EISEI BUNKO MUSEUM

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Exhibitions Schedule 2023

*No advance reservation is required. However, we may ask guests to wait at the entrance depending on the crowd condition inside the museum.

Early Spring Exhibition 2023

Superb Swords of the Hosokawa Family
– the National Treasures on display

Period
Saturday, January 14-Sunday, May 7, 2023
Closed
Mondays
Opening hours
10:00am to 4:30pm (last entry 4:00pm)
 

Online reservations are available from Thursday, 1st December at 10:00.
Visitors to the exhibition are required to book date/time slot tickets online in advance as admissions are limited to avoid overcrowding. Even if you are eligible for free admission as a supporting member of our museum, you still have to make a reservation online. We will only admit visitors without prior reservation if capacity allows.

*Reservations by phone are not accepted.
*Please make reservations via the following link.

Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883-1970), the founder of Eisei Bunko Museum, was an eminent connoisseur of Zen art, modern paintings, Oriental art, and swords. He actively began to collect swords while he was still in his teens. While Moritatsu was taking a long absence from Gakushuin Junior High School due to pleurisy, he studied swords and cultivated his aesthetic sense by carrying out extensive researches with Nishigaki Shirosaku, a descendent of a metalworking family in Higo, who took care of the swords in the Hosokawa family collection as “Okatanagakari”, and sword connoisseurs who were working for the family as administrative staff.

This exhibition features all the four National Treasure swords from the Hosokawa collection for the first time in eight years. Other fine swords collected by Moritatsu such as “Long Sword Signed ‘By Kanesada of Seki, Mino Province’” (Kasen Kanesada) and their historical episodes will be on display together with elaborate works of sword fittings such as sword guards produced in Higo.

Artwork
National Treasure
Long Sword Signed “By Yukihira of Bungo Province”

12th -13th century, Heian-Kamakura period
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Long Sword Signed “By Kanesada of Seki, Mino Province” (Kasen Kanesada)
16th century, Muromachi period
Eisei Bunko Museum

List of Works

Early Summer Exhibition

Tea Ceremony Utensils from the Hosokawa Family Collection:
Sen no Rikyu and Hosokawa Sansai

Period
Saturday, May 20 – Monday, July 17 (National holiday), 2023
Closed
Mondays except July 17, 2023
Opening hours
10:00am to 4:30pm (last entry 4:00pm)
Organized by
Eisei Bunko Museum
With the special assistance of Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
 

Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591), who attained the perfection of Wabi-cha style, had a large circle of acquaintances among the warlords as an instructor in tea ceremony. The Hosokawa family developed close ties with Rikyu since the days of the first head of the family, Fujitaka (Yusai, 1534-1610), and the second head, Tadaoki (Sansai, 1563-1645), inherited Rikyu’s wabi-cha style as one of his seven leading pupils (Rikyu Shichitetsu). Since subsequent heads of the Hosokawa family continued to enjoy the tea ceremony, a large number of tea utensils were passed on down to form the museum collection.

This exhibition presents notable works associated with Sen no Rikyu and Hosokawa Sansai such as “Chinese Tea Caddy of Bulging Base Type (Rikyu Shirifukura)” that belonged to Rikyu and “Gourd Flower Vase known as ‘Gankai’” with other tea utensils owned by the successive heads of the family. We also introduce the works created by the latest four generations of the Hosokawa family (16th head Moritatsu, 17th head Morisada, the present head Morihiro, and Morimitsu) which indicate that a sense of aesthetics have been passed down through the family line.

As the special features of the exhibition, the valuable letters written by a warrior tea master, Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), addressed to Hosokawa Sansai, which were discovered in 2021 are on display together with the calligraphic works by Takuan Soho (1573-1645) who had close connections with the Hosokawa family and who celebrates his 450th birthday this year.

