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This afternoon, I visited the New Gallery of Horyuji Treasures which was built inside the Tokyo National Museum and opened to public in July, 1999. Although I know that Horyuji offered its treasures (more than 300 pieces) to Emperor Meiji early Meiji era (1878), it was the first time for me to see them.
I thought the most of the treasures were those from Asuka period, the 7th century but I was wrong. They included goods contributed by devotees through the end of Edo period. So we can see a brief history of Japanese cultures at the gallery .
The center picture below is Amida (Amitabha) and Two Attendants from Asuka period. This is the oldest statue of three Amida buddhists. The right picture is an Oni (Demon) mask from Kamaura period.
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Although any one of them has historical value, I was impressed by illustrated biographies of Prince Shotoku painted in Heian period, 11th century. And I found out that Japanese cultures had grown explosively during the Edo period when Japan closed its door to foreign countries.
I also visited a special exhibition "Pearl of the Orient-Treasures of the Hong Kong Museum of Art" held at Hyokei building of the museum.
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The exhibits are as old as Horyuji treasures. But the level of Chinese arts which is the origin of Japanese culture is very high, I observed. Another matter which I have found out about Chinese arts is that their years old works have something look modern. Their instincts for arts are of tremendous high. The Metropolitan Museum in New York displays their collections dividing by global regions and so the Japanese arts section is between Chinese and Korean sections. It cannot be helped that they look rather poor compared with those from China and Korea. (If you visit the Boston Museum of Arts, you will be able to see splendid collection of Japanese arts in the Edo period.) |