British Museum Japanese Art Collection Hundred Flowers

About the Exhibition

This exhibition centers on the Japanese art collection of the British Museum, founded in 1753, spotlighting the tradition and value of the museum with the world's richest overseas holdings of Japanese art. It presents a selection from the British Museum's collection — the largest overseas holding of Japanese art — focusing especially on works representative of Japanese culture and art. Included are 'The Tsurugaoka Shrine Mandala by the priest Shōnin (Jōkan) of the Kamakura period' and 'The Tsurugaoka Shrine Mandala by Iwasakakei of the Jōe period,' among the oldest Japanese art works held outside Japan; the former in particular is a notable highlight. Selected from a total of 40,000 works, the exhibition centers especially on these two mandalas along with other works that have played an important role in understanding Japanese art abroad.