2027.02.04 — 2027.03.14 · Coming soon
Jakuchū’s Colorful Realm — Tokyo
The Colorful Realm of Living Beings, thirty scrolls of roosters, phoenixes, flowers, fish and shells by the 18th-century Kyoto painter Itō Jakuchū (1716–1800), is one of the landmarks of Japanese art. To mark the grand opening of the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, all thirty hang together from 4 February to 14 March 2027: the first time in Japan in about ten years, the first since the museum opened in 1993, and the first since they were designated a National Treasure in 2021. Bird-and-flower masterpieces by his Kyoto contemporaries join them, with some works rotating. Adult tickets are JPY 3,000 for a set date and time, with no same-day sales; students and under-23s go free but must also book.
Jakuchu painted the thirty scrolls over about ten years, from around 1757 to 1766; hanging them all together is a first in Japan for about a decade.
It is also the first time since the museum opened in 1993 and since the set became a National Treasure in 2021, alongside bird-and-flower paintings by his Kyoto contemporaries that show how lively the city’s art world was.
In Roosters thirteen cocks crowd the whole picture; in Fish and Octopus, tilefish and bonito swim with an octopus that has a baby octopus clinging to one arm.
Shells covers a beach in shells; in Insects at a Pond, frogs, a snake, newts, spiders, dragonflies and butterflies gather beneath a gourd vine, observed in minute detail yet strangely dreamlike.
Jakuchu gave the thirty scrolls, with his Shaka triptych, to Shōkoku-ji in Kyoto as a perpetual memorial for his parents, his brother and himself; in 1889 the thirty were presented to Emperor Meiji.
He used the finest silk and pigments of his day, including the earliest known Prussian blue in Japan, so the colours are still vivid more than two centuries later.
Checked · 2026-10-09
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Booking has not opened and the sale date is not announced.
Most free visitors must also book.
Some works rotate during the run.
Closed Mondays and on 23 February.
The galleries have no fixed seats, so no seating plan is needed.
Open official guide ↗4 February to 14 March 2027, 9:30am–5pm (last entry 4:30pm); Fridays and Saturdays until 8pm (last entry 7:30pm). Closed Mondays and 23 February.
Asia/TokyoThe Sannomaru Shozokan is inside the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, 1-8 Chiyoda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, about 100 m from the Ōte-mon gate; about 5 minutes on foot from exit C13a of Ōtemachi station and 15 minutes from the Marunouchi North Exit of Tokyo station.
Tickets are for a set date and time, with none sold at the museum on the day. Junior-high to university students and anyone under 23 go free but must book, with student or age ID at entry; primary-school children and younger, and disability-certificate holders with one carer, go free without booking. There may be a queue to enter on busy days. The museum is inside the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, with a security check at the gate.
Adults JPY 3,000
Confirm accessibility services and companion policies with the organiser before travel.
Dates and entry details refer to this edition; individual sessions may differ.
Itō Jakuchū (Museum of the Imperial Collections) · Public domain Image source
Museum of the Imperial Collections, the Yomiuri Shimbun and NHK
Itō Jakuchū, Fish and Octopus from the Colorful Realm of Living Beings (c. 1765–66, Museum of the Imperial Collections), shown in this exhibition; a public-domain image.
Information checked on 2026-10-09
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