Kamakura Museum of National Treasures
Encyclopedia
The or Kamakura Museum or Kamakura National Treasure House is a museum located on the grounds of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū in Yukinoshita, Kamakura
, Kanagawa Prefecture
, Japan
. The museum houses around 4800 objects from the Kamakura region including sculptures, paintings and industrial art objects. Most of these works originate from the Kamakura
and Muromachi period
s, spanning from the 12th to the 16th century. Some of the items were produced in China and imported to Japan.
, term which denoted all the state-designated Cultural Properties of Japan
before the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into force on August 29, 1950. All of the old national treasures became Important Cultural Properties
and some of them have been designated as (new) National Treasures since June 9, 1951. From a current perspective the name refers to a museum housing both Important Cultural Properties and National Treasures.
. The building, which was constructed in the same year, was modeled after the Shōsōin
treasure house of Tōdai-ji
, Nara
. During World War II
, in June 1945, part of the collection was evacuated to in Tsukui District
in the northwestern part of Kamakura
, and the museum was temporarily closed between August and October 1945. The items which had been moved returned in May 1946.
In October 1952, the museum came under the jurisdiction of the newly established Kamakura City Board of Education. In November 1955 it joined the . The was established in the museum in October 1974. In 1983 the museum's annex storage room was completed, and in May 2000 the main building was designated as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
theater and the Otaru
branch of the Bank of Japan
, and constructed by the Matsui Group (松井組, now Matsui Construction Co.: 松井建設株式会社). From the outside the building resembles Nara
's Shōsōin
treasure house, while techniques from Kamakura period
temples have been employed on the interior. The ground floor is used as storage, while the second floor contains a single exhibition hall spanning almost 600m².
, 73 items designated as "Important Cultural Property", and other works of art. There are about 100 nikuhitsuga
ukiyo-e
paintings in the "Ujiie Ukiyo-e Collection".
, 35 items from the Kamakura period
lent by Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, including:
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
, Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The museum houses around 4800 objects from the Kamakura region including sculptures, paintings and industrial art objects. Most of these works originate from the Kamakura
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
and Muromachi period
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...
s, spanning from the 12th to the 16th century. Some of the items were produced in China and imported to Japan.
Name
The term "National Treasure" in the museum's name refers to "old" National Treasures of JapanNational treasures of Japan
National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...
, term which denoted all the state-designated Cultural Properties of Japan
Cultural Properties of Japan
As defined by the Japanese government's Agency for Cultural Affairs, the are tangible properties and intangible properties created or developed in JapanDespite the official definition, some Cultural Properties of Japan were created in China, Korea or other...
before the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties came into force on August 29, 1950. All of the old national treasures became Important Cultural Properties
Important Cultural Properties of Japan
The term is often shortened into just are items officially already classified as Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs and judged to be of particular importance to the Japanese people....
and some of them have been designated as (new) National Treasures since June 9, 1951. From a current perspective the name refers to a museum housing both Important Cultural Properties and National Treasures.
History
The Kamakura Museum of National Treasure was founded in April 1928 to protect important art works after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
. The building, which was constructed in the same year, was modeled after the Shōsōin
Shosoin
The is the treasure house that belongs to Tōdai-ji, Nara The building is in the azekura log-cabin style, with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Daibutsuden...
treasure house of Tōdai-ji
Todai-ji
, is a Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. Its Great Buddha Hall , the largest wooden building in the world, houses the world's largest bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana, known in Japanese simply as Daibutsu . The temple also serves as the Japanese headquarters of the ...
, Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in June 1945, part of the collection was evacuated to in Tsukui District
Tsukui District, Kanagawa
was formerly a district located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It was abolished on March 11, 2007 through merger into the neighboring city of Sagamihara.As of July 1, 2004, the district had an estimated population of 73,718. The total area was 238.44 km²...
in the northwestern part of Kamakura
Kamakura, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called .Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is often described in history books as a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the...
, and the museum was temporarily closed between August and October 1945. The items which had been moved returned in May 1946.
In October 1952, the museum came under the jurisdiction of the newly established Kamakura City Board of Education. In November 1955 it joined the . The was established in the museum in October 1974. In 1983 the museum's annex storage room was completed, and in May 2000 the main building was designated as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
Main Building
The main building is a two-story reinforced concrete construction with tile-roofing and a building area of about 800㎡. There is no basement. The construction resembles the raised-floor-style of an ancient log storehouse. It was designed by , architect of the Kabuki-zaKabuki-za
' in Ginza was the principal theater in Tokyo for the traditional kabuki drama form.-Architecture:The original Kabuki-za was a wooden structure, built in 1889 on land which had been either the Tokyo residence of the Hosokawa clan of Kumamoto, or that of Matsudaira clan of Izu.The building was...
theater and the Otaru
Otaru, Hokkaido
is a city and port in Shiribeshi, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces the Ishikari Bay, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical buildings, Otaru is a popular tourist destination...
branch of the Bank of Japan
Bank of Japan
is the central bank of Japan. The Bank is often called for short. It has its headquarters in Chuo, Tokyo.-History:Like most modern Japanese institutions, the Bank of Japan was founded after the Meiji Restoration...
