Hokusai Crossover: Gathering in Sumida Across the Ages

Upcoming16 December 2026 – 28 February 2027¥1,000

10th-anniversary show of Hokusai's Sumida views and the works born of his exchanges with Ota Nanpo and other writers, plus Hokusai prints that inspired later authors such as Masaoka Shiki.

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On now Opening in December 2026

Preview: written before the show opened

On one hanging scroll, a line of geese flies down the sky while swallows dart below them. Hokusai's Arriving Swallows and Departing Geese, lent from the Yoshino Gypsum Collection, hangs for the first half of the run only.

The museum turns ten, and this show is about its own neighbourhood. In the third-floor gallery you get Sumida as Hokusai and his pupils drew it, then the works that came out of his friendships with local writers such as Ota Nanpo. The last strand follows him into modern literature: prints that inspired authors like the poet Masaoka Shiki and, at times, drew their criticism. So even Hokusai collected the odd one-star review.

Some works change on 26 January, so the two halves differ. Tickets are 1,000 yen for adults, or 800 yen in advance until 15 December at the museum desk or the Ryogoku tourist information centre; online timed tickets carry no discount. The ticket also covers the fourth-floor permanent gallery that day. Closed 27 December to 1 January.

Look for

Arriving Swallows and Departing Geese
A hanging scroll with a line of geese flying down the sky and swallows darting below, lent from the Yoshino Gypsum Collection and shown until 24 January.
Both banks of the Sumida in a picture book
Pages from Hokusai's Ehon Sumidagawa Ryogan Ichiran, including crowds under parasols cooling off on a summer evening at Ryogoku, on show for the whole run.
Snow, Moon and Flowers: Sumida
A print of the Sumida riverbank buried in snow, shown in the first half until 24 January.
The Sumida under the moon
Its moonlit counterpart from Fine Views of Snow, Moon and Flowers, with blue water and red autumn trees, shown from 26 January.
Daruma Facing the Wall
Hokusai's painting of the monk Bodhidharma wrapped in a red robe, seated in meditation, shown from 26 January.

Good for

Cheap Culture
Nerding Out
Out-Of-Town Guests

With kids

Elementary school age and under go free, middle-schoolers pay 300 yen. A rakugo comedy afternoon on 20 December is open to ages from elementary school up (1,000 yen, booking required, 40 places).