Japan is a country with four seasons. This has long been an accepted fact, and most visitors to the country have been assured of it on numerous occasions. The progress of the seasons is a usual topic of conversation and is always mentioned at the beginning of any personal letter. Poetry, especially haiku and tanka, is keyed to the seasons by a system of code words that has grown over the centuries.

The visual iconography of the seasons is also both extensive and specific; a particular bird or flower in a design may pinpoint not only the season but the month, as well as calling forth a wealth of other (especially poetic) associations.

This visual iconography has been used and contributed to by every branch of Japanese art, and in celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Suntory Museum has mounted a varied show of items from the museum collection that celebrate the passing of the seasons.

As befitting its parent company, the Suntory Museum from the start has founded its efforts on the Epicurean principle of "Seikatsu no Naka no Bi (Living With Beauty)." Without overemphasizing any one art, the museum has built a diverse collection of objects that bring beauty and enjoyment into everyday life: paintings and calligraphy to be sure, but also ceramics, lacquerware, glass, metalwork, cabinetry, textiles and clothing, hair ornaments and many other things that once made someone's life a little brighter, and brighten ours now when Suntory offers us a glimpse of them.

National Treasure "tebako" in gold lacquer with mother-of-pearl inlay, Kamakura Period

"Seasonal Imagery in Japanese Arts" considers its topic from several different viewpoints. The first section, "Expressions of the Four Seasons," shows different styles of presentation. From at least Heian times (794-1185), scrolls, screens and the like have been ornamented with a procession of the four seasons or the 12 months. Time infiltrates the static scenery as the eye moves across it; the snow melts from the branches of the plum, the cherry blooms and then the screen is flush with summer greenery. Next the pheasant stalks through tasseled miscanthus grass and blossoming chrysanthemums, and at last snow falls again upon the dark leaves of the sasanqua camellias.

Nabeshima ware dish with wagtail design, Edo Period

Many items, especially smaller ones, focus on one season. A single bird or flower may be enough to make the point, or the artist may offer an exhaustive catalog of the season's harbingers.

Juxtaposing two opposite seasons offers opportunities for appealing contrasts: cherry blossoms vs. autumn leaves, for example.

The second section of the exhibition, "Festivals of the Four Seasons," shows the self-reinforcing quality of the seasons and their art -- Japan's traditional festivals come in due season, so illustrations of a festival can be a seasonal harbinger, while the image of a flower or a bird may call to mind a festival. Nenchu gyoji, the succession of annual events, is a long-established subject for art.

Blue boat-shaped Satsuma cut glass, Edo Period

The line between a festival and an ordinary party can blur, since Japan's festivals are parties. Even purely secular parties, though, are seasonal, and the cups, dishes and decorations are designed accordingly, as the third section of the show, "Parties and Party Equipment," illustrates. It would be bizarre, after all, to serve springtime guests on plates decorated with chrysanthemums.

Clothing, too, changes with the seasons, and not just by becoming lighter or heavier. The designs of kimono and kanzashi (hair ornaments) often emphasize seasonal motifs. Noh costume takes this a step further; since the stage has no sets and few props, the noh robes themselves must set the scene, and their motifs tell the audience when and where the act is taking place.

This show comprises almost every category of Japanese art, from calligraphy to cut glass, and illustrates the thoroughness with which a national obsession can be expressed in every possible medium. No question about it: Japan has four seasons.