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The Lineage of Culture - The Hosokawa Family Eisei Bunko Collection

  • Image of "Gusoku-Type Armor with Two-Piece Cuirass,Red lacing, Formerly worn by Hosokawa Tadaoki (Sansai), 16th century, Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo"

    Gusoku-Type Armor with Two-Piece Cuirass,Red lacing, Formerly worn by Hosokawa Tadaoki (Sansai), 16th century, Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo

    Japanese Archaeology and Special Exhibition (Heiseikan) Special Exhibition Galleries
    April 20, 2010 (Tue) - June 6, 2010 (Sun)

    The Eisei Bunko Foundation and the Eisei Bunko Museum were established in 1950 by 16th-generation family head Hosokawa Moritatsu, with the objective of preserving for future generations the legacy of the cultural treasures of the Hosokawa family, lords of the former Kumamoto domain.
    This exhibition presents renowned works from the Eisei Bunko collection, along with a selection of objects related to the Hosokawa family. In addition to highlighting the history of the Hosokawa family and the transmission of traditional Japanese culture, it also offers insight into the personal character and connoisseurship of Hosokawa Moritatsu, one of the leading art collectors of modern Japan.

 General Information
Period Tuesday, April 20-Sunday, June 6, 2010
Venue Heiseikan, Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park)
Hours 9:30 - 17:00
Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays until 18:00
Fridays until 20:00
(Last entry 30 minutes before closing)
Closed Mondays except for May 3.
Admission Adults: 1,500 (1,300/1,200) yen
University students: 1,200 (1,000/900) yen
High school students: 900 (700/600) yen
Junior high school students and under: Free
* Prices shown in ( ) indicate advance / group (more than 20 persons) discount tickets.
* Persons with disabilities are admitted free with one accompanying person each.
* Advance tickets are on sale at the Museum ticket office (during museum hours, 30 minutes before closing hour) and e-Ticket Pia (P-code:688-979), Lawson Ticket (L-code:33596), E-Plus, CN Playguide and other major ticketing agencies until the following dates respectively: Monday, April 19, 2010.
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
Organizer Tokyo National Museum, Eisei Bunko Museum, NHK, NHK Promotions, The Asahi Shimbun
With the support of Agency for Cultural Affairs
With the Sponsorship of Toyota Motor Corporation, Nissha Printing Co.,Ltd.
General Inquiries 03-5405-8686 (Hello Dial)
Exhibition Official Website http://www.hosokawaten.com/ (in Japanese)
The website has closed with the end of the exhibition.
 Related events (In Japanese)
  Commemorative lecture (application required)
Saturday, April 24, 2010, 13:30 - 15:00, Auditorium, Heiseikan
Title: "The Hosokawa Family: 700 years of Art and Valor"
Lecture by: Hosokawa Morihiro (Chairperson of Eisei-Bunko Museum and the 18th-generation family patriarch)
Saturday, May 29, 2010, 13:30 - 15:00, Auditorium, Heiseikan
Title: "Hosokawa Moritatsu and Modern Japanese Art"
Lecture by: Shioya Jun (Head of Art Research Materials Section, Department of Research Programming, National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo)
 
