Note:
(a) "Okada Museum of Art, which was created by the Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada [岡田 和生 (1942- )] * * * When the dispute with Wynn was settled out of court in 2018, Okada balked at the fee that his law firm, Bartlit Beck, presented him with. * * * Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby's Asia and worldwide head of Asian Art * * * The Okada sale will include a rare Qianlong 'Eight Treasures' [八吉祥] vase; a large Northern Song Ru 'guanyao' bowl; a pair of 16th-century six-panel screens by Kano Motonobu from the Muromachi period; and 'The Great Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa' [which was printed by the thousands] by Katsushika Hokusai
(i) Okada Museum of Art 岡田美術館 (private 私設)
(ii) Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP (1993- ; a boutique law firm based in Chicago)
(iii) For Nicholas Chow, see 仇国仕- 亚洲艺术部主席兼环球主管. 苏富比, undated https://www.sothebys.com/zh-hans/关于/团队/仇国仕
(A) He was born in Shanghai (江苏太仓人，明代画家仇英第十六世孙: 百度百科).
(B) Sotheby's Asia is primarily located in Hong Kong.
(iv) "a rare Qianlong 'Eight Treasures' vase"
(A) I fail to locate online Sotheby's Asia Nov 22, 2025 auction.
(B) Could it be this one?
陶説. 日本陶磁協会, No. 734 (2014年5月) https://www.j-ceramics.or.jp/tosetsu/no-734/
("表紙写真： 「豆彩八吉祥唐草文天球瓶」景徳鎮窯「大清乾隆年製」銘 清時代･乾隆年間 岡田美術館蔵")
(C) Japanese-English dictionary:
* hyōshi 表紙 【ひょうし】 (n): "cover (of a book, magazine, etc.)"
(v) guanyao, guan ware or kuan ware 官 (one of 北宋五大名窯: Ru ware 汝窯 was another, so named due to kilm's location in 汝州 (presently 河南省平顶山市汝州市) (Both en.wikipedia.org and zh.wikipedia.org have each term in Chinese.
"官窑广义是指朝廷开设的窑场，狭义是北宋大观、政和年间，官府在汴京（今河南开封）开设的瓷窑场。": zh.wikipedia.org for 官窑.
(vi) "a pair of 16th-century six-panel screens by Kano Motonobu from the Muromachi period"
(A) KANŌ Motonobu 狩野 元信 (1476-1559)
(B) ArtnewsJapan.com reported (by George Nelson on Oct 27, 2025) that "16世紀、室町時代の狩野元信による六曲一双屏風." However, Suntory.com lists 狩野元信 with nine (9) 六曲一双, none of which is in the collection of 岡田美術館; still the list was not exhaustive, which listed the items by this painter in that particular exhibition:
狩野元信. Suntory Museum of Art, 展示替リスト 2017年9月16日（土）〜11月5日（日）. https://www.suntory.com/sma/exhibition/visual/list_JA_1.pdf
(b) "Located in the dense forest surrounding Hakone, a mountain resort, the Okada museum opened in 2013 as a showcase for a collection of several hundred works. Sotheby's said the museum's holdings were shaped over three decades by Kochukyo Co, the art dealership founded by Hirota Matsushige (later known as Fukosai) that has guided many museums and private collectors since 1924. * * * Okada is the former chairman of Universal Entertainment Corporation [株式会社ユニバーサルエンターテインメント], which makes and sells amusement devices, in particular pachinko machines — a cross between pinball tables and slot machines that are used in gambling parlors in Japan. * * * Universal, based in Tokyo * * * The law firm hired Kobre & Kim [a kaw firm based in Manhattan] to help it enforce the arbitration award and federal courts in Illinois confirmed the panel's decision, asserting in one ruling that Okada 'took himself out of the race' by choosing not to continue to present evidence to the arbitrators. Sotheby's said the items to be sold are estimated to draw bids in excess of $50 million. Any extra proceeds not needed to retire the debt and any unsold artworks will be returned to Okada Fine Arts, which is controlled by Okada."
(i) Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture 神奈川県 箱根町 (named after 箱根山, an active volcano and hence hot springs in the mountain; besides Mt Fuji is close to see)
(ii) "Kochukyo Co, the art dealership founded by Hirota Matsushige (later known as Fukosai)"
HIROTA Matsushige 廣田 松繁, who named himself HIROTA Fukkosai (there should be two k's) 廣田 不孤斎 (1897-1973) and who c0-founded 東京日本橋の古美術店「壺中居」Kochūkyo): ja.wikipedia.org for 廣田不孤斎. (壺中天 came from a story in 『後漢書』方術伝 and 『神仙伝』, both publications of China -- regarding 費長房.
