40th Anniversary Thematic Exhibitions: Tea Ceremony Utensils of Matsunaga Jian

Mr. Matsunaga Yasuzaemon (1875-1971) was born in Iki, Nagasaki prefecture. He studied at Keio University, after which he led enterprises such as Kyushu Electric Railway and Toho Electric Power, and became an important figure in the Japanese electric industry before and after World War II. He began to enjoy the tea ceremony after he turned 60, when he took his pseudonym Jian from a phrase from the Analects of Confucius. With his villa in Yanase, in Shiki, Saitama prefecture, he mingled widely with modern tea masters of Japan such as Masuda Donno (1848-1938) and Hara Sankei (1868-1939), by whom he was also strongly influenced in his collections of antique art. Like other connoisseurs at the time, who freely brought their collections to gatherings to enjoy the combination of their pieces during a tea ceremony, he also assumed an unconventional, free, and dynamic style of tea ceremony.

The pieces that form Tokyo National Museum's Matsunaga Collection were collected before World War II, and Mr. Matsunaga donated them to the museum in 1947. This exhibition features tea ceremony utensils that are representative of the collection, including the tea caddy "Uji" by which he became renowned as a collector, and the tea bowl "Uraku Ido", which he competed with Don'o, his senior, in acquiring. Visitors are invited to enjoy the array of masterworks that Mr. Matsunaga collected and favored through the world of the tea ceremony.