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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Korea Herald
7 days ago
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Statue of Peace finds permanent home in Bonn
Despite ongoing diplomatic tension, German museum offers lasting home to statue symbolizing Japanese wartime abuse of women BONN, Germany — On the count of three, 'Frieden' — the German word for 'peace' — echoed through a crowd of 50 people gathered on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Bonn. As the Statue of Peace emerged from beneath a purple veil, paper butterflies fluttered in the sunlight behind the bronze figure, symbolizing remembrance and resistance. The unveiling marked the official installation of a statue commemorating the victims of Japan's wartime military sexual slavery, euphemistically referred to as 'comfort women.' Its journey to a permanent home has been long and fraught, with activists criticizing what they describe as persistent interference by the Japanese government to prevent its erection. After four years of displacement from Dresden to Cologne, the statue has now found a permanent home at the Bonn Women's Museum, the world's first museum dedicated to women's art and history, established in 1981. Marianne Pitzen, founder and director of the museum, offered to host the statue despite ongoing diplomatic tension, saying 'women's honor prevails over Japan's claims that it had not committed such wartime sexual violence.' 'It (placing the statue here) is a sign of solidarity. We have the power to end the wars. It is really important that we fight for freedom and against violence,' Pitzen told The Korea Herald after the ceremony, calling the statue living proof of resistance against war. Named Dongmai, the memorial was first displayed at a museum in Dresden in April 2021, then followed by a brief exhibition in Wolfsburg the next year. For much of the time, however, it remained in storage. In March, it was exhibited for three months in front of the Cologne NS Documentation Center before finally finding a permanent home in Bonn. In Europe, there are currently six Statues of Peace — five in Germany and one in Italy — with Germany becoming a key battleground in the fight to preserve the memory of wartime sexual slavery and seek justice for its victims. 'None of the statues have had it easy due to the Japanese government's continued interference. Statues were erected only to be taken down, put into storage and moved again,' said Yee Kyung-hee, president of the Masan-Changwon-Jinhae Civil Assembly for Japanese Military Sexual Slaves, an advocacy group supporting the victims. She traveled from Korea for the unveiling. 'Beyond Korea-Japan relations, this is an international issue — a matter of whether women's rights are upheld,' she said, pointing to ongoing wars around the world where women continue to fall victim to sexual violence. 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Korea Herald
27-06-2025
- Korea Herald
Over 260 Japanese national treasures featured at special exhibitions in Osaka, Nara, Kyoto
OSAKA (Japan News/ANN) -- With the occasion of the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, art galleries and museums throughout the Kansai region held special exhibitions, displaying Japan's finest pieces and putting new spins on them, with three museums in Osaka, Nara and Kyoto recently exhibiting national treasures. 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.
Korea Herald
24-06-2025
- Korea Herald
Long-lost royal shrine returned after century in Japan
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