Tue, Jan 28, 2025
Part 2 of 2: IMPORTANT CULTURAL PROPERTIES
Every year, the Tsumugu Project — a joint effort between Japan’s Cultural Affairs Agency, Imperial Household Agency and national daily The Yomiuri Shimbun (Tokyo) to help restore, preserve and promote the nation’s artistic treasures and traditional culture — uses a part of the proceeds from art exhibitions it supports to help repair a certain number of cultural assets in need of urgent conservation.
For fiscal 2025 (financial year starting on April 1, 2025), the project has selected seven assets (comprising two designated national treasures and five designated important cultural properties of Japan) to help restore, including the “Standing Eight Youth Attendants (Kumara) of Fudo Myo’o (Acala Vidyaraja)” of Kongobu-ji temple in Wakayama Prefecture and the “Seated Statue of Fudo Myo’o” of Hoju-ji temple in Ishikawa Prefecture, the latter being the first entry from an area struck by the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
7 assets TSUMUGU Project will help repair in FY2025:
– National treasure: Standing Eight Youth Attendants (Kumara) of Fudo Myo’o (Acala Vidyaraja) with Seated Statue of Fudo Myo’o (Important cultural property) — Kongobu-ji temple, Wakayama Prefecture
– National treasure: Standing Jizo Bosatsu (Ksitigarbha) — Daiho’on-ji temple, Kyoto Prefecture
– Important cultural property: Hashira-e Pillar Paintings of Ishiyama-dera’s Tahoto Pagoda — Ishiyama-dera temple, Shiga Prefecture
– Important cultural property: Seated Statue of Nyoirin Kannon (Cintamani-cakra Avalokitesvara) — Byodo-ji temple, Kyoto Prefecture
– Important cultural property: Shaka (Sakyamuni) Triad — Rinsen-ji temple, Aichi Prefecture
– Important cultural property: Seated Statue of Fudo Myo’o (Acala Vidyaraja) — Hoju-ji temple, Ishikawa Prefecture
– Important cultural property: Painting of Rantei Kyokusui (The Meandering Stream of the Orchid Pavilion) — Zuishin-in temple, Kyoto Prefecture
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The Tahoto (literally, pagoda of many treasures) of Ishiyama-dera, itself a designated national treasure of Japan, was built in 1194 during the early Kamakura period. It is the oldest among the tahoto in Japan whose year of construction is known. According to temple legend, the pagoda was donated by Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate. Four pillars on the first floor of the Tahoto are adorned with Buddhist images which were likely rendered when the pagoda was built.
The pillars are about 228 centimeters tall, each with a diameter about 30 centimeters. A total of 54 Buddhist images is said to have been depicted on the four pillars, all of them facing cardinal directions. However, only 20 or so images are recognizable today due to deterioration of the pigment layers. The images comprise the Five Buddhas of the Diamond Realm (Vajradhatu) including the Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavairocana), the Four Paramita Bodhisattva and the Sixteen Great Bodhisattva, as well as the Five Wisdom Kings.
The Buddhist images on the pillars seem unemotional, but share the elegance of Buddhist paintings rendered during the time of cloistered rule. Experts say they display the high quality of Buddhist images made during the period of transition from the Heian period (8th-12th century) to the Kamakura period (12th-14th century). Extant examples of Buddhist images painted on buildings from the Kamakura period are scarce, which makes them all the more precious.
However, the images are in critical condition with cracks developing on the surface and some parts peeling to the point where urgent conservation treatment is required. The work, to be conducted mostly inside the Tahoto pagoda, will require two years to complete,
“We can see Tahoto and the pillar paintings as they were when the pagoda was built because they were treated time and again with the newest techniques of the time,” said Ryuge Washio, 37, the head priest of Ishiyama-dera. “We are grateful for that, and as such, we feel obliged to do the same, to apply the optimal treatments to pass them on to the future.”
The conservation does not aim to restore the original state, however. “Some of the images are still viewable, so when the treatments are over, it would be enough and delightful to see people acknowledge the images are still there,” she said.
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The Seated Statue of Nyoirin Kannon (Cintamani-cakra Avalokitesvara) of Byodo-ji, a yosegi zukuri (joined-block structure) made of Japanese cypress or some other conifer wood, is about 81 centimeters tall. It has an oval face and well carved hair, its slim body and limbs giving off the impression that it is feminine.
The six arms are protruding from the body are posed naturally. The overall sereneness suggests it was made in the late 13th century during the Kamakura period. The statue is usually kept in a repository for cultural properties on the premises of Byodo-ji.
