Since its opening in 1980, it has presented such outstanding exhibits as the unprecedented "Living National Treasures of Japan" in 1983, the Bugaku costumes from the Kasuga Grand Shrine in Nara in 1984 as part of the Olympic Arts Festival, and treasures from the Tokugawa Shogunate, also in 1984. The gallery features an array of contemporary/traditional arts and culture. In fall of 2015 and 2016, the gallery exhibited the exquisite Japanese art collection of Joe and Etsuko Price.
Today, the gallery continues to showcase exhibitions from traditional Japanese artifacts to contemporary Japanese and Japanese American art, and is the home to the popular Annual Shikishi Exhibition.