Wed, Jun 29, 2022
Restoration work of two of six cultural assets selected by the Tsumugu Project for repairs this year (fiscal 2022) — the “Fan-shaped Booklets of the Lotus Sutra”(Shitenno-ji temple, Osaka city) and the “Historical Documents of Tomyo-ji temple” (Tomyo-ji temple, Saga Prefecture) — is underway.
The fan-shaped booklets from the late Heian period (12th century) — collectively designated by the Japanese government as a national treasure — are manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra (Hokekyo) decorated with colorful yamato-e* illustrations depicting the daily lives of courtiers and commoners of the time (Children washing their bottoms at the well, people gather chestnuts, etc.)
*Yamato-e: Literally, “Japanese painting.” The term was coined during the Heian period to distinguish paintings featuring Japanese themes from those depicting imported Chinese themes (kara-e).
All five booklets of Shitenno-ji will be restored over five years, two (volumes one and six) of which have already reached Kyoto National Museum’s Conservation Center for Cultural Properties in April 2022.
The booklets share the same problems: the powdery mica, paint and black ink on the front and back of the writing paper are peeling off, and the seams have deteriorated to a point where repair is necessary. The booklets will be taken apart and fixed in due time by conservators from Oka Bokkodo, a private conservation workshop based in Kyoto.
The historical documents of Tomyo-ji temple (Yoshinogari, Saga Pref.) — collectively designated as an important cultural property — are being repaired for the first time in about a century.
The historical documents as a single cultural asset comprises 32 documents with historical value — including a decree issued by Emperor Go-Daigo (reign: 1318-39) and an executive order issued by the authority of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi shogunate (reign: 1368-94) — all of which tells the history of the temple (founded after the first Mongol invasion of Japan) and the region of Kyushu during the Nanboku-cho period. The documents were compiled in three volumes likely during the Taisho era (1912-26).
The restoration work, which involves cleaning the pages and fixing wormholes, will be conducted by experts from Shuri kobo Zaisho, a private conservation workshop based in Tsukushino, Fukuoka Pref., at a repair facility inside Kyushu National Museum (Dazaifu, Fukuoka Pref.) and is scheduled to end in March 2025.
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