Tag: Museums

• Translations

  The Splendid World of Automatic Music: The Nagamori Music Box Collection I just received a copy of the newly published The Splendid World of Automatic Music: The Nagamori Music Box Collection (from the Nagamori Culture Foundation) which I translated from Japanese to English. Gorgeous, isn’t it? A luxury book for the enthusiast, introducing 243 antique…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  April 11, 2024

  Uncategorized

  Japan-English Translation, Japanese Museums, Museums

• Spirit of the Fight: Swordsmanship and Its Artful Practitioners 

  Pride of the Aristocracy, Soul of the Samurai – Collections including swords of Regents and Shoguns. Till March 31st at Kasugataisha Museum A superb exhibition of swords at Kasugataisha Museum comes to a close at the end of this month. Japan can always be relied upon to throw a good show, large or small, since…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  March 26, 2024

  Exhibition Reviews

  Art, culture, history, Japan, Japanese Art, Japanese dance, Japanese swords, Kasugataisha, katana, Museums, Nara, samurai, Shinto, Shinto art, Swords, travel

• April exhibition round-up

  APRIL 2024 ART/MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS IN NARA Modern Japanese Painting and a Newly-Excavated Ancient Sword In 2022, a magnificent “Serpentine Sword” (Dakoken 蛇行剣) of over two metres in length was excavated from the 4th century Tomio Maruyama Tumulus in Nara: the largest iron sword in East Asia from the period. Tomio Maruyama Tumulus is a circular…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  March 20, 2024

  Exhibition Round-up

  Art, Japan, Japanese Art, Japanese Paintings, Modern Japanese Art, Museums, Nara, Nihonga, Swords, travel

• Silent Dust Swept Away: Kūkai at NNM

  Kūkai: The Worlds of Mandalas and the Transcultural Origins of Esoteric Buddhism at Nara National Museum, Sat, Apr 13, 2024〜Sun, Jun 9, 2024 (Preview) One of the exhibits in the upcoming Kūkai: The Worlds of Mandalas and the Transcultural Origins of Esoteric Buddhism that stands out for its novelty – and for what it suggests…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  March 12, 2024

  Exhibition Reviews

  Art, Buddhism, Buddhist art, Buddhist icons, Esoteric Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhist Art, Japan, Japanese Art, Museums, Nara, Nara National Museum, religion, Shingon, travel

• exhibition round-up

  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…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  March 7, 2024

  Uncategorized

  Art, asia, blog, Buddhist art, Buddhist icons, Exhibitions, Japan, Japanese Art, Museums, Nara, Painting, Photography, Shinto art, travel

• Tōdaiji’s Omizutori: Mystery and Otherness Restored

  Todaiji Temple’s Omizutori Ritual – & Omizutori Museum Exhibitions in Nara Religious practice in Japan is sometimes tamed by way of museum exhibitions and by the contemporary secular viewer of such exhibitions, making it, whether consciously or not, “mere ritual”: performance art or piece of theatre, political expression, or display of eccentric quirky superstition. It…

  Elizabeth Tinsley

  November 30, 2021

  Uncategorized

  Art, Buddhism, Buddhist art, Buddhist icons, Japanese Art, Museums, Nara, Ritual Art, Rituals, Temples