A visit to Nara National Museum

Naomi Hughes-White

May 29

Topic: travelling, museums, reflection; Word Count: 507

My itinerary for sightseeing in Nara included Tōdai-ji, Isuien garden, Kōfuku-ji, and Gangō-ji; however, on arrival, a poster for the Masterpieces of Buddhist Art exhibition at Nara National Museum (NNM) caught my eye, leading to a spontaneous museum visit.

The poster for the Masterpieces of Buddhist Art exhibition at Nara National Museum.

The exhibition is open until June 4th 2023 and showcases various paintings, sutras, and reliquaries that convey Buddhist teachings. The objects come from nearby temples and Buddhist sites, or were excavated and are now part of NNM's collection. My favourite items were the sutras written on deep blue paper with silver and gold ink. Intricately written and beautiful to look at, it's amazing that the splendour of these pieces has survived since the Heian period (794-1185). You can view them on NNM's online database, but their visual impact is much greater in-person.

Something I always enjoy about museum visits is seeing pieces that I have come across in my research but have never seen in-person. I am always blown away by the scale of objects; in this instance, it was the hanging scrolls depicting an Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku. There are different versions of the illustrated biography, and I first came across the ones at the Metropolitan Museum when creating an online exhibition as part of my MA research.

Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku, 14th century Japan, Kamakura period (1185–1333). A set of 2 hanging scrolls; ink, colour, and gold on silk; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.471).

I next learned about the ones at Tokyo National Museum when they were featured in the Faces of Faith exhibition that was held at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich. Alongside a statue of a Shinto deity that is believed to be one of the wives of Prince Shotoku, the Faces of Faith exhibition displayed a 4K video courtesy of the Tokyo National Museum that annotated and explained the Illustrated Biography of Prince Shotoku hanging scrolls. It was interesting for me to see another version at NNM and to gain an understanding of the scale of these scrolls, which you can't quite comprehend from their digital records.

After exploring the diverse selection of Buddhist artworks in the West Wing, I made my way to the Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall to view the exhibition titled Masterpieces of Buddhist Sculpture. The 150m-long underground passageway takes you via the museum café and gift shop where of course I purchased my customary museum postcard. En route are detailed exhibits showing the production process for creating a wooden sculpture. The placement of this was particularly commendable, as it provided the viewer with understanding of the complexities of the statues that they were about to view.

Stepping into the Sculpture Hall was very impressive, as two massive statues graced the entranceway. The exhibited statues in the Sculpture Hall ranged from the Asuka period (538-709) to the Kamakura period (1185-1333) and were predominantly from Japan, though some were from neighbouring countries such as China that were fundamental in bringing Buddhism to Japan through Silk Road connections.

I was thoroughly impressed not only by the objects themselves but the storytelling and display techniques for enhancing visitors' understanding of the objects. If you get the chance to visit Nara National Museum then I thoroughly recommend that you do!

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