Record of a Poetry Contest at the Empress' Palace in the Kanpyō Era (National Treasure)
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Record of a Poetry Contest at the Empress' Palace in the Kanpyō Era (detail)
Attributed to Imperial Prince Munetaka, Heian period, 11th century (National Treasure)Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 2
November 26, 2025 (Wed) - December 21, 2025 (Sun)For hundreds of years, Japan’s imperial family and nobility wrote poetry in elegant calligraphy to express their emotions and communicate with their lovers. From the 9th century, contests in which two teams vied for superiority by composing poems on the same theme became popular at the imperial court.
The work on display records a contest organized by Princess Hanshi (833–900), who was the mother of Emperor Uda and later became empress dowager. The contest featured five themes — spring, summer, autumn, winter, and love — with twenty rounds for each, totaling two hundred poems. Participants included many of the era’s foremost poets, such as Ki no Tomonori and Ki no Tsurayuki. The contest’s record is an outstanding example of 11th-century calligraphy, when the beauty of the flowing Japanese script known as kana reached its peak of refinement.
| Designation | Name | Creation/ Excavation/ Provenance |
Period | Acquisition/ Ownership/ Accession Number |
CMT | ||
| Highlight | National Treasure | Record of a Poetry Contest at the Empress' Palace in the Kanpyō Era | Attributed to Imperial Prince Munetaka | Heian period, 11th century | B-20 |