Exhibitions

• Important Cultural Property

Suikan Bugaku Costume with Rose and Bridge Design on Pale Red Ground

• Silk
• Japan Muromachi period, dated 1454
• Kongōbuji, Wakayama

This suikan features embroidery all over the back, showing roses and bridges drawn with elegant curves on a pale pink background. Based on the ink inscription on the accompanying hakama trouser, we know that it was prepared for a rehearsal during the Issaikyo-e ceremony held in 1454.

• Important Cultural Property

Hō from a Set of Bugaku Costumes for Taiheiraku

• Silk
• Japan Momoyama–Edo period, 16th–17th century
• Shitennōji, Osaka

Bugaku has been performed at Shitennōji Temple in Osaka for centuries by the musicians of the Tennōji Gakuso, which has deep ties with that temple. When the temple was burned down during a conflict in 1576, its Bugaku equipment was also lost. The Toyotomi clan, however, donated replacements, and performances resumed. The Bugaku Taiheiraku performed there is an essential performance, a dance that marks the conclusion of the Buddhist Shōryō-e memorial service for the spirit of Prince Shōtoku. The more than ten Taiheiraku costumes include armor and weapons.

• Important Cultural Property

Left: Hō Bugaku Costume for Karyōbin with Small Bird and Floral Design on Red Bround Right: Hō Bugaku Costume for Karyōbin with Small Bird and Floral Design on Green Bround

• Silk
• Japan Edo period, 17th century
• Rinnōji, Tochigi

The Bugaku costumes at Rinnōji Temple in Tochigi prefecture were prepared by the order of Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun, at the time of the twenty-first memorial service for his grandfather, Tokugawa Ieyasu. For the performance of Karyōbin, a children’s dance, costumes used only for that performance and embroidered with small bird motifs and floral motifs are worn. Because Karyōbin is music and dance of the left, the robe worn by its performer is usually red. Unusually, at Rinnōji both red and blue robes for Karyōbin have been handed down.

Bugaku Dancers
By Abe no Suehide

• Ink, colors, gold, and silver on paper
• Japan Muromachi period, dated 1408
• Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

The date, Ōei 5 (1398) inscribed on the end of this scroll tells us that this is a rare example of a clearly dateable work from Japan’s medieval period. The detailed depiction in color communicates what costumes were like then. This scroll is thought to be a copy by the musician Abe no Suehide of a painting that was owned by the imperial prince-priest Toganoo-no-miya Gi’nin.