In autumn Kyoto, an art exhibition is coming to Daitoku-ji, the temple closely tied to tea master Sen no Rikyu. From Saturday, October 24 to Wednesday, October 28, 2026, the special exhibition “Creating Japanese Beauty: From Daitoku-ji to the World” takes place at Zuiun-ken, a sub-temple of the head temple Daitoku-ji in Murasakino, Kita-ku, Kyoto. Its subtitle is “Sengoku culture, the tea ceremony, Zen, and contemporary art,” and it is one of the organizer’s own projects within the 4th Japan Annual-International Art Festival.
Daitoku-ji as the stage: from tradition to creation
Daitoku-ji is the head temple of the Rinzai Zen Daitoku-ji school, founded in 1315 by National Master Daito (Shuho Myocho). It is regarded as a home of tea culture, where Sen no Rikyu and other tea masters refined their sense of beauty. It is also where Oda Nobunaga’s grand funeral was held and where Toyotomi Hideyoshi built Soken-in. The grounds hold a National Treasure hojo (abbot’s hall) and Karamon gate, and an Important Cultural Property sanmon gate, Buddha hall and lecture hall. The hojo garden is known as a masterpiece of karesansui (dry landscape garden).
The exhibition says it is not an introduction to traditional culture. It describes itself as an international art show in which contemporary artists face Japan’s spiritual culture, create new expression and send its value to the world. The organizer’s view is that tradition is not only something to preserve, but something handed to the future through creation.
Venue 1: lacquer. Venue 2: contemporary art
The exhibition is split across two venues.
The theme of the first venue is “Lacquer: Beauty Beyond Time,” with lacquer art, three-dimensional works and installations. The exhibitor is 村田好謙, who keeps inheriting traditional techniques while creating new lacquer art. Through the life force that dwells in stillness and the light that spreads deep within black lacquer, the work expresses a distinctly Japanese spirituality.
The theme of the second venue is “Contemporary Art: Painting the Spirit of Japan,” with abstract paintings, flat works and mixed media. Five artists exhibit: 真田将太朗, 高屋永遠, ayaka nakamura, 皆川百合 and Sayumi Wissmann. They rebuild in a contemporary language the harmony nurtured by Japanese culture, such as the empty space born of Zen and the stillness cultivated by the tea ceremony. The second venue includes reference works.
The organizer sets two contrasting ideas side by side — lacquer as “art that layers time” and abstract painting as “art that symbolizes the present” — and lets past and future talk to each other. It also sees the tea ceremony’s sense of beauty (empty space, silence, asymmetry, simplicity and “ma,” or interval) as resonating with abstract painting and minimal art since the 20th century.
Exhibition information
- Dates: Saturday, October 24 – Wednesday, October 28, 2026
- Hours: 09:30–15:30 (opens in the afternoon on the 24th; closes at 12:00 on the 28th)
- Venue: Zuiun-ken, sub-temple of Daitoku-ji, head temple of the Rinzai Daitoku-ji school (53 Murasakino Daitokuji-cho, Kita-ku, Kyoto)
- Admission: Free (temple admission fee required)
- Artists: [Venue 1] 村田好謙 / [Venue 2] 真田将太朗, 高屋永遠, ayaka nakamura, 皆川百合, Sayumi Wissmann
- Organizer: Yumeshima Organization to Create New Industry and City
- Organizer website (Japanese): https://yumeshimakikou.org/
- Daitoku-ji website (Japanese): https://daitokujidaijiin.com/daitokuji.html
- Inquiries: info-yume@yumeshimakikou.com
