCourtesy of Kyoto Prefectural Insho-Domoto Museum of Fine Arts
- The 7th Kyoto Craft Artist ExhibitionCourtesy of Kyoto Prefectural Insho-Domoto Museum of Fine Arts
- The Pinnacle of Edo Entertainment: UTAGAWA KUNIYOSHI – the Super Creator of Ukiyo-e!Courtesy of Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art
- Antonio Fontanesi: Transcending Landscape ― A European Artist at the Opening of JapanTurin Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GAM), courtesy of Turin Museums Foundation
- 2nd Collection Gallery Exhibition 2026Courtesy of The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MoMAK)
- Calligraphy by Modern Artists: Kahitsukan CollectionCourtesy of Kahitsukan – Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art
- Go, go go! Team Ōkyo - Maruyama Ōkyo and the Artists He MentoredCourtesy of Saga Arashiyama Museum of Arts & Culture
- Plum Tree and Nasori (Ume ni Nasori-zu): Sugito-e at the Honmaru-goten PalaceCourtesy of Nijo Castle (Nijo-jo)
Stay in the loop on Kyoto
A short note now and then when something new opens worth your time.