Jewelry: Whose Dreams?

Before you go

This is not a branded jewelry show. In 1964, when jewelry was still rare in Japan, Hiramatsu Yasushige and others founded the Japan Jewelry Designers Association; from the 1970s the European idea of 'contemporary jewelry' arrived: jewelry need not symbolise wealth and status but can question the relationship between wearer and viewer — it can be art. The exhibition follows this postwar Japanese thread through about 350 works and asks: what else can jewelry express?

1964: Hiramatsu Yasushige (1926–2012), Hishida Yasuhiko (1927–1981) and others found the JJDA. 1970–1986: the International Jewelry Art Exhibition, based at Seibu's Shibuya store, introduces European movements to Japan. Late 1970s: conceptual jewelry emerges in dialogue with contemporary art. 1993: Ito Kazuhiro, Otto Künzli and others launch a joint exhibition of three schools — Tokyo, Munich and Amsterdam. This show builds on the large-scale public debut of the Hiko Mizuno College of Jewelry collection, plus European contemporary jewelry masterpieces returning from Germany after about 50 years and works by living artists — some 350 pieces. Exhibition design by architect Nakamura Ryuji, graphic design by Kikuchi Atsuki.

• Otto Künzli's 'Switzerland · Gold': a gold-ingot brooch made from a chocolate box, satirising the 'real gold' obsession
• Ted Noten's 'Chisaka's Bag': his late wife's ring sealed in resin as a bag — about memory
• Künzli's 'Sunrise–Sunset': a white ball and a red circle, layering the hinomaru image
• European contemporary jewelry masterpieces from Germany, back in Japan after about 50 years

Getting there

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, 26-1 Okazaki Enshoji-cho, Sakyo-ku. Tozai subway line, Higashiyama Station.

Booking

No reservation needed. General ¥2,000 (advance ¥1,800), university students ¥1,300, high-school students ¥600, junior high and under free; evening discount on Fridays after 18:00. ¥100 off a same-day window ticket if you come wearing jewelry (the 'jewelry discount'). M4 joint discount with tickets from the Kyoto National Museum, the Museum of Kyoto and the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum. Includes the collection exhibition.

Crowds

Fridays open till 20:00; the collection exhibition's free days (3 and 15 November) may be busy.

Good for

Design and craft lovers, and anyone curious that jewelry is more than luxury. No art-history background needed.

How it differs

Completely different from commercial jewelry shows: there is no 'how much is it worth' logic here — it is about ideas. Künzli's 'Switzerland · Gold', for instance, is a gold-ingot brooch made from a chocolate box, satirising the obsession with 'real gold'. Unlike the big historical blockbusters such as the Kan'ei show, no Japanese-history background is needed — just eyes and curiosity. After Kyoto it tours Shimane and Yamanashi; Kyoto is the first stop.

Sources National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto — official exhibition page · MoMAK 2026 events listing