Leaves of Words: Satoshi Nemoto, Tsuneo Nakazawa, Shinya Yamamura
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Overview
Exhibition opens Friday, october 30, 2026
- Opening Reception at 35 N Moore Street, TriBeCa: October 30, 2026, 6–8 PM
- Private viewing by appointment only.
NEW YORK, NY – Ippodo Gallery is pleased to present Leaves of Words: Satoshi Nemoto, Tsuneo Nakazawa, Shinya Yamamura, at Ippodo Gallery in TriBeCa, New York from October 30 to December 5, 2026. The exhibition follows a single script across three materials and three hands: the brush of calligrapher Satoshi Nemoto, the forged iron of Tsuneo Nakazawa, and the mother-of-pearl inlay of lacquer master Shinya Yamamura.
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Press Release
NEW YORK, NY—Ippodo Gallery is pleased to present Leaves of Words, on view October 30 to December 5, 2026. Three masters delve into modern interpretations of Japanese script in three unique materials: calligraphy written by Satoshi Nemoto, forged iron sculpted by Tsuneo Nakazawa, and raden lacquer inlaid with mother-of-pearl by Shinya Yamamura.
"Japanese poetry takes the human heart as its seed and grows into myriad leaves of words." Preface to the Kokin Wakashū, the earliest kana anthology written by the author Ki no Tsurayuki c. 905.
Kana emerged in the ninth century, when Japanese writers began abbreviating Chinese characters into a phonetic script of their own. In the Heian court, it flourished as the language of poetry and love letters—supple, cursive, and written in a single continuous breath; as much drawing as writing. A thousand years later, kana remains the writing of ordinary Japanese life while retaining its artistic origins. The exhibition features Nemoto’s original works of calligraphy written in Japanese kana, the strokes of each character overlayed and flowing. Nakazawa sculpts kana—from works written by Japan’s historical figures—in iron with inochige: a calligraphy term referring to the continuity of the line. Each work is fluid and unbroken in metal. Yamamura meticulously integrates the script into his tea caddies and incense boxes using traditional mother-of-pearl inlay.
Satoshi Nemoto (b. 1984) works with traditional brushes and rare washi, preserving the traditions of the Heian period. The historical inheritance in his practice carries through his mark making: strokes unfold as metaphorical landscapes in which water cascades, branches sway, and wind hums with the same classical elegance Heian literature, now brought into the present. Nemoto’s twelve new "Flow" series works range in size compositionally on paper in hues of white, brown, and blue. The collection elaborates upon two waka poems of his own making: “Woven by threads of rain, the flower opens into color; from a heart so dyed, the leaves of words are spun,” and “In moonlight leaking through the trees — is it the presence of blossoms, or the breath of the branches?”
Tsuneo Nakazawa (b. 1973) drew from classic texts of waka poems to forge nine works in iron; the central themes focus on the moon and concept of yūgen—the elusive and profound meaning of life prized by the poets of the historical Heian and Kamakura eras. Among the texts-given-form are verses by the writers Saigyō, Fujiwara no Ietaka, Fujiwara no Yoshitsune, and Ōe no Chisato. Their waka poems were recorded in anthologies such as the Kokin Wakashū and Shin Kokin Wakashū, and the Shin Chokusen Wakashū. As sculptures, light casts the shadow of the kana calligraphy onto the wall behind. The closing words by Tsurayuki in the earliest kana anthology impart a timeless message: to grasp the heart of poetry is to look back at the past, and long for the present as one gazes at the moon in a wide sky.
Shinya Yamamura (b. 1960) contributes a group of lidded boxes set with the iridescent interiors of limpet shells, among them abalone and oyster, which are extracted and cut by hand, then prepared into the shapes of kana characters. The raden technique—the inlay of mother-of-pearl into urushi lacquer—is a quintessentially Japanese technique of ancient origins. Now the president of Kanazawa College of Art, Yamamura’s technically impressive approach modernizes the medium while referencing the aesthetics of classical literature.
The flowing nature of kana script evokes a visual language before any linguistic meaning. Each stroke inherently possesses rhythm, a breath in the spaces intentionally left between. When realized in raden lacquer and forged iron, the rhythm is given physical form. Set in lacquer by Yamamura, kana script catches the light in shifting color. Hammered into iron by Nakazawa, each mark becomes weighted and casts a shadow. Together the three artists trace one script from brush to iron to lacquer, and one idea from the ninth century to the present.
