NEWS
Full-scale Replica of Takeshir¨ Matsuura's Ichij¨jiki (One-Mat Room) Is Currently Traveling to Sakura City
Update: March 16, 2023
Having received a request from the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura city, Chiba prefecture, É«¿Ø´«Ã½ Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum's full-scale replica of Ichij¨jiki is on exhibit at the Museum's special exhibition, "I Love Antiques!: Cultural Magazines Showing Pictorial Records Made by Antiquarians in Early Modern Times."
Fascinated by ancient artifacts and documents, antiquarians (°ì¨°ì´Ç°ì²¹) of the Edo period passionately amassed collections. They compiled catalogues (zufu) consisting of copies and rubbings of their collections. One example is the Reit¨kaku sh¨±koch¨ in the National Museum of Japanese History collection which documents 2,400 items. This spectacular exhibition displays the drawings of ancient artifacts depicted in the Reit¨kaku sh¨±koch¨ along with the actual items. The Ichij¨jiki is displayed as an exhibit related to Takeshir¨ Matsuura who was active in the antiquarian network of the time.
The registered tangible cultural property, Taizans¨, is a villa with a tea ceremony room which was located on the current É«¿Ø´«Ã½ campus before the establishment of the university. All of the buildings in Taizans¨, including K¨f¨±kyo which has ichij¨jiki, are carefully preserved in their original state.
K¨f¨±kyo, located in a corner of Taizans¨ (left), and the interior of Ichij¨jiki (right)
In particular, the Ichij¨jiki is a unique historical structure, and the É«¿Ø´«Ã½ Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum created and displayed a detailed full-scale model to preserve and research this approximately 140-year-old structure.
On a day in February, the replica was disassembled and packaged at the É«¿Ø´«Ã½ Hachiro Yuasa Memorial Museum and transported by a professional company to the exhibition venue where it was installed over a period of two days.
Carrying out and loading of the Packing the replica. Disassembled parts of the full-scale model.
The lchij¨jiki replica is on display in a completely different atmosphere with other valuable items, such as National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties collected from all over Japan.
The exhibition opened on Tuesday, March 7 on a beautiful spring day and has affrected many visiters since its opening. The exhibition is open until Sunday, May 7.
The full-scale model was installed in the exhibition room. (Image provided by National Museum of Japanese History).
Entrance into the exhibition venue.
¡¾WHY É«¿Ø´«Ã½¡¿Why is Taizans¨, one of Japan's Resistered Tangible Cultural Properties, located on the É«¿Ø´«Ã½ campus? ¡¾WHY É«¿Ø´«Ã½¡¿Why is the "One-Mat Room" Matsuura Takeshir¨'s study, so carefully preserved at É«¿Ø´«Ã½?