(Repeat of April 24th lecture)
Friday, May 28, 2010, 17:00 - 18:30, Auditorium, Heiseikan
Title: "The Hosokawa Family: 700 years of Art and Valor"
Lecture by: Hosokawa Morihiro (Chairperson of Eisei-Bunko Museum and the 18th-generation family patriarch)
* Due to the large number of applications for the 1st lecture, it has been decided that the extra lecture will be held. The same content as 1st one.
 Next venue
Kyoto National Museum : Saturday, October 8 - Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Kyushu National Museum : Sunday, January 1 - Sunday, March 4, 2012
 Highlight of the Exhibition
Part 1: Traditions of a Samurai Household - The History and Art Collection of the Hosokawa Family
In the middle ages, the Hosokawa family were lower-ranking vassals of the Kamakura shogunate, and later came to hold important offices with the Muromachi shogunal shogunate. Toward the end of the tumultuous age which characterized the late 15th and 16th centuries, Hosokawa Fujitaka (later known by his Buddhist name Yusai) emerged from a branch in the family line to head the Hosokawa family of the early modern era. Together with his son Tadaoki (Sansai), Fujitaka saw the family through times of upheaval, setting the stage for the Hosokawa family to become the lords of the Kumamoto domain in Higo by the time of the Meiji Restoration (1868). The family's samurai ties are evident in the masterfully produced armor and helmets, saddles, swords, and sword guards found in the collection. In addition, the family has preserved and passed down many objects reflecting the cultivated tastes of the successive generations of family heads and their wives - especially in the areas of poetry, tea utensils and Noh costumes - demonstrating the Hosokawa family's position as lords of both the sword and the brush.
Saddle   Saddle, Reed-script poem design in mother of pearl inlay
 13th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
National Treasure
(On exhibit from May 11 to June 6, 2010)
Gusoku-Type   Gusoku-Type Armor with Two-Piece Cuirass,Red lacing, Formerly worn by Hosokawa Tadaoki (Sansai)
16th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo		   Tachi Tachi   Long Sword (J., Tachi), Signed "By Yukihira of Bungo Province"
 By Bungo Yukihira
12th-13th century
National Treasure
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Portrait of Hosokawa Fujitaka   Portrait of Hosokawa Fujitaka (Yusai)
By Tashiro Toho, Poem by Hosokawa Yusai
Dated 1612
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
(On exhibit from April 20 to May 9, 2010)
Karaori   Karaori Robe (Noh costume)
Butterfly and pink design on gold ground
18th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
(On exhibit from April 20 to May 9, 2010)
shirifukura   Chinese Tea Caddy,
Bulging base type, Known as "Rikyu Shirifukura"
 China, 13th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Noh Mask Hannya   Noh Mask, Hannya type
16th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Important Art Object
The Eisei Bunko Museum
The Eisei Bunko Foundation was established as a non-profit organization in 1950 by 16th-generation family head Hosokawa Moritatsu, with the objective of passing on to later generations the cultural properties, including historical documents and artworks, that had been preserved by the Hosokawa family for generations. The foundation's Eisei Bunko Museum was opened to the public in 1972. It became a registered museum under Japan's Museum Law the following year and has continued as such until today. The Eisei Bunko Museum building was constructed in the early Showa period to hold the household offices of the Hosokawa family, and occupies a corner of the vast former Hosokawa family estate in Mejirodai, Tokyo, where the family lived from the Edo period until after World War II. Each year the museum holds four public rotating exhibitions primarily centered on fine and decorative art objects.
Part 2 : An Eye for Beauty - The Moritatsu Collection
Hosokawa Moritatsu, the 16th-generation patriarch of the Hosokawa family, began collecting the paintings and calligraphies of Zen monks such as Hakuin Ekaku and Sengai Gibon early in his career. It is these works which formed the origins of his collection. Later, his interest turned toward swords and sword guards, and the fine and decorative arts of China and Western Asia. With a further eye for arts of his own time, he also supported the activities of his contemporary Nihonga painters, including Yokoyama Taikan, Hishida Shunso and Kobayashi Kokei. He additionally followed Western painting traditions, thus adding both richness and depth of variety to the genres represented in his collection. The many objects of beauty Moritatsu collected allow us to fully appreciate his aesthetic sensibilities.
Tripod Bowl   Tripod Bowl, Auspicious flower design, Three-color glaze ware
China, 7th-8th century
Important Cultural Property
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Portrait of Daito Kokushi as a Begger   Portrait of Daito Kokushi as a Begger
By Hakuin Ekaku,
18th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo		   Black Cat   Black Cat
By Hishida Shunso
1910
Important Cultural Property
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
(Entrusted to Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art)
(On exhibit from April 20 to May 16, 2010)
Seated Buddha   Seated Buddha (J., Nyorai)
Possibly from Qinglongsi temple, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China,
Late 7th - early 8th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Important Cultural Property
Sword guard   Sword guard, With torn fan and cherry blossom design
Attributed to Hayashi Matashichi
17th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Important Cultural Property
Mirror   Mirror, Figure on horseback, animal and phoenix design in gold and silver inlay
From Jincun, near Luoyang, Henan Province, China
4th - 3rd century BC
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
National Treasure
Hosokawa Moritatsu
The 16th patriarch of the Hosokawa family descending from Yusai, Hosokawa Moritatsu established the Eisei Bunko Foundation in 1950 as a non-profit organization to preserve art objects and historical documents passed down by the Hosokawa family. Moritatsu's real contributions, however, lay in his role as a leading art collector of his time and as a patron and protector of the arts. His first encounters were with the paintings and calligraphies of Zen monks, and their works formed the roots of the collection. Later, his interest turned to swords, sword guards and other arms and armaments, as well as Chinese and Western Asian arts. Still further, he supported the work of Nihonga painters active during his own time, and kept a watchful eye out for works by western painters such as Cezanne, Matisse and Renoir, and was one of the first to bring them to Japan. He also had a great impact in the area of cultural administration by the national government and was a true patron of the arts.
Famous Figures in the Hosokawa Family History
The new Hosokawa clan turned out diverse personalities in great numbers. Fujitaka (Yusai) was himself a poet and scholar well-versed in the Kokinshu classical poetry anthology, and Tadaoki (Sansai) was the greatest tea master of the day, faithfully inheriting the traditions of Sen no Rikyu. Tadaoki's wife Tama (Gracia), born the daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide, took her own life rather than become a hostage of the Ishida forces during the Battle of Sekigahara. In addition, 8th-generation head Shigekata, who was known as the "Phoenix of Higo" and widely proclaimed a benevolent and enlightened ruler, reformed the domain administration and became an advocate of the importance of scholarship. Shigekata possessed a deep interest in natural history and was author of many books. Today, the family is headed by 18th-generation patriarch Hosokawa Morihiro.
Hosokawa Gracia
Born the second daughter of Akechi Mitsuhide in 1563, Hosokawa Gracia was given the birth name Tama, and baptized later with the Christian name Gracia. In 1578, she was married to Hosokawa Tadaoki at Shoryuji Castle by the order of Oda Nobunaga. They were both 16 years old. During the Honnoji Incident of 1582, the Hosokawa family did not side with the Akechi family and Gracia was sequestered in the mountains of Tango province after having expressed sympathies for Nobunaga. When Tadaoki sided with the Eastern forces during the Battle of Sekigahara, she and other family members were surrounded at their residence in Tamatsukuri, Osaka, on the 17th day of the 7th month of 1600 by Ishida Mitsunari's troops. whereby she committed suicide.
Miyamoto Musashi and the Hosokawa Family
Miyamoto Musashi is celebrated as a master swordsman, but not much is actually known of his life. According to the details of his life that he recorded in The Book of Five Rings, a text on the art of war, he was 60 years old in 1643 and came from Harima province. He participated in the Shimabara Rebellion and moved to Kumamoto at the invitation of Hosokawa Tadatoshi in 1640. He died in 1645, and his funeral rites were held at Taishoin, the Hosokawa family temple.		 The Book of Five Rings
The Book of Five Rings (J., Gorin no sho)
17th - 19th century
Eisei Bunko Museum, Tokyo
Exhibitions