Artwork
Portrait of Hosokawa Sansai (Tadaoki)
Dated 1670 (Kanbun10)
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Bamboo Flower Vase, Nijugiri (Double-cut) type
By Hosokawa Sansai

Momoyama-Edo period, 16-17th century
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Important Art Object
Chinese Tea Caddy, Bulging base type, known as "Rikyu Shirifukura"

Southern Song-Yuan Dynasty, China, 13-14th century
Eisei Bunko Museum

List of Works

Summer Exhibition

Painters loved by Marquis Hosokawa Moritatsu:
Paul Cézanne, Umehara Ryuzaburo, and Yasui Sotaro

Period
Saturday, July 29 – Sunday, September 24, 2023
Closed
Mondays except September 18, 2023
Closed on September 19, 2023
Opening hours
10:00am to 4:30pm (last entry 4:00pm)
 

Shirakaba (White Birch)” was a literary magazine first published by Mushakoji Saneatsu and Shiga Naoya, who were the classmate of Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883-1970), the founder of Eisei Bunko Museum. Having kept company together during their school years at Gakushuin, Moritatsu supported the activity of the “Shirakaba” group financially. “Uphill Road” by Cézanne (1839-1906) was first mentioned in “Shirakaba”, and was later purchased by Moritatsu in 1926 during his stay in Europe. This small watercolor painted by Cézanne at the age of 28 is one of his earliest works painted before the first Impressionist Exhibition held in 1874. It is regarded as an early Cézanne painting introduced to Japan, and we are pleased to have a rare opportunity to display this work in the exhibition.

Hosokawa Moritatsu had interactions with painters such as Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) and Yasui Sotaro (1888-1955) exchanging hundreds of letters with them. This exhibition features selected yoga paintings (Western style paintings) which were added to the collection through the good relationship between Moritatsu and the artists.

Artwork
Uphill Road
By Paul Cézanne

1867
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Lamasery in Chengde
By Yasui Sotaro

1937
Eisei Bunko Museum

List of Works

Autumn Exhibition

Whole Story of the Hidden Treasure “Haseo Zoshi”:
Handscroll collection of Eisei Bunko Museum

Period
Saturday, October 7 – Sunday, December 3, 2023
Closed
Mondays except October 9, 2023
Closed on October 10, 2023
Opening hours
10:00am to 4:30pm (last entry 4:00pm)
 

Haseo zoshi” (13-14th century, Kamakura-Nanbokucho period) is a illustrated handscroll depicting mysterious stories attributed to Ki no Haseo, a scholar of Chinese classics in the Heian period. This volume used to belong to the collection of the Shogun family, but had long been lost during the turbulent history of Meiji Restoration at the end of the Edo period. In the Showa period, Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883-1970), the founder of Eisei Bunko Museum, added it to his collection.

In the story, Haseo played a sugoroku game (a Japanese style board game) for a beautiful woman with an ogre at the Suzaku-mon Gate and he won. On acquiring the woman from the ogre, Haseo was told not to touch her for 100 days. However, he broke the promise, and when he touched the woman, her body collapsed and turned into water to disappear. In the picture, the sound of throwing dices is visualized using lines, which technique is common to the methods in contemporary manga or anime. With a simple story and a small format consisting of only five chapters, “Haseo zoshi” has been recognized as an important material that indicates the origin of “Otogi zoshi”, illustrated folk tales which became popular in Muromachi period and later.

Eisei Bunko Museum houses various other illustrated handscrolls such as the reproduction of “Moko Shurai Ekotoba (Mongol Invasion Scroll)”. The original work which is designated a National Treasure now belongs to the Museum of the Imperial Collections, but it used to belong to the Oyano family, one of the feudal retainer lineages of the Kumamoto Clan. We are pleased to introduce the flowing story world of illustrated handscrolls of the Hosokawa collection which we rarely have had the opportunity to display in our exhibitions.

Artwork
Important Cultural Property
Haseo Zoshi” (detail)

Kamakura-Nanbokucho period, 13-14th century
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Moko Shurai Ekotoba (Mongol Invasion Scroll)” (detail)
1821 (Bunsei 4)
Eisei Bunko Museum (Entrusted to Kumamoto University Library)

List of Works

Partnership with Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo offers a special activity for international tourists that includes admission to Eisei Bunko Museum. Please visit the website of the hotel for further details.

