Zodiac Animals
Open to the Public Friday, September 19, 2025 – Sunday, January 25, 2026
A wild menagerie of animals, both mythical and real, will soon make their temporary home in the Kohnken Gallery of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Garden. Visitors can take delight in the many whimsical designs and playful renditions of the 12 animals that make up the zodiac. Each animal will be represented through different materials and methods like origami, toys, prints, votives, statuary, carvings, and papier-mâché. Based on the annual Chinese calendar rather than a Western monthly one, the animal zodiac (jūnishi-十二支) is a cyclical event where a single animal imbued with specific traits and characteristics represents those born within that year. The zodiac animal is also assigned one of five elements as well (water, fire, earth, metal or water). That animal, along with all its symbolic imagery, returns every 12 years, but with the next element in line. Thus, it takes a total of 60 years to return to the original animal and element a person was born under, making their 60th birthday an auspicious one (kanreki-還暦). Tour the exhibit from September 19th to November 30th and see what the zodiac animals have to say about you.