, and constructed by the Matsui Group (松井組, now Matsui Construction Co.: 松井建設株式会社). From the outside the building resembles Nara
Nara, Nara
is the capital city of Nara Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. The city occupies the northern part of Nara Prefecture, directly bordering Kyoto Prefecture...
's Shōsōin
Shosoin
The is the treasure house that belongs to Tōdai-ji, Nara The building is in the azekura log-cabin style, with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Daibutsuden...
treasure house, while techniques from Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
temples have been employed on the interior. The ground floor is used as storage, while the second floor contains a single exhibition hall spanning almost 600m².
Annex
The annex is connected to the main building via a walkway on the second floor. Like the main building it is a two-story reinforced concrete construction featuring two floors above ground and a basement, with rooms for repairs and machines. The ground floor contains offices and the room of the curator, while the second floor is used as storage space.Highlights of the Collection
The Kamakura Museum houses five National Treasures of JapanNational treasures of Japan
National Treasures are the most precious of Japan's Tangible Cultural Properties, as determined and designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs...
, 73 items designated as "Important Cultural Property", and other works of art. There are about 100 nikuhitsuga
Nikuhitsuga
Nikuhitsuga were a form of Japanese painting in the ukiyo-e art style. Though the woodblock prints of this genre have become so famous in the West as to become almost synonymous with the term "ukiyo-e", in fact most ukiyo-e artists were painters as well as printmakers, with much the same style...
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e
' is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters...
paintings in the "Ujiie Ukiyo-e Collection".
National Treasures
-
- Hanging scrollHanging scrollA hanging scroll is one of the many traditional ways to display and exhibit Chinese painting and calligraphy. Displaying the art in such way was befitting for public appreciation and appraisal of the aesthetics of the scrolls in its entirety by the audience. The traditional craft involved in...
, 104.8cm x 46.4cm, light color on silk. Kamakura periodKamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
, 1271. Lent by Kenchō-jiKencho-jiKenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō...
. - A Chinese chanMahayanaMahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
(zenZenZen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
) master, Lanxi, is depicted sitting on a chair. The scroll carries an inscription on the upper part written by Lanxi himself. - Two handscrollsScrollA scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
(EmakimonoEmakimono, often simply called , is a horizontal, illustrated narrative form created during the 11th to 16th centuries in Japan. Emakimono combines both text and pictures, and is drawn, painted, or stamped on a handscroll...
), 51.5cm x 796.7cm and 51.5cm x 689.8cm, color on paper. Kamakura periodKamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
. Lent by Kōmyō-jiKōmyō-jiKōmyō-ji is the name of numerous Buddhist temples in Japan.Below is an incomplete list: in Ayabe, Kyoto Prefecture. in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture....
. - LacquerJapanese lacquerwareJapanese lacquerware is a broad category of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in paintings, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to bento boxes for food.A number of terms are used in Japanese to refer to lacquerware...
box with maki-eMaki-eis Japanese lacquer sprinkled with gold or silver powder as a decoration using a makizutsu or a kebo brush. The technique was developed mainly in the Heian Period and blossomed in the Edo Period...
decorations, 26.0cm x 24.1cm. Kamakura periodKamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
. Lent by Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū. - The case was a gift to Minamoto no YoritomoMinamoto no Yoritomowas the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura Shogunate of Japan. He ruled from 1192 until 1199.-Early life and exile :Yoritomo was the third son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, heir of the Minamoto clan, and his official wife, a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenori, who was a member of the...
from Emperor Go-ShirakawaEmperor Go-ShirakawaEmperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession...
.
- Hanging scroll
, 35 items from the Kamakura period
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
lent by Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, including:
-
- one
- 30 (one arrow shaft is missing)
- one
-
-
- Height: 32.7cm.
- two (one with sword guard missing)
- Length: 105.8cm.
- one
- Height: 32.7cm.
- Two scrollScrollA scroll is a roll of parchment, papyrus, or paper, which has been drawn or written upon.Scroll may also refer to:*Scroll , the decoratively curved end of the pegbox of string instruments such as violins...
s, 85.2cm x 41.4cm (sermon) and 85.5cm x 40.7cm (regulations), ink on paper. Kamakura periodKamakura periodThe is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....
, 13th century. Lent by Kenchō-jiKencho-jiKenchō-ji is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. These temples were at the top of the Five Mountain System, a network of Zen temples started by the Hōjō...
. - The two scrolls were written by Lanxi Daolong (jap.: Rankei Dōryū, posthumous name: Daikaku Zenji).
-