This year’s annual year-end and the New Year exhibition commemorates the designation of the new era name Reiwa, and thus exhibits the works related to the Emperors and the Imperial Household alongside Pine Trees in the Snow by Maruyama Ōkyo, a pair of folding screen designated as National Treasure from our collection. In this exhibition, the setting of a kencha (tea offering) to the Emperor Meiji is recreated; a special tea ceremony held by the Mitsui family at the occasion of Kyoto Exposition which took place at the Imperial Palace of Kyoto in 1887 (Meiji 20). In addition, tea utensils with chrysanthemum designs, works of the artists honored as Imperial Household Artists, letters and calligraphy, which are considered as written by Emperors themselves, and artworks painted by several heads of the Mitsui family are also on view to celebrate the first new year in Reiwa. Ōkyo’s screens will be exhibited throughout the exhibition period. Unohanagaki, a Shino ware tea bowl and also a National Treasure, will be also on display during our New Year exhibition.
Kencha and National Treasures: Tea Offering to the Emperor Meiji
December 14, 2019 to January 30, 2020
Locations
Mitsui Memorial Museum
Mitsui Main Building, 7th Floor,
Nihonbashi Muromachi 2-1-1,
Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0022
Japan
Phone: +81-(0)3-5777-8600