Early Spring Exhibition

Colors in Chinese Ceramics:
Two-thousand-year history of ceramic colors

Period
Saturday, January 13 – Sunday, April 14, 2024
Closed
Mondays except February 12, 2024
Closed on February 13, 2024
Opening hours
10:00am to 4:30pm (last entry 4:00pm)
 

Eisei Bunko Museum holds a collection of more than a hundred Chinese ceramic works from the Han to the Qing dynasties, through which we can trace the two-thousand-year history of Chinese ceramics. The collection can be divided into two groups: ceramics collected by Hosokawa Moritatsu (1883-1970), the founder of Eisei Bunko Museum, and those which had been handed down through the generations of the Hosokawa lord family. Recognizing the growing popularity of Chinese ceramics, Moritatsu started to collect ceramic works from the perspective of art appreciation, and is regarded as a pioneer of collecting decorative ceramics. Painters of his generation also showed much interest in Chinese ceramics and they not only collected them but also used them as motifs of their paintings.

This exhibition features the fine Chinese ceramic works mainly from Moritatsu’s collection including three Important Cultural Properties. We classified the exhibits by color such as white porcelain, celadon porcelain, underglaze blue, and overglaze enamels aiming to provide the visitors with an overview of the history of the Chinese ceramics. “Beauty of the Tang dynasty”, which Umehara Ryuzaburo (1888-1986) painted inspired by the “Painted Pottery Female Figure”, will also be on display with its related documents.

Artwork
Important Cultural Property
Tripod Dish with auspicious flower design

Tang Dynasty, China, 7-8th century
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Important Cultural Property
Vase with sgraffito design of peonies

Northern Song Dynasty, China, 11-12th century
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Important Art Object
Painted Pottery Female Figure

Tang Dynasty, China, 7-8th century
Eisei Bunko Museum
Partnership with Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo offers a special activity for international tourists that includes admission to Eisei Bunko Museum. Please visit the website of the hotel for further details.

About Eisei Bunko Museum

museum appearance

Eisei Bunko Museum and the Hosokawa Family

Eisei Bunko Museum is located in a verdant area of Mejirodai in Bunkyo-ku, where visitors can enjoy the traditional landscape of Musashino. The museum building stands on the property where the Hosokawa family lived from the Edo period to the end of World War Ⅱ.

The Hosokawa was one of the three elite warrior families whose head served as kanrei (deputy shogun) to the Muromachi Bakufu. The new line of the Hosokawa family was started during the warring states period by Hosokawa Fujitaka (Yusai). For distinguished war service, the Hosokawa family was given the fief of Higo (present Kumamoto prefecture) valued at 540,000 koku in the time of the third head, Tadatoshi, which made the family tozama daimyo (non-hereditary feudal lord) with unrivaled power and prosper until the end of the Edo period.

Eisei Bunko Museum houses and researches into the cultural properties handed down through the family for generations such as historical documents and artworks, and displays them in the exhibitions. It was established in 1950 by the 16th head, Moritatsu. He named the foundation “Eisei Bunko” taking the “Ei” part from Eigen-an temple, the family temple for eight generations after its founder, Hosokawa Yoriari, and the “Sei” part from Shoryuji castle, the resident of the first head, Fujitaka.

Eisei Bunko Museum was registered as museum under the Museum Law in 1973, a year after the Hosokawa Collection was first opened to the public in 1972. The current museum building was constructed in the early Showa period as kaseijo (administrative office) of the Hosokawa’s residence. The artworks in the museum’s collection were donated by Moritatsu and the 17th head, Morisada, and they are displayed in the exhibition regularly held at Eisei Bunko Museum.

The Collection of Daimyo Lord Hosokawa Family

Artwork
Important Cultural Property
Letter of Commendation
Written by Oda Nobunaga; addressed to Yoichiro (Tadaoki)

1577
Eisei Bunko Museum
Artwork
Bell
with nine-planet crest

17th century
Eisei Bunko Museum

The Hosokawa Family Collection can be broadly divided into the collection which was formed by the daimyo (feudal lords) before the Edo period and the modern/contemporary collection formed mainly by the 16th head, Moritatsu (1883-1970).

