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Inter-Institutional Exhibitions
As one means of making accessible to the public the achievements of the research conducted under its institutes, NIHU holds various kinds of exhibitions. The National Museum of Japanese History and the National Museum of Ethnology both have large-scale exhibition halls, and they maintain permanent exhibitions and hold special exhibitions. The National Institute of Japanese Literature, which moved to a new building in 2008, now has space for public exhibitions. As one type of exhibition, NIHU promotes the holding of inter-institutional exhibitions for showing to the public the results of research by two or more institutions.
Inter-Institutional Exhibitions in FY 2011
How to Feel the Earth: Passing on Nature and Culture to Posterity
November 2011: Expo Memorial Park, Aichi prefecture
December 2011: National Taitung University, Taiwan
Organisers: Research Institute for Humanity and Nature,
National Museum of Japanese History,
National Museum of Ethnology,
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Activities aimed at children are crucial to finding solutions to global environmental problems and promoting mutual understanding between different cultures. One such event is the exhibition of children’s paintings (now in the collection of the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature) that were submitted to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) annual International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment. The idea of this exhibition is to foster the sound development of children’s intellect and encourage their perceptivity and sensitivity toward nature and culture.
“Scenes In and Around Kyoto”
(Rekihaku“A”version)
Painting the City: Kyoto and Edo
Part I.“Scenes In and Around Kyoto”
Screens and Genre Paintings
March 27–May 6, 2012
Part II.Famous Scenes and Genre Paintings of Edo
March 28–May 6, 2012
Organisers:National Museum of Japanese History,
National Institute of Japanese Literature
Paintings that depict medieval and early modern cities are valuable resources for study about the urban society of those times. Chronicling the historical development of Kyoto, the exhibit shows the “Scenes In and Around Kyoto” screens (Rakuchu-Rakugai-zu byobu) among other paintings in the collection of the National Museum of Japanese History. The Edorelated displays feature the representation of the city and its noted places in the “Edo-zu byobu,” ukiyo-e, shokunin-zukushi- e (illustrations of various craftsmen), and other works.
Archives
Karuta by Children: Children’s Environmental Painting
Exhibition
on Biodiversity and Cultural Diversity
October 2010: Expo Memorial Park, Nagoya, Aichi prefecture
November 2010: Kawai Township CultureCenter, Nara prefecture
December 2010: IshikawaPrefectural Concert Hall
Organisers:Research Institute for Humanity and Nature,
National Museum of Japanese History,
National Museum of Ethnology
This is an activity organized for the past two years by the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature utilizing the posters produced for the International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment (organized annually by the United Nations Environment Programme). Elementary school students from throughout Japan are invited to choose one of the works submitted to the International Competition, think about the theme of biodiversity the artist tried to depict and write their own message about that theme. The posters with their messages are put on display.
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The Bon Deities in Tibet
July 2–Sept. 10, 2010
Organisers: National Institute of Japanese Literature
and the National Museum of Ethnology
Since 1995, the National Museum of Ethnology has been engaged in surveys and research on the Bon religion, one of the indigenous traditions of belief in Tibet. This exhibit displayed numerous documents and artifacts, including those showing Bon iconography and the structure of the pantheon of Bon deities and introduced the history of the Bon religion and its rituals.
Poster
Beyond the Boundary in Asia
July 13–Sept. 12, 2010
Oct 14–Dec. 7, 2010
Organisers: National Museum of Japanese History
and the National Museum of Ethnology
The boundariesbetween worlds take different shapes and forms depending on one’s perspective and position. Exhibiting the results of the inter-institutional project “Integrated Researchon Exchange between Japan and Eurasia,” this exhibit provided the occasion for putting our images of the boundaries around us in relative context.
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Hyakki Yagyo no Sekai (The World of the Night Procession of One Hundred Demons)
July 18 - August 30, 2009
Organisers: National Museum of Japanese History
National Institute of Japanese Literature
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
In recent years interest in creative culture and the spiritual world has been on the rise. As a part of that drawings and paintings of demons and the supernatural have been attracting attention and expanding interdisciplinary research. Hitherto the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Institute for Japanese Literature, have conducted joint research on demons and the supernatural, held exhibitions concerning the spirit world and collected related material and documentation. The results were exhibited here.
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The Museum that never was: Paper
Exibits from the Museum of Japanese Business History
May28 - June15, 2007
Organiser: National Institute of Japanese Literature
January 16 - February 11, 2008
Organiser: National Museum of Japanese History
In the years prior to World War II, Keizo Shibusawa (1896 - 1963), a successful businessman, envisioned establishing a “Museum of Early Modern Economic History,” for which he collected reference materials of the early modern and Meiji periods. Though his vision of establishing a museum continued after the war, now under the concept of “the Museum of Japanese Business History," it was never realized. In 1962, the materials collected for the museum were donated to the Ministry of Education Historical Museum (the current National Institute of Japanese Literature). This exhibition displayed to the public various paper materials relating to the museum′s paper manufacturing sector, and is a result of the collaborative project entitled. “Using Resources from the Museum of Japanese Business History.”
Publication
The Power of Poetry: Japanese Poetry through the Ages
October 18 - November 27, 2005
National Museum of Japanese History
The Power of Poetry: The Worlds of Kokinshu and Shin Kokinshu
October 28 - November18, 2005
National Institute of Japanese Literature
2005 marked the 1100th anniversary of the compilation of Kokin wakashu (905), the first royal anthology of waka. It also was the 800th anniversary of the compilation of Shin kokin wakashu (1205), the eighth royal anthology of waka. This exhibition focused on these two major anthologies as a way to trace the evolution of waka from the Heian court to the medieval period.