
Permanent Exhibition: A History of Kinokuni (Wakayama) – People’s Lives and Culture
Tuesday, April 2–Sunday, October 6, 2019
Saturday, February 1–Tuesday, March 31, 2020
This exhibition clearly illustrates the 30,000-year history of Kinokuni—present-day Wakayama Prefecture—focusing on the lives and culture of local people, in seven chronological sections. Each section also displays replicas you can touch. Please note that the permanent exhibition will not be on show during the period of the special exhibition “Tokugawa Yorinobu.”
Planned Exhibition: Story Pictures of Kinokuni – A Pictorial Explanation About a Sacred Place Called Wakayama
2021Saturday, March 13 to Sunday, April 18, 2021
Kinokuni, or Wakayama Prefecture, boasts a wide variety of beautiful works, including picture scrolls, that illustrate stories about the history of temples or shrines, and other kinds of stories. This exhibition features a variety of illustrated stories while focusing on the culture of picture interpretation in Kinokuni.
Special Exhibition: Sword World Kinokuni (Kishu)
24 April (Sat) – 6 June (Sun), 2021
This exhibition features swords made by four swordsmiths (Iruka, Kokawa, Bunju, and Ishido) , who were active from the Nanbokucho period onward in Kishu, as well as notedories m swords dedicated to shrines and temples, and sword accessade by the metalworkers of Kishu.
This is the first sword exhibition for some time.

Planned Exhibition: Scenes from a Sacred Place – The World of Pictures and Maps of Temples and Shrines -
12 June (Sat) – 11 July (Sun), 2021
There are many sacred sites (temples and shrines) in Wakayama Prefecture, including Koyasan and Kumano Sanzan (the three grand shrines of Kumano), and old paintings of temples and shrines still exist. This exhibition introduces the facets and charms of temples and shrines in Kinokuni through pictorial depictions of the landscapes where they were located.

Summer Season Exhibition: The Meaning of Forms and Illustrated Stories
17 July (Sat) – 22 August (Sun), 2021
This exhibition features cultural properties related to Kinokuni (Wakayama Prefecture), focusing on the motifs used in craft works and the themes of paintings. By deepening your understanding of design and iconography, you may find new ways to appreciate works of art.
Planned Exhibition: Religious Art in Kinokuni – Various Forms of Shinto and Buddhist Deities -
28 August (Sat) – 3 October (Sun), 2021
There are many temples and shrines in Wakayama Prefecture, and many wonderful Buddhist statues and paintings that express the forms of prayer have been handed down over the generations. This exhibition introduces the various forms of Shinto and Buddhist deities through a variety of beautiful religious works of art, focusing on materials uncovered through recent research activities by the museum.

The 50th Anniversary Special Exhibition: Treasures of Kinokuni – National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties of Wakayama Prefecture
16 October (Sat) – 23 November (Tue/National Holiday), 2021
he Wakayama Prefectural Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary since its founding in 1971. Based on the activities of the museum during this period, this exhibition will focus on the national treasures and important cultural properties of Kinokuni (Wakayama Prefecture) that exist both inside and outside of Wakayama Prefecture.
This event is part of the National Cultural Festival Wakayama 2021.
Lobby Exhibition: Touch and Learn the History of Wakayama - Touchable Replicas of Cultural Properties and a Touch-and-Read Braille Catalogue -
30 October (Sat) – 23 November (Tue/National Holiday), 2021
This exhibition introduces touchable 3D printed replicas of cultural properties made by the museum together with students of Wakayama Technical High School and Wakayama University, and the braille and tactile catalogue of cultural properties compiled in collaboration with Wakayama Prefecture Wakayama School for the Blind.
This event is part of the National Arts and Culture Festival for Persons with Disabilities in Wakayama.
Special Exhibition: Wakayama and the Imperial Family – An Exhibition of Masterpieces from the Imperial Household Agency’s Sannomaru Shozokan (the Museum of the Imperial Collections)
4 December (Sat), 2021 – 23 January (Sun), 2022
The Imperial Household Agency’s Sannomaru Shozokan is a museum that preserves and displays works of art donated by the Imperial Household.
This will be a rare opportunity to borrow works of art including materials related to Wakayama Prefecture from Sannnomaru Shozokan, which is currently under reconstruction, and exhibit valuable cultural properties that have been handed down over the generations of the Imperial Household.
Planned Exhibition: Buddhist Statues in Local Communities – Protection of Cultural Properties by Local Communities -
29 January (Sat) – 6 March (Sun), 2022
Buddhist and Shinto statues have been carefully protected and passed down over the generations in various parts of the prefecture. However, due to the aging and depopulation of rural areas, it has become difficult to manage them and there also have been cases of thefts. Through this exhibition, we will consider how communities can protect important cultural properties and pass them on to future generations.

Planned Exhibition: Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the Waka-matsuri Festival and Waka-no Ura Bay
12 March (Sat) – 17 April (Sun), 2022
The year 2022 marks the 400th anniversary of the Waka-matsuri Festival since its inception in 1622, at the beginning of the Edo period.
This exhibition will look back over the 400 year history of the Waka-matsuri Festival and introduce the scenic spot, Waka-no-Ura Bay, where the festival took place.