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Treasures of the Imperial Collections - Splendor of Japanese Art
Treasures of the Imperial Collections - Splendor of Japanese Art ／ Heiseikan Special Exhibition Galleries October 6, 2009 (Tue) - November 29, 2009 (Sun)
Rosewood Chinese Lute with Mother-of-Pearl Inlay, Nara period, 8th century Shosoin Treasures (On exhibit from November 12 to November 29, 2009)
>> detailed information
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Emperor's enthronement, the Tokyo National Museum will hold a special exhibition uniting a rich spectrum of works from the imperial collections. The exhibition will be held in two parts, and will include objects owned by the imperial household as well as treasures from the Shosoin Repository and Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections).
Part 1 Tuesday, October 6 - Tuesday, November 3, 2009.
Part 2 Thursday, November 12 - November 29,2009.
Related Exhibition
- Part 1: Special Feature: The Legacy of Yamato-e Screen Painting October 6 - November 3, 2009
- Part 2: Special Feature: Preserving Traditional Techniques for Posterity-Restoration and Recreation of the Shosoin Treasures November 12 - November 29, 2009
 General Information |
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| Period | Part 1: Tuesday, October 6 - Tuesday, November 3, 2009 (National holiday) | ||||||||||
Part 2: Thursday, November 12 - Sunday, November 29, 2009
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| Venue | Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park) | ||||||||||
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| Hours | 9:30 - 17:00 Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays until 18:00 Fridays until 20:00 (Last entry 30 minutes before closing) |
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| Closed | Tuesday, October 13; Monday, October 19; Monday, October 26 | ||||||||||
| Open every day during the exhibition period of Part 2 | |||||||||||
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| Admissions | Adults: 1,300 (1,100/1,000) yen Set of tickets (admission to Parts 1 and 2): 2,200 (advance 2,000) University students: 1,000 (800/700) yen High school students: 700 (500/400) yen Junior high school students and under: Free
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| Access | 10 minutes' walk from JR Ueno Station (Park exit) and Uguisudani Station 15 minutes' walk from Keisei Ueno Station, Tokyo Metro Ueno Station and Tokyo Metro Nezu Station |
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| Organizer | Tokyo National Museum, Imperial Household Agency, NHK | ||||||||||
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| With the Special Cooperation of | NHK Promotions, The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nikkei Inc. | ||||||||||
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| General Inquiries | 03-5405-8686 (Hello Dial) | ||||||||||
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| Exhibition Official Website | http://www.bihana.jp/ The website has closed with the end of the exhibition. |
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| Related events (In Japanese) |
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Commemorative lecture (application required) |
| 1. Saturday, October 10, 2009, 13:30 - 15:00, Heiseikan, Auditorium Title: "The Imperial Collections in the Heisei Period: A Focus on Conservation" Lecture by: Ohta Aya (Curator, The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan) |
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| 2. Sunday, November 15, 2009, 13:30 - 15:00, Heiseikan, Auditorium Title: "Treasures from the Shosoin Repository: Historical Value" Lecture by: Sugimoto Kazuki (Director, Office of The Shosoin Treasure House, Imperial Household Agency) |
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| Related Exhibition |
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Special Feature: The Legacy of Yamato-e Screen Painting Thematic Exhibition Room Tuesday, October 6 - Tuesday (holiday), November 3, 2009 The Daijosai is a major festival that is held once per imperial era following the enthronement of a new emperor. Two yamato-e screens are traditionally created for the festival; one from Yuki province, from Kyoto to the east side of Japan, and one from Suki province, from Kyoto to the west side of Japan. This thematic exhibition focuses on yamato-e screens created in Akita prefecture and Oita prefecture for the Heisei-era Daijosai. Exhibit includes: Screens of Poetry and Genre Scenes from Yuki and Suki Provinces for Daijosai (Festival Following the Enthronement of a New Emperor), By Higashiyama Kaii and Takayama Tatsuo, 1990, Supply Division of the Grand Steward's Secretariat, Imperial Household Agency |
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Special Feature: Preserving Traditional Techniques for Posterity-Restoration and Recreation of the Shosoin Treasures Thematic Exhibition Room Thursday, November 12 - Sunday, November 29, 2009 This thematic exhibition focuses on the preservation of cultural properties in the Imperial collection. Reproduction of the Shosoin Treasures began at the beginning of the Meiji period, led by the Imperial Household. Imitations of luxurious Shosoin treasures will be showcased together with materials related to their preservation. Exhibit includes: Five-Stringed Rosewood Biwa Lute with Mother-of-Pearl Inlay (Reproduction), 1899 (Original:Nara period, 8th century) |
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| Highlight of the Exhibition |
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The Colorful Realm of Living Beings By Ito Jakuchu Edo period,mid-18th century Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) This is one of the representative works of Ito Jakuchu (1716-1800), a painter who was active in Kyoto during the mid-Edo period and whose works have attracted much attention in recent years. A veritable monument to the artist's career, this grand-scale work is comprised of 30 individual hanging scrolls which were originally produced as Buddhist paintings to be hung behind a Shaka (Sakyamuni) triad. |
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Chinese Lions By Kano Eitoku Azuchi-Momoyama period, 16th century Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) This is one of the few paintings which can be identified reliably as a work by Kano Eitoku, the renowned master of Momoyama-period painting. With its powerful brushwork representing the magnificence of the time, this is one of the best known works of Japanese painting. |
