Museum Collection Exhibition

One Hundred Camellias: Blossoms Heralded in Literature

Period: January 7th, Saturday - February 12th, Sunday, 2012
Closed on Mondays, except January 9th, and closed on the 10th

Hours: 10 am to 5 pm (entrance closed at 4:30 pm)

General admission: Adult 1000 yen, Student 800 yen

There was a sudden camellia gardening boom at the beginning of the 17th century. Interest in rare specimen plants rose and large numbers of books and pictorial catalogues detailing the various types were published. One such work, One Hundred Camellias, is today in the Nezu collection. It is an exceptional example of this fad, with its colorful depiction of more than 100 types of camellias. This exhibition presents as much as possible of the two One Hundred Camellias scrolls, in total more than 24 meters in length. Visitors can enjoy this New Year’s season display of camellias, along with other images of the blossoms in Muromachi bird and flower paintings and Edo period decorative arts.

Camellias on Parade

The pair of handscrolls known as the One Hundred Camellias presents more than 100 varieties of this garden favorite. Given the problems inherent with hybridization, some of these camellia varieties are no long extant. Thus the One Hundred Camellias scrolls are an important historical record of the evanescent and lovely art of camellia gardening.

Flower Arrangement in the Edo Period

The One Hundred Camellias handscrolls are characterized by their presentation of camellias in all manner of containers used as flower vases. There are standard vases and baskets, along with trays, tea bowls, letter boxes, writing boxes, fans, round fans, and even drums, shikishi painting paper, small bound volumes, paper tissues, feather whisks and even a daikon radish. The painter has freely arranged all aspects of daily life with camellia blossoms.

The Elegant and Literary World of Camellias

The One Hundred Camellias handscrolls are adorned with waka, haiku and Chinese-style poems, written by 49 different poets, including members of the imperial family, head priests, aristocrats and daimyō clan lords, waka poets, renga linked verse poets, haiku poets, Confucian scholars and Buddhist priests. The final colophons were written by Matsudaira Tadakuni (1794~1851), daimyō of the Sasayama clan of Tanba (present-day Hyōgo prefecture), and his son Nobuyuki.

Special Exhibition

Splendid Hina Miniatures: Doll Festival Dolls from the Toraya Collection

Period: February 25th, Saturday - April 8th, Sunday, 2012
Closed on Mondays

Hours: 10 am to 5 pm (entrance closed at 4:30 pm)

General admission: Adult 1200 yen, Student 1000 yen

Toraya is one of Japan’s oldest confectionary companies. Upon the occasion of the first Doll Festival celebration of his daughter born in 1897, Kurokawa Mitsukage, 14th generation head of the firm, commissioned a set of dolls and their equipment. This display of approximately 270 items, including dolls and their furnishings, is presented for the first time in six years.

These are typical examples of the Kyoto-style dolls created by the famous Kyoto dollmaker Maruhei Ōki Ningyō-ten. The female doll (Mebina) with a splendidly decorated crown has a realistic and regular featured face, and wears classically vibrant and lovely garments.

The extremely small doll furnishings and equipment with decoration worked in intricate detail are superb examples by late Edo period artisans. The works decorated overall with peony and vining plant designs in makie lacquer were created by the luxury doll furnishings maker, Nanasawa-ya of the Ikenohata district of Tokyo.

The Toraya Doll Festival collection boasts a complete range of dolls, equipment and design variations. The Empress and Emperor dolls and their festival celebrate the coming of spring and encompass prayers for the health of all the girl children in a family.