Celebrating Asian Art

Fine Japanese Works of Art

Hiroshi Yanagi Oriental Art is located on Shinmonzen-dōri, known as Kyoto’s foremost location for businesses specializing in antiques. The building has a distinctive facade that is dominated by large blue glass panels—an unusual feature in the neighborhood. The gallery exhibits a wide selection of artworks covering the entire scope of Japanese art. Objects include Buddhist and Shintō sculptures, masks of the Noh theater, screens, hanging scrolls, and ceramics. Savoring these artworks one by one, their captivating beauty will open up to you the full breadth of Japan’s long history and culture.

To watch an engaging video that makes the Deigen Noh come alive, click here.

Saratani Tomizo (更谷富造, born 1949) is an artist who works in lacquer. His early teachers were lacquer artists his father Saratani Katsuzo and Suzuki Masaya. After a few years working for the Kyoto lacquer firm Zohiko, Saratani worked in Vienna as a restorer and lecturer in the Austrian National Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) between 1975-1981. In the 1980s and 1990s Saratani lived in London and Chicago, working as an expert restorer and as an artist. When he returned to Japan in 2009, he established the lacquer company Kuri in Kaga, Ishikawa Prefecture. A master of traditional Japanese lacquer styles and forms, he seeks to develop them into a contemporary style.