The first head, Hosokawa Fujitaka (Yusai) distinguished himself in many battles, but at the same time, he was regarded as a highly cultured person. In the world of waka (Japanese poetry), he became the only successor of “Kokin denju (the custom of inheriting the secret interpretation of the “Kokin Wakashu” and passing it on to future generations) “. His eldest son, Tadaoki (Sansai), was also a brave warrior and on displaying his bravery during his first battle, he received a kanjo (a letter commending bravery in battle), handwritten by Oda Nobunaga which has been handed down through the Hosokawa family. Since Tadaoki was an expert in tea ceremony known as one of Sen no Rikyu’s leading pupils, fine tea utensils such as tea caddy with bulging base known as “Rikyu Shirifukura” were added to the family’s collection. There are also objects relating to Tadaoki’s wife, Hosokawa Gracia (Tama), such as the bell dedicated to the Christian temple which was built to honor her. The 3rd head of the family and the first lord of the Kumamoto Clan, Tadatoshi is known to have invited Miyamoto Musashi in his late years. Many of Musashi’s ink paintings can be found in the collection. The 8th head, Shigekata, who was highly praised for his political reform of the domain administration called “Horeki Reforms”, was an intellectual person and he passed his time studying natural history which was popular at the time. Shigekata left behind a large collection of illustrated reference books with sketches of various creatures. The 10th head, Narishige, was known for his passion for paintings. He did not only collect numerous illustrated scrolls and Chinese paintings but painted many outstanding works himself which outshone the works of professional artists. Other heads of the Hosokawa family also had a deep understanding of Japanese traditional culture and they formed the excellent heirloom collection of daimyo lords’ treasures.

The Collection of Hosokawa Moritatsu

Artwork
Important Cultural Property
Fallen Leaves
By Hishida Shunso

1909
Eisei Bunko Museum

The 16th head of the Hosokawa family, Moritatsu is a well-known art collector in modern Japan. He came into contact with swords and works of Hakuin while he was fighting his illness in his middle school years, which motivated him to start art collecting. Most of the swords in the Hosokawa collection were purchased by Moritatsu, and he amassed over 400 works of Hakuin and Sengai whose brushworks he encountered while collecting Hakuin’s works.

From among Moritatsu’s collection, his nihonga (Japanese style painting) collection is renown throughout Japan. The modern nihonga collected by Moritatsu was not acquired via an agent but was bought directly from artists, and this is what characterizes his collection. Strongly attracted by the paintings by Yokoyama Taikan and Hishida Shunso when they were still undiscovered by the market, Moritatsu purchased accomplished paintings such as “Mountain Path” by Taikan and “Black Cat” and “Fallen Leaves” by Shunso. Moritatsu valued his personal relationship with the artist, and his friendship with Yokoyama Taikan continued until Taikan’s death.

Being familiar with Chinese classics from his boyhood and fascinated with Chinese culture, Moritatsu also collected Chinese Antiques energetically. When he saw “Kinginsaku Shuryomon Kyo (Bronze Mirror with design of hunting scene in gold and silver inlay)”, later known as the “Hosokawa Mirror” and designated a National Treasure, he took an instant liking to the object and immediately bought it. At the time, no similar examples could be found. Moritatsu also left a marvelous collection of Chinese ceramics with sancai glaze and stone Buddha statues.

Accessible transport

From Mejiro Station (JR)

Take 白 (shiro) 61 bus bound for Shinjuku Station West Exit to Mejirodai-Sanchome bus stop and walk for 5 minutes.

From Zoshigaya Station F10 (Tokyo Metro Fukutoshin Line)

Take 白 (shiro) 61 bus bound for Shinjuku Station West Exit to Mejirodai-Sanchome bus stop and walk for 5 minutes.

From Waseda Station (Toden Arakawa Line)

Walk for 10 minutes.

From Edogawabashi Station Y12 (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line)

Walk for 15 minutes from 1a Exit.

From Waseda Station T04 (Tokyo Metro Tozai Line)

Walk for 15 minutes from 3a Exit.

