Historically, two major religions – Shinto and Buddhism – have existed harmoniously in Japan, playing complementary roles in its culture and giving rise to a rich variety of art forms.

For centuries, the Japanese have practiced rituals to honor and please the kami, the higher beings believed to inhabit the natural world and influence the weather, harvest, and our general well being. This religion, later named Shinto, originally had no imagery or art, but, under the influence of Buddhism, sculptures and paintings of kami were created and Shinto shrines became more elaborate. Among the most intriguing Shinto art objects are the votive plaques known as ema, inscribed with prayers and then hung at shrines for the kami to read (below). When Buddhism arrived in Japan in the 6th century AD, it was already 1,000 years old and possessed a complex iconography and wide array of art forms. Soon, Japanese artists were sculpting elegant bronze and wooden Buddhist deities, printing Buddhist texts and images with woodblocks, and painting Buddhist scenes on silk as hangings to be worshipped in temples and homes.

This exhibition provides an introduction to these religions through some of the finest art works in the museum collection, many ofwhich are being exhibited for the first time. On exhibit through January 8, 2008.

Love it or hate it, strong reactions are the norm, never placid indifference. Rainbow Colors: The Woodblock Prints of Paul Jacoulet, opening December 6, 2007, will present some 20 works by the French-born artist who occupies an intriguing niche in the history of the Japanese woodblock print. The exhibition will remain on view through March 30, 2008 and offer a sampling of Jacoulet’s culturally hybridized, multi-national, trans-gender vision.

Jacoulet is often associated with the Shin Hanga (New Print) school of modern woodblock artists, who sought to revitalize the waning ukiyo-e tradition by injecting Western realism and post-“floating world” subject matter. However, Jacoulet’s technicolor oeuvre, and subjects such as languid mermaids and androgynous boys wearing hibiscus flowers against backdrops of tropical fruits and exotic butterflies, has tended to slip between conventional categorizations.

The works will present the full range of his subject matter, from Japanese, Chinese and Korean works to those based on his travels around the Micronesian islands during the 1930s, when many on the islands were under Japanese colonial rule. On exhibit through March 30, 2008