Image: Attributed to Sen no Rikyu, Ichigyosho Calligraphy: Kissako ("Have Some Tea"), on view in the "Toyo" display. Courtesy of the Fujita Museum, Osaka
The Fujita Museum in Osaka is not opening on 15 August: the notice behind this record is one of the museum's daily listings, giving that day's hours of 10am to 6pm, the three displays then on view and the day's activities. The museum opens every day except 29 December to 5 January, and no booking is required.
The three displays identified by their single-character titles run on staggered dates. 'Ho' (豊), presented as a special exhibition, runs from 1 July to 30 September 2026 and examines the tea culture shaped by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98) and the tea master Sen no Rikyu (1522-91); listed works include the Taiko Kitano Grand Tea Gathering noticeboard, a portrait of Hideyoshi, the Ido tea bowl named 'Roso', a Dōan Setoguro tea bowl, a poetry scroll by Karasumaru Mitsuhiro commemorating the imperial visit to Jurakudai, a tea scoop by Hideyoshi named 'Yoyo no Hana', a tea scoop by Tsuda Sogyu and the Important Cultural Property Ko-Iga flower vase named 'Jurojin'. 'Aoi' (葵), named for the Tokugawa crest, runs from 1 August to 31 October 2026 and turns to tea in the early Tokugawa period, with a portrait of Kobori Enshu, the tea scoop 'Wagatomo' and Shokado Shojo's accompanying letter, the Chinese tea caddy 'Nonaka', the Important Cultural Property chrysanthemum tenmoku tea bowl, a Nonomura Ninsei tea caddy, a Dutch water jar with tobacco-leaf design and Kano Tanyu's Twelve Months scrolls for August, September and October. 'Kin' (金), on gold as material and symbol, runs from 1 June to 31 August 2026 and includes a Noh mai-ginu robe, a gilt-bronze seated Maitreya, an Important Cultural Property landscape makie tebako named 'Rokuonji', an Important Cultural Property Chinese-style saddle, a Chusonji sutra scroll, and two works shown publicly for the first time: a poem by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and a gold-ground painting of spring and autumn flowers.
Two closing dates fall soon. 'Kin' ends on 31 August 2026, and three works flagged as special displays within 'Aoi' - a Shonzui shoe-shaped tea bowl, a plum-blossom incense container by Nonomura Ninsei and a Satsuma ware square incense container with matching lid - are also listed only until 31 August. The next rotation is announced for 1 September to 30 November 2026. The title calligraphy for the displays comes from the museum's public calligraphy call: the character for 'Ho' was written by a member of the public from Osaka, and that for 'Kin' by a second-year primary school pupil from Osaka Prefecture.
The activities in the notice are standing programmes rather than one-off events. Curator-led gallery talks last 20 to 30 minutes and need no booking, running at 1pm on weekdays and public holidays and at 11am and 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays; 15 August 2026 was a Saturday, which matches the two talks listed. The summer study space, open to school pupils up to high-school age, ran daily from 10am to 5pm between 1 and 22 August 2026, with the museum asking users to share the limited space and to bring no food.
The museum's event calendar continues with a weekly Friday building tour on 21 August at 2.15pm, a curatorial lecture on lacquerwork on 22 August at 2pm, the talk 'Ocha Nan-nan' on 23 August at 2pm, the weekly Tuesday Amijima tea talk on 25 August at 2.15pm, a second commemorative lecture for 'Ho' on 5 September at 2pm, a close-looking session on paintings on 19 September, a Noh talk on 'Oeyama' on 27 September at 2pm, a tea gathering on 12 October and an autumn rakugo evening on 24 October. Admission is 1,000 yen, free for visitors aged 19 and under on proof of age, with cashless payment encouraged and a free audio guide available on visitors' own smartphones. The museum is at 10-32 Amijima-cho, Miyakojima-ku, one minute from exit 3 of Osakajokitazume Station on the JR Tozai Line, and has no visitor car park.