Please note that there is no parking at the museum.
If you would like to come by car, please use the parking lots nearby.

General Information

Opening hours

10:00 am to 4:30 pm (last entry 4:00 pm)

Closed

Mondays
(Except when a national holiday falls on Monday.
In this case, the museum is open on the holiday and is closed the next weekday. )

Year-end and New Year holidays
In addition, the museum is closed during exhibit change.

Admission fees

Adults
1000 (900) yen
Adults 70 and over
800 (700) yen
High school and College Students
500 (400) yen

Eisei Bunko Museum

Address
1-1-1 Mejiro-dai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0015 Japan
Telephone
+81-(0)3-3941-0850
Fax
+81-(0)3-3943-0454

Image Service

Eisei Bunko Museum loans images for public use including TV programs and publications.

Important Notices

The following conditions apply in using the loaned images.

  1. You must clearly indicate in publication or broadcast that the owner of the materials is Eisei Bunko Museum.
  2. It is prohibited to use images for purposes other than those stated in the application.
  3. When you want to provide changes to the loaned image including trimming or partial use, we shall ascertain in advance how the images are going to be used.
  4. In principle images are provided in digital files.
  5. Drafts must be confirmed prior to publication or broadcasts.
  6. The images and their backup copies must be deleted promptly after use.
  7. If you loan positive films, they must be returned with all rights related to them after use. When the films are lost, you are responsible for the cost of the new photography and duplication of the image.
  8. If problem arises concerning copyright, the applicant bears full responsibility.
  9. The application process is subject to change without prior notification.

Application Process

  1. Please printout the application form and fill in the forms.
    Application Form (Excel)
  2. Please send an application form with your seal attached with the project proposal.
  3. If you have publications with the images you are applying for, please send a photocopy to us as a conference material.

Fees and Payment Condition

Eisei Bunko Museum charges for the use of images.
Publication: 20,000 yen + tax per image.
Broadcast: 20,000 yen + tax per image.

For more details about the fees, please contact us by Fax.
For filming requests, please contact us by Fax.

Eisei Bunko Museum

Address
1-1-1 Mejiro-dai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0015 Japan
Telephone
+81-(0)3-3941-0850
Fax
+81-(0)3-3943-0454

Use of Materials Entrusted to
Kumamoto University Library

For permission to use the materials in the Hosokawa collection entrusted to Kumamoto University Library,
please read the following terms and conditions and submit an application form.

User Qualification

  • A person who is accustomed to handling old materials and microfilms.
  • A person who needs to use materials for scholarly activities such as academic presentation and publication.
  • A student holding Master’s degree or higher accompanied with his/her tutor.
  • A person other than those mentioned above is requested to consult us.

Application Process

Please send an application letter including following details.

  1. You must clearly state at the beginning of the letter that it is an application for the use of materials. If you want photography of the material, you should add “Application for photography” in the letter.
  2. The application letter should be addressed to “Hosokawa Morihiro, President of the Eisei Bunko Foundation”.
  3. Name and affiliation of the applicant with his/her signature and seal.
  4. Please submit A4-size paper describing the purpose of your research and its significance in detail.
  5. The title of the material you would like to use.
  6. A letter of introduction from your instructor with his seal is requested if you are a student.

Important Notices

  1. Materials are available only in microform or printed form if they are already microfilmed or printed excluding special situations. Microfilmed materials are accessible at Kumamoto University Library. Printed materials are available in other libraries.
  2. Use of the material cannot be permitted if there is a risk of physical damage to it.
  3. You are permitted to take photographs of materials only by handheld camera unless you have requested for special permission. We do not allow copying all pages from the original material. You are permitted to take partial images you have requested in advance.
  4. You are asked to pay 5,000 yen + tax for the use of materials and 100 yen + tax per shot for photography.
  5. The application process is subject to change without prior notification.

Eisei Bunko Museum

Address
1-1-1 Mejiro-dai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0015 Japan
Telephone
+81-(0)3-3941-0850
Fax
+81-(0)3-3943-0454