Japanese Masterpieces from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

It says a lot about the poor standing of traditional Japanese art during the heady modernisation of the Meiji Era that some of the country's greatest works ended up getting sold overseas, often for a pittance. Many of these ended up in the hands of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, whose collection is of such quality that it even merited a sister museum in Nagoya. This exhibition of key pieces from the MFA looks set to be one of Tokyo's biggest blockbusters during 2012, with everything from 8th century Buddhist artwork to Edo-era kimonos on display. It also provides a chance to see some of the best work by Soga Shohaku, the iconoclastic painter who scandalised 18th century Japan.