HOSOO GALLERY in Kyoto will hold "The White of Consciousness" (意識の白), an exhibition of a new installation by artist Shinichiro Yoshida (吉田真一郎), from Friday, November 6, 2026 to Saturday, March 20, 2027. Yoshida is known as a collector and researcher of asa cloth (麻布).
About the Exhibition
Alongside his work as an artist, Yoshida has collected and studied natural cloths, including hemp (大麻, taima) and ramie (苧麻, choma), for about 40 years. In 2021, HOSOO GALLERY held "Shinichiro Yoshida: Shiro no Kehai" (吉田真一郎 白の気配), where he presented the work White (《白》). He completed it after about 40 years of collecting asa cloth while searching for his own roots.
The White shown at the 2021 exhibition was made up entirely of hemp-fiber cloths woven in the same plain weave. Although the material and the weave were identical, when the cloths were placed side by side, subtle differences in the weaver's touch and the twist of the threads emerged as the presence of each cloth.
The new White in this exhibition adds ramie, another fiber essential to Yoshida's asa cloth collection. By placing white cloths of hemp and ramie, both grown in Japan since ancient times, side by side, the work brings out the presence of white that Japanese people may once have seen, and asks anew what it means to look at things.
The exhibition also presents a new installation in which the elements of more than 1,000 items of reference material collected by Yoshida have been pared down to the extreme and reconstructed. The work goes beyond the material nature of the cloth in White and takes the question deeper, into the matter of "consciousness." Through the world of "white" that Yoshida reached after about 40 years of collecting and observing asa cloth, the exhibition is meant as a chance to touch the consciousness that lies beneath the act of seeing.
Guided Tours
Guided tours will be held irregularly during the exhibition period, from November 2026 to March 2027. Reservations are required, and each tour accommodates 10 to 15 people. Details will be announced on the official HOSOO GALLERY website and official Instagram once decided.
- Website: www.hosoogallery.jp
- Instagram: hosoogallery
The tour is a special program that draws on Yoshida's collection of about 1,200 asa cloth materials. It introduces the "five great asa cloths" (五大麻布), centered on hemp and ramie, and deepens understanding of the cloths known as natural cloths (自然布), such as bashofu (芭蕉布), kuzufu (葛布), shinafu (科布), fujifu (藤布), ohyo (オヒョウ), shifu (紙布) and tafu (太布).
About Shinichiro Yoshida
Shinichiro Yoshida (吉田真一郎) was born in Kyoto Prefecture in 1948 and is the director of Kinsei Asanuno Kenkyujo (近世麻布研究所). He began making paintings in his twenties. In 1977, he went to West Germany, where he met the contemporary artist Joseph Beuys. After returning to Japan, influenced by Beuys, he began teaching himself about antique art and folklore. He has published research on the fibers and threads of Edo-period ramie and hemp cloth.
His major museum exhibitions include the "Nara-sarashi" (奈良晒) exhibition at the Nara Prefectural Museum of Folklore (奈良県立民俗博物館), the Aisho Town Museum of History and Culture in Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県愛荘町立歴史文化博物館), the "Takamiya-nuno" (高宮布) exhibition at the Higashiomi City Notogawa Museum (東近江市立能登川博物館), and the "Four Great Asa Cloths" (四大麻布) exhibition at the Tokamachi City Museum (十日町市博物館). In 2012, he presented his research in the joint research project "Anthropological Study of Cloth and Humans" (布と人間の人類学的研究) at the National Museum of Ethnology. He is a co-author of Bessatsu Taiyo: Japan's Natural Cloths (別冊太陽 日本の自然布, Heibonsha, 2004). In 2018, he received the 6th Mizuki Jugodo Prize (水木十五堂賞) in recognition of his collection and research of asa cloth.
Exhibition Overview
- Title: Shinichiro Yoshida "The White of Consciousness" (吉田真一郎展「意識の白」)
- Dates: Friday, November 6, 2026 to Saturday, March 20, 2027
- Hours: 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM (except public holidays and the year-end and New Year period, December 29 to January 3). Last admission is 15 minutes before closing.
- Venue: HOSOO GALLERY (HOSOO FLAGSHIP STORE 2F, 412 Kakimoto-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto)
- Admission: Free
- Phone: 075 221 8888
- Website: www.hosoogallery.jp
- Organizer: HOSOO Co., Ltd. (株式会社 HOSOO)
- Subsidy: Japan Cultural Expo (日本博)
- Curator: Kumiko Idaka (井高久美子)
- Research: Rurihiko Hara (原瑠璃彦)
- Space design: Takayuki Suo (周防貴之)
- Promotional design: Akihiro Morita (森田明宏)
- Director: Masataka Hosoo (細尾真孝)
