This is Japan

By Naoto Tobimatsu (The Fountain staff)

November 14, 2021

On the entrance, there was a big golden palanquin, walk through the area next you could see wind god and thunder god on the sliding door. Many bright pieces of art come from the past.

The exhibition of Japanese old art “This is Japan” which allows seeing old Paintings and Crafts that people have seen in textbooks, was held at Oita Art Museum from Oct. 11 to Nov. 14.

Many famous arts which people might have seen were displayed in this exhibition. For example, Sliding Door with Design of Wind God and Thunder God, Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji by Hokusai Katsushika, and Fifty-three Stations on the Tokaido by Hiroshige Utagawa. People could take pictures of all art exhibited.

This exhibition did not use name and era to introduce art. They have separated six parts by using impression words Gold, Design, Kawaii, Fuji, Samurai, and Nature that describe specific of Japanese art. Therefore, people could have fun easily without knowledge.

“Japanese art accepted any kind of art from opulence and luxury thing to monotone one. The charm of them is the depth of pocket and Wabi-Sabi,” said Ms. Nogawa a curator of Oita Art Museum. “The difference from Overseas is in material, technique, but especially aesthetics. Japan is surrounded by the sea and four seasons move slowly. People got ideas from the environment traditionally.”

These kinds of arts are difficult to exhibit for a long time because they are fragile and they must be strictly controlled so the span of the exhibition may be shorter. Meanwhile, this opportunity was pretty rare in Oita.

Approximately 60 masterpieces of art in this exhibition came from Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. This museum has more than 30,000 ancient and modern arts (Painting, printmaking, photography, and crafts).

The ticket fee was 1,200yen for adults, 900yen for high school students and university students, under junior high school students could see free.

People can go to Oita Art Museum by bus from Oita station. Oita Art museum usually holds exhibitions of collections and special exhibitions like “This is Japan”. From Jan. 7 the exhibition which focuses on Hasui Kawase will hold.