Japanese War Brides: Across a Wide Divide
Member Preview Day: Friday, May 2, 2025
Open to the Public: Saturday, May 3 – Sunday, August 17, 2025
Morikami Museum is pleased to present, Japanese War Brides: Across a Wide Divide, which explores the lives of more than 45,000 Japanese women who immigrated to the United States in the aftermath of World War II. This exhibit illuminates previously unknown American immigration stories and offers space to rethink how we hate, why we love, and what it means to be American. Produced by The War Bride Experience, Inc., the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
This exhibition is partially Funded by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation and Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation
Women of Yamato
Member Preview Day: Friday, May 2, 2025
Open to the Public: Saturday, May 3 – Sunday, August 24, 2025
Before the War Brides, there were picture brides. Explore the story of the “picture brides” in our upcoming exhibit, showcasing how Japanese women played a pivotal role in shaping the early Japanese American community. Between 1907 and 1924, these women traveled to the U.S. to marry men they had never met, helping establish vibrant immigrant communities.
The Art of Peace: Jizai Okimono from a Private Collection
Eagle
Signed artist name MUNEYOSHI (given name TANAKA Tadayoshi; ? – 1958)
Early 1900s
Iron
Open to the Public: Tuesday, April 29- Sunday, September 28, 2025
A captivating new exhibition showcasing jizai okimono—intricately crafted movable sculptures. The 19 sculptures in this exhibition are quite unusual. They represent the shift from warrior-rule in the Edo period (1603-1868) to a constitutional monarchy in the Meiji period (1868-1912). These works of art were traditionally made by armorers. However, as the ruling shoguns were able to maintain peace for over 300 years, there were fewer and fewer requests for new armor. In order to maintain their skill and precision, the metalsmiths of the mid-Edo period turned to more artistic endeavors – creating jizai okimono. Ji-zai (自在), means articulated or movable; and oki-mono (置物) are decorative objects. The works are realistic representations of animals and mythical beasts with joints that allow full range of motion. The art objects quickly became collectors’ items outside of Japan.
This exhibition is partially Funded by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation and Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation
Selections From the Museum Collections
Open to the Public April 29, 2025
We’re thrilled to showcase new historic and artistic pieces, purchased with the generous support of our Wisdom Ring and Benefactor members. Since 2006, their contributions have expanded the Morikami’s collection, which now spans over 7,000 items, representing 1,500 years of Japanese art and culture.
This year’s Selection for the Collection features two stunning paintings by Masumi Sakagami, alongside other treasures like a 19th-century Ainu pouch, a Meiji-period folding screen, prints by Kimura Risaburo, and a basket by bamboo master Tanabe Chikuunsai IV. These works, highlighting both historic and contemporary Japanese artistry, will be on display through the summer.
Thank you to our donors and visitors for making this possible! To support next year’s collection, please visit our Membership Desk or click the link below.