April 12th (Saturday) – May 18th (Sunday) Spring Special Exhibition The Beauty of Momoyama and Edo-period Painting The Tokugawa Art Museum has in its collection many masterpieces of painting from the Momoyama to the Edo period. These range from the Portrait of Honda Heihachiro Folding Screens or the Sooji Folding Screens, which exemplify genre painting of the early modern period, to works by the Kano and Tosa schools, as well as by Maruyama Okyo and Yuhi. Indispensable fixtures in the life of the military elite, these painted works were produced and used in every part of daimyo culture. Folding screens and hanging scrolls decorated the halls. Weddings required the preparation of furniture. The lord and his family enjoyed entertaining illustrated scrolls and books. In this exhibition, Momoyama and Edo-period paintings passed down in the Owari Tokugawa family will be joined by recent donations and acquisitions. We invite you to savor the luxurious refinement of this elegant world of the Edo-period daimyo. May 24th (Saturday) – July 6th (Sunday) Special Exhibition The Flowering of Bizen Swords: The Ichimonji Lineage In the history of Japanese swords, the Bizen Ichimonji lineage created the most beautiful patterns in the tempered blade. The Ichimonji guild began in the early Kamakura period with Norimune. Among the master swordsmiths summoned by Retired Emperor Go-Toba for his official workshop, the Gobankaji, we find many smiths of the Ichimonji lineage. After the Jokyu Rebellion (1221), in which the Retired Emperor Go-Toba failed to topple the Kamakura military government, the Ichimonji lineage received the patronage of the ruling Hojo clan. The Ichimonji forged impressive blades with brilliant patterns, swords that matched the practical and virile spirit of the Kamakura warriors. Polishing their art, they achieved in creating an incomparable culture of steel. In this exhibition, we will trace the history of the Bizen Ichimonji lineage through famous examples of its swords. July 12th (Saturday) – August 31st (Sunday), open on August 11th (Monday) for the summer holidays Summer vacation history classroom Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Battles of the Sengoku Period In a single generation, Tokugawa Ieyasu rose from being a lord of a small territory in Mikawa Province to the ruler of Japan. First a vassal to the Imagawa clan, then a hostage to the Oda clan, Ieyasu became one of the Council of Five Elders, selected by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. With each step, Ieyasu prepared the foundations for his rule, ultimately seizing power after Hideyoshi’s death, putting an end to the turbulent battles for the nation. With weapons, armor and historical documents maintained in the Owari Tokugawa family, we will introduce the battles of Ieyasu’s career, as well as his fearsome troops, said to be among the strongest of the warlords. As a summer history class, this exhibition will also explain in an easily understandable manner the true conditions of warfare during this period. September 6th (Saturday) – September 28th (Sunday) Planned exhibition Praying to the Gods and Buddhas: The Buddhist Art of the Owari Tokugawa Family The Tokugawa Art Museum has in its collection a surprisingly large number of Buddhist painting and sculpture, unusual for the house of a regional warlord (a daimyo). These works were originally placed in the Treasure Repository of the Banshoji temple (Soto School) on the grounds of Nagoya Castle. During the Meiji Restoration, they were then returned to the Owari Tokugawa family. This Treasure Repository was built in response to the illness of Naritomo, the tenth lord of the Owari Tokugawa. His illness stemmed, it was said, from not properly worshipping the Buddhas that had protected the previous generations, but were now neglected, placed in a storehouse at the small keep of Nagoya Castle. At the instigation of the monk Gocho Kankai, who had been invited through the help of the Hosokawa clan of Higo Province, the two-story, Treasure Repository was built at the same height as the keep itself. This exhibition will feature the Buddhas which have been worshipped not only by the Owari lords themselves, but also by their entire clans. October 4th (Saturday) – November 9th (Sunday) Autumn Special Exhibition Exploring the Great Treasures of the Muromachi Shoguns During the Muromachi period, the Ashikaga Shoguns continued to cultivate the courtly culture that had long been nurtured in the capital, but through their collecting of Chinese art, they planted the seeds of a new culture, colored by karamono, Chinese objects. Highly valued even in later generations, their collection was not based on the Chinese sensibility, nor was it the taste of Zen monks who had traveled to China. It was, rather, their own aesthetic sense that formed the “eye” of later Japanese appreciation of Chinese art. In recent years, the activities of the dobo, who were responsible for handling and appraising the shogun’s collection, have become clearer. Through the famous works treasured by the Ashikaga Shoguns, as well those which relate the activities of the dobo, we will reflect on the reception history of “China” within “Japan.” November 15th (Saturday) – December 14th (Sunday) Planned exhibition Musical Instruments of Japan: A Cultural History of Sound Traditional Japanese music consists of many genres: gagaku, the ceremonial music of the court; nogaku, the performance of No, patronized especially by the warrior class; the sung recitation of The Tale of the Heike to the accompaniment of the biwa; or the performance of Kabuki. With each kind of music, different musical instruments are played, such as the bamboo flute, the biwa, the koto, the shamisen or the shakuhachi. Among them, some trace their roots to India and Persia, while others, such as the flute and drums, can be found throughout the globe in various shapes and sizes, developing into numerous forms along with their cultures. The musical instruments the Owari Tokugawa family owned mainly consist of those used in the No theater, since it was an essential part of a samurai’s education. Besides these, one can also find the koto and shamisen, instruments taught to women. Gagaku instruments and a set of Ryuku instruments given by the Ryuk King round out the collection of musical instruments owned by the Owari Tokugawa family. This exhibition will feature these musical instruments to introduce each type and to trace the development of Japanese traditional music. November 22 (Saturday) – November 30th (Sunday) The Illustrated Scroll of The Tale of Genji Special Exhibition“Hashihime” and “Yadorigi” (Part III)   Closed on December 15th, 2008 - January 3rd, 2009.