Over 260 Japanese national treasures featured at special exhibitions in Osaka, Nara, Kyoto
More than 260 national treasures, or about 30 percent of all the national treasures in the country excluding structures, were displayed, providing a rare opportunity to view a large number of masterpieces.
135 national treasures in Osaka
The largest number of national treasures -- 135 items -- were displayed at the National Treasures of Japan exhibition at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition featured treasures that are representative of Japanese art history and mentioned in school textbooks, such as "Deep Vessel with Flame-Style Pottery" from the Jomon period, which was excavated in Tokamachi, Niigata prefecture, and the seated Ganjin Wajo statue, a masterpiece sculpture of the highly ranked monk owned by Toshodaiji temple in Nara.
The paintings of birds and flowers on fusuma room partitions by Kano Eitoku, a painter of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (late 16th century), were ink wash paintings and part of a series of paintings at Jukoin temple in Kyoto. Eitoku used ink lines of varying sizes to depict a huge old plum tree twisting and turning, creating a spring scene full of life on the four fusuma partitions displayed at the museum.
A variety of treasures, including writings and swords, were exhibited with national treasures that have been repaired with financial assistance from the Tsumugu Project, a joint undertaking by the Cultural Affairs Agency, Imperial Household Agency and The Yomiuri Shimbun.
They included "Bound Fan Papers with the 'Lotus Sutra'" from Shitennoji temple in Osaka, which depicts the lives of nobles and commoners and is a copy of the Lotus Sutra, and the "Fugen Bosatsu (Samantabhadra)" owned by the Tokyo National Museum, a work considered one of the greatest masterpieces of Buddhist painting.
The Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts reopened in March after undergoing a major renovation, in which work was done to lower the display stands and reduce reflections on the glass cases. "We have taken great care to make the works easier to view," said museum director Sakae Naito.
The exhibition didn't have a specific theme; instead, it was meant to provide visitors with an opportunity to enjoy the richness of Japanese art more freely in a better environment.
Eitoku's masterpiece "Chinese Lions," which is owned by the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, and the dogu figurine known as "Jomon Venus" excavated in Chino, Nagano prefecture, were displayed. Ogata Korin's masterpiece "Irises" of the Nezu Museum in Tokyo was also exhibited.
Nara exhibition on Buddhist, Shinto art
The Nara National Museum in Nara, which specializes in Buddhist art, held an exhibition titled "Oh! Kokuho: Resplendent Treasures of Devotion and Heritage," focusing on Buddhist and Shinto art. The exhibition, held to celebrate the museum's 130th anniversary, featured about 140 artworks, including 112 national treasures.
Exhibits included "Standing Kannon Bosatsu (Sk. Avalokitesvara; also known as Kudara Kannon)" from Horyuji temple in Nara prefecture, which was created during the Asuka period (592-710) and is one of Japan's earliest wooden sculptures, and "Seated Dainichi Nyorai" by Unkei, which is owned by Enjoji temple in Nara. Buddhist statues mainly from the Kansai region and those as far as from Tokyo and Hiroshima prefecture were also displayed.
The dignified expression and posture of the finely sculpted "Seated Bosatsu with One Leg Pendant" from Hobodai-in Gantokuji temple in Kyoto created a tense atmosphere.
The exhibition also displayed "Seven-Pronged Sword" of Isonokami Jingu shrine in Nara prefecture, an iron sword from the Kofun period with six branch blades, as well as Buddhist paintings and sumi ink writings, allowing visitors to trace how different religions gained acceptance by people and how they have changed.
"Seated Bodhisattva with One Leg Pendant" from Chuguji temple in Nara prefecture and other artworks were also exhibited.
Kyoto exhibition on cultural exchange
The Kyoto National Museum's special exhibition "Japan, an Artistic Melting Pot" shed light on cross-cultural exchanges and Japanese art. The exhibition traced this history with about 200 artworks, including 19 national treasures and 53 important cultural properties. Among them was "Wind God and Thunder God Screens" by Tawaraya Sotatsu, a national treasure owned by Kenninji temple in Kyoto.
World expositions can be viewed as an example of cross-cultural exchange. The Meiji government compiled the first Western-style history of Japanese art, consisting of works it wanted to show to the world, to coincide with Japan's participation in the Expo 1900 Paris. This exhibition displayed some of the works listed in the book, including the dotaku bell-shaped bronze, an important cultural property that was excavated in Yasu, Shiga prefecture.
Exhibits also included the ukiyo-e woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai "Under the Wave off Kanagawa" from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji," which is also popular in the West, as well as Buddhist statues, landscape drawings, paintings of flowers and birds, which indicate Japan's exchanges with East Asia, and ceramics.
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