Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room T2
August 30, 2005 (Tue) - October 10, 2005 (Mon)
The moon is the closest celestial body to humans. It seems that the moon in a clear night sky has always been thought of as beautiful throughout the world. In Japan, since ancient times, the moon on the 15th night of the eighth month according to the lunar calendar has been appreciated as "the beautiful moon of mid-autumn". Dedicating dumplings and potatoes to the moon is a custom from the ancient times.
Recent research suggests a strong possibility that the origin of this custom can be traced back to the taro (a type of potato) harvest celebration in China. This festival became a ceremony in the Chinese court and then was introduced to Japan.
Waka poems about the moon have been composed numerously since old times. The priest Kenko, in his famous book Essays in Idleness, wrote "the autumn moon is to be praised endlessly." It is not surprising to discover that it was one of the favorite subjects of paintings and decorative art objects. The autumn moon, however, can not be defined as such by itself. Just like the spring moon is depicted together with plum blossoms, the autumn moon is accompanied by objects that signify the season.
The present display features the autumn moon motifs in Japanese art works as well as waka poems.
Major works in this exhibition
