EXHIBITION REVIEW: TEN YEARS OF THE SUMIDA HOKUSAI MUSEUM

October 21, 2026 ,featured

Katsushika Hokusai, A Mild Breeze on a Fine Day, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, The Sumida Hokusai Museum

The Sumida Hokusai Museum was opened in 2016 as part of an effort by Tokyo's Sumida City to emphasise its connection with the world-famous Edo-period artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), who was born locally. An additional goal was to bolster the area's cultural appeal.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the institution, the museum is holding the exhibition "See the SUMIDA HOKUSAI MUSEUM’s Best—The Scenery on Both Banks of the Sumida River Picture Scroll and Other Masterpieces." The second stage of the exhibition opens today and runs until 23rd of November.

But despite being dedicated to an artist whom most of us associate with "Old Japan," the museum is housed in what looks like a sleek, futuristic "space" facility. In fact, when I first saw it I was fleetingly reminded of Frank Gehry's mind-bending design for Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum.

Definitely not the sort of home you would initially expect for centuries-old woodblock prints and paintings of geishas, flowers, and waves. So, what is the story here? Yuichiro Sawada, the museum's head of PR and Collaboration is happy to explain.

"This museum was designed by Kazuyo Sejima," he tells Tokyo Metropolis in a basement office at the museum. "She is a very famous architect and designer. She also designed the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and a very modern museum in Taiwan, among other works. She explained her concept as a building that opens on all sides."

For the tenth anniversary exhibition the museum's curators have carefully selected masterpieces from its collection, including past highlights, recent acquisitions, and previously unexhibited works.

The centrepiece is Hokusai’s legendary seven-meter-long picture scroll "The Scenery on Both Banks of the Sumida River."

The show is organized into five chapters, covering Hokusai’s brush-drawn paintings, nishiki-e prints (including rare early and Western-style works plus "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji"), surimono, block-printed books, and works by his students.

Katsushika Hokusai, Scenery on Both Banks of the Sumida River (detail), The Sumida Hokusai Museum

So, as a relatively newish museum dedicated to a venerable artistic name, where does the Museum's collection of artwork come from?

"Actually, it has long history," Sawada explains. "It has been ten years since the museum's opening, but before then Sumida City had long been preparing to open the museum. When they were planning to open the museum, the City negotiated with one collector, Peter Morse, who had a big collection of Hokusai, arranging to donate his collection."

The museum thus became a fitting legacy to Morse, who sadly passed away before the museum opened.

Katsushika Hokusai, Kirifuri Falls at Mount Kurokamiyama in Shimotsuke Province, from the series A Tour of the Waterfalls in Various Provinces, The Sumida Hokusai Museum

The museum also boasts works by other donors, including Muneshige Narasaki, who was a prominent Japanese art historian and scholar, as well as a leading authority on ukiyo-e (Japanese woodblock prints and paintings).

Visitors to the museum who are used to oil paintings on large canvases may at first think the museum is on the small side, but this is not the case, as most of the print works displayed are also relatively small. This means that the museum can pack quite a lot of Hokusai into the space.

"I think many people expect Hokusai's 'Great Wave' to be be very big one, but it is a normal-sized print work," Sawada comments.

The museum is thus a comfortable size for its purpose, and enables the viewer to see a great deal without demanding too much from the legs. But what truly strikes the visitor to this exhibition is the enormous amount of variety—all from one artist!

Katsushika Hokusai, Sketches by Hokusai, The Sumida Hokusai Museum

While most artists come to define themselves by focusing on a characteristic style and a special focus in terms of subject matter, Hokusai is the opposite. He has no one focus and he is not confined by any one style.

"He has every style and he focuses on the universe of the world," Sawada reframes my thought. "He not only depicted Mount Fuji, he also depicted ghosts, beasts, beautiful ladies, etc."

Hokusai also represents the triumph of market forces, as he mainly produced the things that the public wanted, and constantly created novelties and trends.

"I think that's some part of it," Sawada agrees. "Also, depending upon his age, he had some different styles."

Katsushika HokusaiⅡ, Sixteen Arhats, The Sumida Hokusai Museum

The museum also has a wealth of biographical detail on Hokusai, his life, and his family.

In recent years, more attention has been focused on his daughter Katsushika Ōi (also known as Ei, O-Ei, or Eijo). The daughter of Hokusai and his second wife, Kotome. She was an accomplished painter and print illustrator in her own right, and one of the few prominent women artists of Japan’s Edo period.

Her famous "Night Scene in the Yoshiwara" is now on display across town at the Ōta Memorial Museum of Art (one of our other Art Picks for this month).

The relationship of Hokusai and his daughter is commemorated by a life-sized reconstruction of Hokusai’s atelier (studio) which also features Ōi. This is based on a sketch by Hokusai’s pupil Tsuyuki Kōshō / Iitsu) showing the elderly Hokusai (around age 84) painting while his daughter Ōi is seated nearby. The figure’s hand or brush occasionally moves, which may startle some.

Another aspect of the museum and exhibition that should not be passed over is how "Gaijin friendly" it all is. Everything is in English (as well as Japanese) and it's easy to follow, including the interactive screens. So, how important is the foreigner market for the museum?

"Actually we didn't intend to increase foreign visitors," Sawada points out, "but actually, in the end, many foreign visitors come to our museum. I think most of them come from Europe or the U.S. and Taiwan. So, although we didn't try to increase foreign visitors, many come to visit us. Therefore recently, we tried to make social media content written in English. Before, we only made such content only in Japanese, but we recently started translating it into English."