The Nyoirin Kannon of Byodo-ji is said to be one of the most beautiful Nyoirin Kannon statues of the Kamakura period. However, the beauty of its original state is fading away. The repairing material applied excessively on the surface in past treatments is changing color over time, giving the statue a blackened tone. It looks as though dark circles are forming around the eyes.
Furthermore, insect damages are developing on the edges of the robe and other parts, and the arms on the side are loosening. Also, the surfaces of the halo and pedestal are beginning to flake.
To avoid further deterioration, the statue is in need of urgent steps such as insecticide treatment, filling insect holes, removing surface dust and preventing surface peeling. Conservators are aiming to complete conservation treatments by March 2026.
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The Shaka (Sakyamuni) Triad painting of Rinsen-ji was only found recently, and designated as an important cultural property of Japan in August 2024. The Shaka Nyorai (Sakya Tathagata, the historical Buddha Sakyamuni) sits in the center, flanked by Bodhisattva Fugen riding a white elephant on the right, and Bodhisattva Monju on a lion on the left. The painting is said to have been made during the early Kamakura period (early 13th century), but retains the style of paintings from the preceding late Heian period and is thereby exquisitely picturesque. It has not been retouched or revised much in later years, and appraised for remaining close to its original state.
The best techniques of the time were applied to meticulously render the kirikane (a decorative technique which involves laying thinly cut strips of gold or other metal on designs painted in with glue) pattern in the relatively small Buddhist painting, roughly 83 centimeters by 39 centimeters in size.
Damage is conspicuous on the silk support. A part of it is missing, resulting in a hole in the painting. Folds are running from side to side and cracks are developing in some parts.
Conservation will take two years. The backing paper on the silk support will be removed and cleaned. The hole in the painting will be patched with repair silk and other treatments will be rendered to enhance the visual clarity of the gracious triad.
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The Seated Statue of Fudo Myo’o (Acala Vidyaraja) of Hoju-ji is the main image of worship of the temple in Suzu, Ishikawa Pref., which is at the tip of Noto Peninsula. The statue, a yosegi zukuri (joined-block structure) made of Japanese cypress or some other conifer wood, is about 86 centimeters tall. Its realistic form demonstrates the features of sculptures from the Kamakura period (12th-14th century). To be more precise, the cursory depiction of the facial muscles and the impasto coloring on the surface suggest that it was made in the late 13th-early 14th century.
The statue had been passed down in the gomasho, or a site dedicated to performing goma (homa) rituals, of the Niutsuhime Shrine located at the foot of Mt. Koya in Wakayama Pref. It was moved to Hoju-ji after the temple lost its principal image of worship in a fire in 1891.
The Seated Statue of Fudo Myo’o was put on display in a special exhibition at the Nara National Museum in 2024. It has been kept at the national museum since then due to fears that a major earthquake may strike again the Noto Peninsula, where the city of Suzu is located.
The statue is admired for its historical and artistic value. Currently, however, its limb joints are loosening and the coloring substance on the surface is lifting to the point where even a slight movement or oscillation can cause a limb to fall off or the color to flake off. Conservators have until the end of fiscal 2025 to apply treatment to prevent further damages.
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The set of four folding screens, or two pairs of eight-panel folding screens (about a meter tall and 3.5 meters wide each), well known for their radiant golden ground, is the magnum opus of Kano school painter Kano Sansetsu, who was active in the early 17th century. The work is said to have been associated with the aristocratic Kujo family, which supported Sansetsu and produced a number of monzeki (priests of aristocratic or imperial lineage) for Zuishin-in.
The painting that spreads across the wide space depicts a poetry gathering which took place at Lanting (the Orchid Pavilion) in today’s Zhejiang Province, China, in the year 353. A stream diverted from a waterfall runs from right to left as 42 literati seated on either side read Chinese poems. Lotus leaves floating on the stream carry sake cups. The sky is depicted with gold leaf, and the ground using plenty of gold dust.
The people, including boy servants, the vegetation and lofty buildings depicted in the painting are all meticulously and diligently painted with colorful mineral pigments. Stretching 14 meters across, it seems as if one is viewing an illustrated handscroll rendered on a giant screen.
The work has not gone under conservation for some time. The pigment is flaking and powdering, while the underpainting is beginning to warp. The damage on the white pigment used to depict the flowing stream, which stands out in the painting, is rather severe. Conservators will spend about two years time to remove dust and renew the edges of the folding screens.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun and other sources)
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