Mincho’s Five Hundred Arhats and other Tofuku-ji treasures featured in Tokyo

A special exhibition featuring the treasures of Tofuku-ji, counted as one of the gozan (five prominent Rinzai Zen temples) in Kyoto, kicked off on March 7, 2023, at the Tokyo National Museum (Ueno Park). The exhibition will move to the Kyoto National Museum (Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto) later in the year.

Special Exhibition
Tōkufu-ji
Monumental Zen Temple of Kyoto

【TOKYO】
☆ Mar 7 (Tue) – May 7 (Thu), 2023
Tokyo National Museum
(Ueno Park, Taito Ward)

【KYOTO】
☆ Oct 7 (Sat) – Dec 3 (Sun), 2023
Kyoto National Museum
(Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto)

*See outline below for more info

Tofuku-ji was founded during Japan’s Kamakura period as the head temple of the Tofuku-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism, and is well known for the verdure and autumn foliage of its precinct. The temple and its sub-temples together owns a total of 105 registered national treasures and important cultural properties of Japan. This will be the first exhibition collectively featuring the artistic treasures of Tofuku-ji, which can be said is the epitome of Zen culture.

The 47 existing paintings of “The Five Hundred Arhats” by Kissan Mincho (1352-1431) — often referred to as gasei or the painter saint — will go on display for the first time after repairs which took 14 years to complete (the paintings will be rotated during the exhibition).

A panoramic image of the Tofuku-ji temple monastery, a painting attributed to Sesshu and a registered important cultural property; the standing statues of Anan (Ananda) and Kasho (Mahakasyapa) flanking the principal object of worship, also an important cultural property; and the Buddha’s hand (left hand of a former principal object of worship), which remained unburned in a fire during the Meiji era, are all highlighted in the exhibition.

Some other works on display:

The exhibition in Tokyo will run from March 7 to May 7, 2023, and in Kyoto, from Oct. 7 to Dec. 3, 2023.