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Bugaku Dancer as the Warrrior Ranryo-o, Prince of Lanling By Unno Shomin Dated 1890 Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) This figure is a representative work of Unno Shomin (1844-1915), the leading metal artist of the Meiji period. This realistic work, produced using highly sophisticated metalworking techniques, depicts the dance traditionally performed alongside the gagaku (classical court music) piece, Ranryo-o. |
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| Sacred Peak (Mount Fuji) and Foothills in the Morning Sun By Yokoyama Taikan Dated 1927 Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) One of the representative works of Yokoyama Taikan, this painting was commissioned in 1926 and installed in the Homei Room of the Palace of Emperor Meiji upon its completion in 1927. Among the many paintings of Mount Fuji by Taikan, this is considered one of his earliest masterworks, and is unique among his paintings in its extraordinary sense of volume and splendor. |
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Snow, Moon and Flowers By Uemura Shoen Dated 1937 Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) |
| Keyword : Artists to the Imperial Household The system of appointing artists to the imperial household was established in Japan in October 1890 to preserve and promote the fine arts, increase the technical sophistication of artworks, and to ensure the transmission of techniques to the next generation. The system was originally created to provide support to artists who had lost the patronage of shogun and daimyo as a result of the Meiji Restoration; at the same time, however, the foregrounding of unique cultural traditions which the system afforded was seen as key to positioning Japan as an internationally recognizable entity, in the manner of European nations. The system continued until 1944, and throughout its duration saw the appointment of a total of 79 Artists to the Imperial Household who specialized in a wide variety of genres, including nihonga and Western-style painting, decorative arts, architecture and photography. |
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Rosewood Chinese Lute with Mother-of-Pearl Inlay From the North Storehouse Section 30 Nara period, 8th century The Shosoin Treasures Known in Japanese as a genkan, this is a four-stringed musical instrument with a long neck and a round body. It is named after one of the legendary Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove from Western Jin-dynasty China, who is said to have used the instrument as his favorite. Detailed inlay decorates the entire surface and is especially notable on the back, where a pair of parakeets are depicted holding long decorative chains in their beaks. The white mother-of-pearl and the red color under the amber inlay produce a brilliant contrast in this work. Since it is recorded in the Kokka Chinpo Cho (List of the Nation's Rare Treasures) , there is a high possibility that the instrument was favored by Emperor Shomu. |
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Mirror with Design of Four Buildings From Samita Takarazuka Kofun tomb site, Kawaicho, Kita-Katsuragi County, Nara Prefecture Kofun period, 4th century Archives and Mausolea Department, Imperial Household Agency |
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Lacquer Ewer From the North Storehouse Section 43 Nara period, 8th century The Shosoin Treasures This work is a Persian-style water pitcher with a lid and spout shaped after a bird's head. The body is shaped from thin rectangular boards. The surface is coated with black lacquer adorned with designs of deer, sheep, birds, flowers, butterflies, and flowers cut from thin sheets of silver. The Kokka Chinpou Cho (List of the Country's Rare Treasures) states that in 756, Empress Komyo dedicated this pitcher among other works on the occasion of Emperor Shomu's memorial, on the 49th day after his death. This is a representative work of the lacquerware held among the Shosoin Treasures. |
| Keyword : Shosoin Treasures In ancient times, repositories for storing the valuables of temples and government offices were called shoso, and the premises within the fences surrounding the shoso was known as shosoin. Major temples such as Horyuji and Kofukuji once had this facility, but the only one surviving at present is at Todaiji temple, Nara, the buildings and the stored objects of which are now under the custody of the Imperial Household Agency. The Shosoin Repository is divided into three parts: the Northern Storehouse, Central Storehouse, and Southern Storehouse. The Northern Storehouse mainly keeps objects devoted to and personally favored by Emperor Shomu (reign 724-749), and the remaining storehouses contain objects used on the occasion of the eye-opening ceremony of the Great Buddha of Todaiji in 745. |
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Illustrated Account of the Mongol Invasion (Detail) Kamakura period, 13th century Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) |
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| Miracles of the Kasuga Shrine (Detail) By Takashina Takakane Kamakura period, dated 1309 (Enkyo 2) Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) This handscroll masterpiece produced in the Kamakura period had significant influence on later paintings. Commissioned by the courtier Saionji Kinhira, the work was painted by Takashina Takakane, who was appointed to the imperial court at that time, and dedicated to Kasuga Shrine in Nara. Later, during the Meiji period (1868-1912), the work was presented to the imperial household where it has been preserved ever since. |
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Gyokusenjo (Album of the Jeweled Spring: Selected Poems by Bo Juyi) (Detail) Calligraphy by Ono no Tofu Heian period, 10th century Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) |
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Poems from the Anthology Wakan Roeishu (Collection of Chinese and Japanese Verses), Detcho Version Calligraphy attributed to Fujiwara no Kozei Heian period, 11th century Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) Among the many versions of Wakan Roeishu, this work is most renowned for the outstanding beauty of its calligraphy and decorated paper. |
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Scenes from The Tale of Genji (Detail) by Kano Tan'yu Edo period, dated 1642 (kan'ei 19) Sannomaru Shozokan (The Museum of the Imperial Collections) |
