MARCH 2024 ART/MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS IN NARA

Photographer Maoka Ayane’s Coral on Land, Swords & Sword-smiths, and The Unveiling of a Buddhist Icon

March exhibitions in Nara (listings below) include three that showcase swords and sword-smiths, ranging from the characteristic luxury of the shrine treasures held by Kasugataisha Museum – here, swords owned by aristocrats and Shoguns – to works from the compelling career of contemporary master craftsman Kunihira Kawachi, with his restorations, his own often futuristic creations, and ancient and ancestral family swords at Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Research Institute Museum. Kashihara Shrine Treasure Museum presents swords from the medieval to modern period in historical context with the help of other exhibited materials. An exhibition of paintings by Fusen Tetsu at Nara Prefectural Museum of Art shows nostalgic and sometimes fantastical, dream-like works of village scenery and houses, seascapes and landscapes from the early 20th century (Taisho era) to the post-war period. Literary shows focus on haiku poet Basho and futurist poet Katsumi Ikeda, and there are calligraphy exhibitions on Sugioka Kason and, at Yanagisawa Bunko, on a variety of script. Kinpusenji Temple is displaying its normally concealed main icon – a massive statue of powerful mountain deity Zao Gongen – for a limited period of time. Two shows celebrate the Omizutori, a major and impressive ritual currently ongoing at Todaiji temple’s Nigatsudo Hall: an excellent, extensive exhibition at Nara National Museum, replete with fascinating artifacts and beautiful temple- and shrine-scape mandala paintings, and a smaller, accompanying exhibit at Todaiji Museum. A unique highlight of this month’s shows is Maoka Ayane: Coral on Land at the Irie Taikichi Memorial Nara City Museum of Photography. Maoka is the winner of the 5th Irie Taikichi Memorial Photo Contest Award, and her art captures the details of life – and death – on her family’s ranch in Nara. Running till March 17th.

MARCH 2024

Ikoma Furusato Museum 生駒ふるさとミュージアム

Special Exhibition: Ikoma from the Edo Period to the Meiji Period February 6th – March 24th

Irie Taikichi Memorial Nara City Museum of Photography 入江泰吉記念奈良市写真美術館

Taikichi Irie: Plum, Peach, Cherry February 3rd – March 17th

5th Irie Taikichi Memorial Photo Contest Award Exhibition: Maoka Ayane: Coral on Land February 3rd to March 17th

Kashihara Shrine Treasure Museum 橿原神宮宝物館

Special Exhibition: Kashihara Shrine Votive Swords November 3rd – May 12^th

Kasugataisha Museum 春日大社国宝殿

Pride of the nobility, Soul of the Samurai – Kanpaku, Shogun’s swords, etc. December 23rd – March 31^st

Katsuragi City History Museum 葛城市歴史博物館

Special Exhibition: Nostalgic Tools – Lights and Outside January 27th – March 10^th

Kinpusenji Temple Zaodo 金峯山寺蔵王堂

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Yoshino Omine World Heritage registration, Promoting major repairs to the National Treasure Niomon Gate & Special unveiling of Japan’s largest treasured Buddha statue March 23rd to May 6^th

Nara Prefectural Kashihara Archaeological Research Institute Museum 奈良県立橿原考古学研究所附属博物館

Special Exhibition: The work of swordsmith Kunihira Kawachi – from restoration of ancient swords to current sword production February 3rd to March 17^th

Nara Prefectural Museum of Art 奈良県立美術館

Wandering Painter Fusen Tetsu – In Search of Utopia January 13th – March 10^th

Nara National Museum 奈良国立博物館

Special Exhibition: Omizutori: Treasures of Todaiji’s Omizutori Ritual February 10th to March 17^th

Historical Materials Preservation House 奈良市史料保存館

Special display “Naramachi Saijiki”: Basho’s poems and Famous Places of Yamato February 27th – March 31^st

Nara City Sugioka Kason Calligraphy Museum 奈良市杉岡華邨書道美術館

Learning from Kason’s calligraphy – Calligraphy of kana works ① Focusing on Fine Print January 13th – April 14^th

Nara University Museum 奈良大学博物館

The Phantom of Continental Japanese Literature – [Poet] Katsumi Ikeda and His Era II January 22nd – March 23^rd

Sakurai City Center for Archeology 桜井市立埋蔵文化財センター

Special Exhibition: Treasures Connected to Sakurai: Unexpected Discoveries December 6th – April 21^st

Todaiji Museum 東大寺ミュージアム

Special Exhibition: Nigatsudo: The Ritual Space of Todaiji Temple’s Shunie Repentence Ceremony February 10th to March 18th

Yanagisawa Bunko 柳沢文庫

Special Exhibition: Koriyama, Yamato Province through Yanagisawa Bunko Historical Materials January 27th to May 12^th

Special Exhibition: Admiring Script – from Buddhist Sutras, Literature, and Letters – February 23rd to April 7^th