Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room T2
February 3, 2010 (Wed) - March 28, 2010 (Sun)
In the imperial court of the Heian period, the imperial family, their attendants, court ladies, and other people of the noble class dressed in colorful costumes and spent their days carrying out elegant rituals in the palace surrounded by graceful furnishings and implements. The rituals, rites, annual events, appointed posts, social status, manners, architecture, furnishings, costumes, cuisine, and festivity at court were all accompanied by unique formalities. The knowledge and study of such formal customs of court culture is called Yusoku.
In Japan, while aiming to establish a central government based on a system of fixed legal codes introduced from Sui- and Tang-dynasty China, a unique practice of formal manners developed to match the actual situations in the country at that time. These ceremonious rituals, along with the splendors of court architecture and decorative art pieces, embodied a realm of elegant taste.
In the middle ages, however, the evolution of the warrior class and the resulting continuous battles devastated the court and hence the rituals were simplified and the traditions ceased. Later, the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate restored peace, and the rituals were revived. The palace was restored following the rules of the imperial court, and the preparations of costumes, furnishings, and implements in traditional styles were prepared by imperial order. The knowledge of Yusoku was applied for the revival of these cultures.
This exhibition introduces furnishings which were made based on studies by Yusoku experts of the Edo period, along with fragments of fabric which tell of the styles of imperial court costume. Illustrated records of rituals are also on view.