I saw “The Treasures of Mitsubishi Collection: The Mitsubishi 150th Anniversary Exhibition” at Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo.
The Mitsubishi Group is one of the biggest group of Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries including mining, shipbuilding, telecom, financial services, electronics, automotive, and more.
The founder of Mitsubishi is Iwasaki Yataro (1835-1885) and the company was traditionally inherited by the Iwasaki family.
Four generations of presidents of Mitsubishi from Iwasaki Yataro took a strong interest in cultural properties, and They collected a lot of precious cultural things, like tea ceremony tools, handwriting documents of great historical value, fine art porcelain, etc.
Now their collections are kept at The Seikado Foundation and Toyo Bunko in Tokyo. Both of these facilities are also established by the Iwasaki family and make a significant contribution to historical or art research and Japanese society.
This exhibition is of great interest to those who love Oriental history and art or the old books, as they will be able to see handwritten books and precious printed books that are rarely seen nowadays in a good state of preservation.
To the fan of porcelain arts, this exhibition is also attractive. Because we have a chance to see the precious and beautiful tea bowl, Yohen Tenmoku.
Yohen Tenmoku tea bowls were made in China between the 12th to 13th centuries and imported to Japan. Today, only 3 Yohen Tenmoku tea bowls remain all over the world, and all Yohen Tenmoku bowls are in Japan.
All 3 tea bowls are designated as National Treasures in Japan, and this time we can see one of them.
Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl is a jet-black vessel, and its inside is littered with large and small flecks that look like stars. The flecks are surrounded by a vertiginous blue or bluish-purple colour that shimmers and shifts in iridescent colours depending on the angle.
Yohen Tenmoku is so beautiful, it looks like holding a whole space in a tiny inside.
I’ve listened to a little boy around 10years old who is gazing at this tea bowl. He said he cannot stop seeing this bowl. I totally agree with him.
If you would like to touch a piece of deep knowledge about Japan, China and book history, I recommend visiting this exhibition.
And you know the exquisite sense of Japanese wealthy people.
Exhibition detail is here: https://mimt.jp/kokuhou12/english.html
