Kaikodo, "The Hall of Embracing Antiquity," was the studio name chosen during the late 1970s by Howard and Mary Ann Rogers of Kamakura for their growing personal collection of Chinese paintings and ceramics. Howard was then Professor of Chinese art at Sophia University in Tokyo while Mary Ann was a frequent lecturer in Japan on Chinese and Japanese art and Researcher at the Idemitsu Museum of Art. In 1983 the Rogers chose Kaikodo as the name of a company dedicated to the acquisition and sale of works of art deemed of high aesthetic quality and art-historical interest and importance. Kaikodo rapidly became known to museum professionals in Japan and around the world as an important source for fine and rare Asian paintings and antiquities.


In order to better serve its growing clientele of institutional and private clients, Kaikodo purchased a townhouse on the upper east side of New York and, in 1996, following a more than year-long renovation, opened a gallery that was termed then by The New York Times as "one of the most beautiful commercial spaces" in the city. Soon after, Carol Conover, a respected specialist in Chinese ceramics, bronzes and works of art joined the Rogers after nearly 20 years at Sotheby's. Ms. Conover is an experienced appraiser and has worked closely with many universities, museums and private collectors in acquiring works of art, as well as serving as an expert for the State Department. In 2005 the gallery was moved to the present space at 74 East 79th Street where Carol is Director.

The fully illustrated exhibition catalogues, most of them sequential issues of the Kaikodo Journal, are distinguished by the attention paid in extensive entries to issues of art-historical significance and connoisseurship. Independent essays are also included that proffer ideas and theories that can be judged against the works of art themselves, tested for their cognitive adequacy against the objects and problems they seek to interpret, leading in the end to increased understanding of the specific topic and also to the benefit of the scholarly enterprise as a whole.

In addition to directing the commercial activities of Kaikodo, both Howard and Mary Ann have continued to contribute to the scholarly world of art history, for example, Mary Ann writing ceramic entries for the National Gallery exhibition Circa 1492, Art in the Age of Exploration, and Howard serving as consulting curator and general editor of the catalogue for the Guggenheim's China 5,000 Years, Innovation and Transformation in the Arts.

Kaikodo believes that the ultimate value of a work of art lies in its capacity to enhance life, whether it is viewed in a museum, corporate office or private home. An artwork's aesthetic quality and authenticity are thus of paramount concern to us and are regarded by Kaikodo as its obligatory contribution to the partnership it forms with clients. The goal of Kaikodo is to provide museum curators and knowledgeable collectors with unique and historically significant objects that will enhance established holdings and to offer beginning collectors whatever guidance they might desire as well as the opportunity to see, enjoy, and acquire fine works of Asian art.