Image: Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art, Nagaoka
Niigata Prefectural Modern Art Museum in Nagaoka will open 'Secrets of the KIMONO: The Advent of Yuzen Dyeing' on September 12, 2026. The exhibition, titled in Japanese 'きもののヒミツ 友禅のうまれるところ' and subtitled 'Focusing on the Collection of CHISO, Kyoto', runs through November 15, 2026. According to source material from Chiso, the project will examine kimono-making thought as it moves between three-dimensional and flat surfaces, and will center on the Kyoto-based firm’s collection.
Chiso said it is providing full cooperation through works from the Chiso Holdings collection. The company also identified its cultural research arm, Chiso Cultural Research Institute, as a special collaborator on the exhibition. The museum listing gives the venue as Niigata Prefectural Modern Art Museum, 3-278-14 Senchi, Nagaoka, Niigata, while the Chiso announcement makes clear that the exhibition is being organized at that institution rather than at Chiso’s own spaces.
The show’s focus on yuzen dyeing places attention on the processes and visual logic behind kimono production. In its announcement, Chiso described the exhibition as an opportunity to see works shaped by a long history of craftsmanship deeply rooted in Kyoto. The source material does not provide a curator’s statement or an exhibition checklist, but it does indicate that the display will be built primarily from the Chiso Holdings collection, with additional holdings from Kyoto National Museum included in the exhibition’s composition.
Chiso’s involvement is notable because the company is not only a longtime kimono maker but also a source of historical and artistic material. The museum presentation appears to use those holdings to frame kimono as a field where technique, design and material thinking intersect. The exhibition title itself points to this emphasis, shifting attention from kimono as finished dress to the methods and ideas that bring yuzen dyeing into being.
The project will be publicly accessible for just over two months, from September 12 through November 15, 2026. No ancillary programming, ticketing information or further exhibition schedule details were included in the source material, and Chiso notes that visitors should contact the hosting institution for information about the display and schedule. The exhibition remains listed under the Japanese title 'きもののヒミツ 友禅のうまれるところ', with the English title 'Secrets of the KIMONO The Advent of Yuzen Dyeing' and the subtitle 'Focusing on the Collection of CHISO, Kyoto'.
