Grant Activities

Symposium on the exhibition “Love, Fight, Feast – The art of story-telling in Japan”

Held in October 2021 in tandem with an exhibition on the multifaceted features of Japanese narrative art—its thematic, stylistic and material diversity—the symposium emulated courtly practice of uta awase, a poetry contest. Eight international scholars and curators of Japanese art performed a happyō awase, a pairing of presentations offering in-depth discussions of key works embodying the art. The exhibition itself, 105 paintings and prints, pieces of lacquerware and metalwork, and textiles, dating from the 13th to the 20th century, illustrated the multiplicity of Japanese narrative art, and revealed additional stories that went beyond the objects themselves. While highly esteemed in Japan, the genre of narrative art featured in the exhibition is less known in the West, making the exhibition a truly innovative event.

Sharing Edo Culture with an International Audience Through the Oyama Pilgrimage

Mount Oyama, about 70-kilometers southwest of Tokyo, has been a place of pilgrimage since the Edo period. The Committee promotes international sharing of information and activities related to this slice of Japanese culture, and has produced for exhibition a quilt, made from pilgrim’s clothing, that tells the story of the pilgrimage. Two videos, one about Oyama the other the Oyama pilgrimage, have also been produced in English, and released on YouTube.