Prince Shotoku (574 – 622) was the son of Emperor Yomei. After Yomei passed away, Empress Suiko governed Japan, and Prince Shotoku helped her as the regent. He established Japan’s state system by formulation the Seventeen Article Constitution.
Prince Shotoku was also a deep believer in Buddhism and established the foundations of Buddhism in Japan. He built several well-known temples, like Shitenno-ji in Osaka, Horyu-ji in Nara.
Prince Shotoku’s achievements had contributed so much to the political and cultural life of Japan. This history made many famous monks worship him. Moreover, various books and paintings about his life and wooden statues were made over the centuries and remain first-class artifacts today.
2022 marks the 1400th anniversary of the passing of Prince Shotoku.
On this occasion, this exhibition is open to know Prince Shotoku’s life and the devotion he continues to inspire after his passing.
It said that he had a magical power, such as at the age of two he suddenly began to worship the Buddha, or he could distinguish between the speech of ten people at once.
At this exhibition, we can see some statues of him as a child and the body looks like a child, however, his expression is as quiet and intelligent as that of a Buddha statue.
There are some narrative paintings depicting the life of the prince. It is really interesting to see these paintings because we can grub at once what he had done from his birth to death.
In addition to the Buddhist art of Prince Shotoku, he has also been the subject of contemporary Japanese manga. And we can see some scenes from that manga in this exhibition.
I’m personally interested in that Prince Shotoku admired the cultures of China and Korea and imported them to Japan. The origin of Gagaku, which is considered as Japanese authentic and traditional music, also comes from China and Korea.
From this exhibit, we can learn that Prince Shotoku has been respected throughout the generations and has given us an influence until now.
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