Celebrating Japan Spring in the Sackler Pavilion; photo by Carly Pippin

Here’s the scene in the Sackler Gallery as we celebrate Japan Spring! There’s still time to grab some food and listen to the sounds of the koto. At 2 pm check out Imaginasia activities as well as Kabuki in the Freer’s Meyer Auditorium.

Ann Yonemura, senior associate curator of Japanese Art; photo by H. Wicaksono

We have the honor of having Ann Yonemura with us today. Ann is the senior associate curator of Japanese art at the Freer|Sackler. She shares with us how special and rare it is to have the complete set of Hokusai prints on view, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, selected from seven museums and two private collections.

“It’s very difficult to bring the series together this way. It really is the first show of the full series that I have seen in my lifetime. It’s up for twelve weeks only, so it’s brief, just like the cherry blossoms. The prints are beautiful, and in excellent condition. Visitors to the exhibition will be seeing the prints as they would have appeared in the 1830s, when they were first published.”

Sketching the Koto Player in the Sackler; photo by H. Wicaksono

Japan Spring is a feast for the ears as well as the eyes. Come listen to the sounds of the koto, the national instrument of Japan, happening now through 2 pm.

Making cherry blossom origami in the Sackler; photo by Hutomo Wicaksono

Not happy with the cherry blossoms outside? Come into the Sackler and make your own! Cherry Blossom origami happening now through 2 pm!

Magnolias in bloom outside the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery; photo by Cory Grace

Springtime in DC is all about the cherry blossom—especially this year, as we get ready to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the gift of cherry trees to Washington from the city of Tokyo, Japan. But today, we’ll let the magnolia take center stage. This is pretty much the view outside the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery this week: bright sunshine and an explosion of magnolia blossoms. The only thing we can’t share with you is the intoxicating fragrance—it’s out of this world.