Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 14
July 3, 2007 (Tue) - September 24, 2007 (Mon)
This year's Family Gallery during the summer vacation season features ancient Japanese toys and games. They include crystal marbles, a shell-matching game set that reflect courtly aesthetic sense starting from the Heian period (794-1192), as well as playing cards and board games that present the lively wit and wisdom of commoners during the Edo period (1603-1868).
Items of special interest include metal animal figures, such as dragons and snakes, and are known as articulated figures because they are crafted in flexible metal segments. They were crafted by armor-makers and other metal workers during the peaceful Edo period.
A Hands-on Corner (open 11:00 -16:00) in the Education Center in the Hyokeikan Gallery offers workshops and other opportunities to handle reproductions of toys on display.
Major works in this exhibition
