Special display of fusuma paintings
Repatriation after 115 years, a treasure house of wandering paintings!
  At the end of 2010, some fusuma (sliding door) paintings that once were stored at the Hojo were discovered and returned to the temple after a period of 115 years, a historic event for the temple.
The recently discovered paintings include 4 panels of gusenzu fusuma paintings, depicting hermits and children, and 2 panels of kinkishoga paintings showing people playing koto (Japanese harps) and igo (an ancient board game with black and white stones).
Originally there were 71 panels of these fusuma paintings, thought to be painted in the style of the renowned Kano family. However, during the haibutsu kishaku anti-Buddhist movement during the Meiji Period, financially it became very difficult to provide sufficient funds to support temples and many art works were sold, many of which came to be owned by the monarch of the coal mine industry in Kyushu, Itou Denemon. After his death, save for a few that made their way to the Seattle Museum or the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the fate of these fusuma paintings was a mystery. Then suddenly, these works appeared in public at an art auction in New York.
The fusuma paintings that were restored to the temple must have been cared for carefully by an art collector, for the colors have not faded and they still hold their original luster. All of those empty years when the paintings were lost to view only serve to heighten their sense of historical romance now that they have returned to Kyoto.
 
  *The display ended on the 31st of March, 2011
The four panels of a painting showing hermits and children
The four panels of a painting showing hermits and children
The two panels of a painting showing biwa and igo players
The two panels of a painting showing biwa and igo players
 
  The landscape painting on the east side   The landscape painting on the west side  
  The landscape painting on the east side   The landscape painting on the west side  
 
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