(iii) Federal courts in Illinois affirmed the arbitration.
Bartlit Beck LLP v Okada, 25 F.4th 519 (7th Circuit 2022). https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10404569924705115941 作者: choi 时间: 昨天 12:34
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Major works from the Okada Museum of Art, which was created by the Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada and is filled with an important trove of Asian art he collected, are to be sold to resolve a $50 million legal bill left over from his dispute with the casino mogul Steve Wynn.
When the dispute with Wynn was settled out of court in 2018, Okada balked at the fee that his law firm, Bartlit Beck, presented him with. But the firm successfully pursued its claim in a binding arbitration and in court. Next month, works held by the museum are to be sold at auction by Sotheby’s in Hong Kong to cover the bill.
The Sotheby’s sale, scheduled for Nov. 22, features 125 lots and includes masterworks of Asian art, such as late Shang ritual bronzes, Qing imperial porcelain, Japanese screens and Korean ceramics, some of which are expected to draw bids that top several million dollars.
“This is possibly among the finest such collections,” said Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia and worldwide head of Asian Art, in a telephone interview. “What we have is basically 3,000 years of some of the greatest ceramics, craft and paintings across China, Japan and Korea.”
The Okada sale will include a rare Qianlong “Eight Treasures” vase; a large Northern Song Ru “guanyao” bowl; a pair of 16th-century six-panel screens by Kano Motonobu from the Muromachi period; and “The Great Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai, which has been called “the most famous Japanese woodblock print in the world.”
“The Great Wave” — depicting Mount Fuji in the distance under the crest of a giant wave — is part of Hokusai’s celebrated series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji,” which helped establish the popularity of landscape prints. The artist started the Fuji series in 1830 at age 70 and produced several iterations.
“There are many impressions of the Great Wave, and there isn’t one ‘definitive’ version,” wrote Capucine Korenberg, a scientific researcher at the British Museum in 2020. “For example, the British Museum has three impressions in the collection, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has four and Maidstone Museum (UK) has one.”
The online information for the Sotheby’s sale reports that the artworks have been consigned “by an agent of the court appointed receivers over the shares of Okada Fine Art Limited” based on court orders issued in Hong Kong.
The Okada museum declined to comment on what impact the sale might have on its holdings. It said that it could not provide contact information for Okada, who could not be reached for comment.
Located in the dense forest surrounding Hakone, a mountain resort, the Okada museum opened in 2013 as a showcase for a collection of several hundred works. Sotheby’s said the museum’s holdings were shaped over three decades by Kochukyo Co., the art dealership founded by Hirota Matsushige (later known as Fukosai) that has guided many museums and private collectors since 1924.
“As my collection’s scope broadened from traditional Japanese paintings to Asian ceramics and Buddhist arts, and as the numbers of each type grew in my collection,” Okada wrote in an introduction to the museum, “I became convinced that I must build a facility that will properly preserve these important cultural treasures, a place where they can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.”
Okada is the former chairman of Universal Entertainment Corporation, which makes and sells amusement devices, in particular pachinko machines — a cross between pinball tables and slot machines that are used in gambling parlors in Japan. He came to be known in Japan as the “Pachinko King.”
Years ago, he and Wynn became friends and they formed Wynn Resorts in 2002 after theWynn sold Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand.
“I love Kazuo Okada as much as any man that I’ve ever met in my life,” Mr. Wynn gushed during an earnings conference call in 2008.
But a few years later, relations between them soured, with each eventually accusing the other of questionable payments to public officials in Asia. In 2012, Wynn Resorts ousted Okada as vice chairman and redeemed Universal’s 20 percent stake in the company at a discount.
Universal, based in Tokyo, went to court to dispute the redemption amount. Okada’s company ultimately prevailed in 2018 in a settlement in which Wynn and Wynn Resorts agreed to pay $2.6 billion to settle its litigation with Universal and its American subsidiary, Aruze USA Inc.
But, according to court records, Okada refused to pay the $50 million to the law firm that had represented him in the court battle with Wynn, which led to the arbitration. Okada later argued in court that the arbitration panel's decision had been unfair, in part because a health issue had prevented him from participating fully.
The law firm hired Kobre & Kim to help it enforce the arbitration award and federal courts in Illinois confirmed the panel’s decision, asserting in one ruling that Okada “took himself out of the race” by choosing not to continue to present evidence to the arbitrators.
Sotheby’s said the items to be sold are estimated to draw bids in excess of $50 million. Any extra proceeds not needed to retire the debt and any unsold artworks will be returned to Okada Fine Arts, which is controlled by Okada.