The exhibition is accompanied by an essay on Nemoto's calligraphy by Sadako Ohki, Ph.D., the Former Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese Art, Department of Asian Art, Yale University Art Gallery.
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Contributing Essay
Nemoto's Kana Choreography
— Sadako Ohki, September 2026
Former Japan Foundation Associate Curator of Japanese ArtYale UniversityLEAVES OF WORDS at Ippodo Gallery New York presents the contemporary Japanese kana calligraphy of Dr. Satoshi Nemoto. Nemoto’s highly refined practice begins with the careful selection of his materials - from Ganpi washi paper and treated paper with botanical dyeing (Kusaki-zome) to selected brushes crafted using techniques revived from the courtly Heian period (794-1185). The exhibition focuses on the dynamic, interwoven calligraphic style of Nemoto’s oeuvre, which incorporates his own poetry and short literary phrases drawn from his deep scholarship in Chinese and Japanese language, classical literature, and philosophy.
Three works selected here give us a glimpse of Nemoto’s uniqueness in the traditional field of Japanese kana calligraphy. Kana, roughly equivalent to the English alphabet, has origins in the 5th century, when Japan was faced with the need to make their own written language, abbreviating and adapting Chinese characters, kanji. Today, the Japanese language is a mixture of kanji and kana. In the field of calligraphic art, complicated use of multiple kana representations and styles heighten the aesthetic appreciation of kana calligraphy.
All selected three calligraphic works are based on a single waka poem of 31 syllables composed by the calligrapher Nemoto himself. The poem says:
“The color of the flowers blooming,
Woven in threads of rain
Words that spin and gather
a heart dyed in their hue.”
雨糸に 織られて咲いた 花の色 染まる心を 紡ぐ言の葉
amaito ni/ orare te saita/ hana no iro/ somaru kokoro wo/ tsumugu koto no ha
The poem suggests the blossoming of love, comparing it to a heart “woven in threads of rain” and dyed in the hues of blooming flowers.
The selected three works correspond to the Gallery Program List #2 Flow "Wisteria Trellis" (Fujidana), "「 藤棚」”; #7 Flow "Budding" (Hōga), "「 萌芽」",; and #8 Flow "Willow Waves" (Ryūrō), "「柳浪」".
Nemoto brushed Flow "Wisteria Trellis" (Fujidana), "「 藤棚」” on Echizen washi paper made in Fukui prefecture. He repeated the poetic lines of his waka in his mind while he made the general design of the piece. The design of the descending left half is brushed in an orderly manner while the right side expresses irregularity in the length of the columns and the spatial arrangements of the characters. Nemoto explained that he first brushed the kana in light ink. He then viewed the piece from different angles, applying varieties of kana forms in a darker ink, creating irregular formations that adds power to the work. The finished work looks like a flock of birds about to
take flight.
Flow "Budding" (Hōga), "「 萌芽」", witnesses the artist’s first experiment in applying a white pigment called gofun in place of black ink–traditionally made of ground sea shells mixed with glue–on a dyed sheet of paper. Applying gofun makes the paper less absorbent than ordinary washi. Thus, the gofun does not sink as deeply into the paper, leaving behind pools of white and dense marks. The artist revealed that he had a strong urge to draw from the lower to the upper sections of the page; however, it was impossible because brush lines are always painted from top to bottom. The tension beckons us into a wondrous adventure in a dark forest.
The calligraphic lines of Flow "Willow Waves" (Ryūrō), "「柳浪」" recall the long and sinewy branches of a willow tree blowing in the wind. Nemoto has included liquid spatters of white gofun on his work, enhancing the image of a strong wind blowing against the page. The piece evokes the imagery captured in Nemoto’s waka, suggesting the woven threads of love have begun swaying and taking flight after having gone through heavy entanglements in the forest.
The contemporary calligrapher Nemoto has opened up a new possibility in the modern art of kana. Rather than drawing a clearly singled out form of kana, he orchestrates them to become a linear symphony. He himself is the composer, the musician, and the conductor, using the fluent and abbreviated forms of kana in his artistic endeavour to touch our hearts.
How fortunate to have kana calligraphy that can represent a vital identity of unique Japanese written form! Creation of kana went through a messy process of conjuring through chaotic learning, adaptation, and abbreviation. We should not forget that women were at the forefront of simplifying the kana forms in early history. And today the calligrapher Mr. Nemoto uplifted the kana to be a pattern of melodical traces.
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