The Art of the Lotus Sutra: To Make Is to Pray

Suntory Museum of Art · Tokyo · –

The Lotus Sutra teaches that all beings can attain buddhahood and be saved from worldly suffering, and in Japan it was embraced across eras, classes, and genders. Masterpieces of Lotus Sutra art are presented through three themes (building pagodas, copying and dedicating sutras, and making images), alongside the devotion of early modern painters. Works include the National Treasures Bronze Plaque with the Lotus Sutra Preaching Scene (Hasedera, Nara) and a gold- and silver-plated sutra box excavated at Yokawa on Mount Hiei (Enryakuji, Shiga), the National Treasure Lotus Sutra booklet on fan-shaped paper (Shitennōji, Osaka) in the second period only, and an elephant and a lion, an Important Cultural Property pair that the museum acquired in 2025 and shows for the first time.

Exhibition information

Plan your visit

Display periods
  • First period: –
  • Second period: –
Opening hours
10:00–18:00 Until 20:00 on Fridays and on Saturday, Feb 6; last admission 30 minutes before closing.
Closed
Tuesdays, and Dec 29 to Jan 1.
Closed during the exhibition
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Admission
  • Adult ¥1,800
  • University student ¥1,200
  • High-school student ¥1,000
Reservation
Advance tickets (adults JPY 1,600, university students JPY 1,000, high-school students JPY 800) are sold from Sep 16 to Dec 11, at the museum desk only on open days through Nov 8. A limited advance pair ticket costs JPY 3,000 (two people, or one person twice; museum desk and official online tickets only). Free for junior-high students and younger. JPY 100 off with a special-exhibition ticket from the National Art Center, Tokyo or the Mori Art Museum, or for groups of 20 or more; one discount per ticket.

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