Hon’ami Koetsu’s majestic artwork on display at Tokyo National Museum

Defining Japanese aesthetics is a daunting task for just about anyone, but it would be absurd to leave Hon’ami Koetsu (1558-1637) out of any discussion on the subject, or so it seemed after viewing “The Artistic Cosmos of Hon’ami Kōetsu,” a special exhibition now running at the Tokyo National Museum.

Special Exhibition
The Artistic Cosmos of Hon’ami Kōetsu

Jan 16 (Tue) – Mar 10 (Sun), 2024

Tokyo National Museum
(Ueno Park, Tokyo)

*See outline below for details

Koetsu, who hailed from a family of sword polishers and appraisers in Kyoto, was a sukisha (tea connoisseur, aesthete) of the early Edo period, and an artist of many media. His oeuvre ranges from calligraphy and paintings to ceramics and lacquerware, and even landscape gardens, all of which is said to have had influence on Japanese culture, one way or another. The versatile artist was also a staunch believer of the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyo), as was his family. The exhibition looks into Koetsu’s artistic profundity by focusing on his religious beliefs, which, according to the museum, is the key to comprehensively understanding his “cosmos.”

The must-sees of the exhibition include “Writing Box with a Pontoon Bridge” (see top photo), a designated national treasure, and “Poems by the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets over Paintings of Cranes,” a designated important cultural property. The lacquered writing box created by Koetsu to store ink brushes, inkstones and other stationery is absolutely unique for its form — the high-domed lid, according to a museum curator, is an “anomaly that suddenly appeared in pre-modern Japan” — and also for the large strip of lead representing the pontoon bridge. The waka poetry scroll jointly created by Koetsu (calligraphy) and decorative artist Tawaraya Sotatsu (underpainting) is also among the artistic genius’s masterpieces.

The first of four chapters of the exhibition focuses on Koetsu’s religious background or the origins of his aesthetics, while the second highlights Koetsu’s maki-e lacquerware and utaibon (Noh chant books) printed in his calligraphy, and the third showcases his calligraphic works. The last chapter is dedicated to his black, red and white Raku-type tea bowls. Just breezing past his oeuvre will likely make visitors start wondering what beauty was centuries ago in Koetsu’s time, and what it means for us today.

The exhibition runs through March 10.

(Photos by Kazuki Matsuura)