Image: Hosomi Museum, Kyoto
The Hosomi Museum in Kyoto has published a dedicated exhibition page for ‘Ryōkan-san—Sono Hito to Zen’ (‘Ryōkan: The Person and Zen’), a special exhibition devoted to the Zen monk and calligrapher Ryōkan. The museum’s website lists the exhibition from 12 September to 8 November 2026, and identifies it as the institution’s next exhibition.
The presentation will bring together works by Ryōkan, including ‘Tako moji: Tenjō taifū’ (‘Kite Writing: The Great Wind in Heaven’) and ‘Chōka: Tsuki no usagi’ (‘Long Poem: The Moon Rabbit’). According to the museum’s announcement, both works are representative of Ryōkan’s practice but had not been publicly shown for a long period. The exhibition page describes the display as a gathering of selected works by the artist.
Ryōkan was born in 1758 in Echigo Izumozaki, in what is now Izumozaki in Niigata Prefecture. The museum states that he was the eldest son of the village headman, but entered religious life and maintained a life of poverty as a Zen monk. He lived alone in a hermitage, while also spending time playing with children and socialising with friends.
Alongside his religious life, Ryōkan produced numerous Chinese poems and Japanese waka poems. His calligraphy is particularly highly regarded for its artistic quality and originality; the Hosomi Museum’s account says it has been described as ‘the pinnacle of Japanese calligraphic beauty’. The exhibition’s title places that work in relation to the monk’s character and Zen practice rather than presenting the calligraphy as an isolated technical achievement.
The museum announced on 12 August that it had opened the special exhibition page, and promoted the announcement through its social-media channels on 16 August. The dedicated page forms part of the Hosomi Museum’s online exhibition and press-information system, which includes listings for current, forthcoming and past exhibitions as well as related events.
The museum website also lists a paid lecture, ‘Nono no Zen-sō Ryōkan no Sho’ (‘The Calligraphy of Ryōkan, the Zen Monk of the Fields’), among its forthcoming programmes. The event is marked as requiring advance registration, although the accessible exhibition listing does not provide a confirmed date for the lecture. The exhibition itself is scheduled to run at the Hosomi Museum, Kyoto, from 12 September through 8 November 2026.
