Visit Japan’s art museums

I went to the Idemitsu Museum of Art at around three in the afternoon, located on the 9th floor of the building near Hibiya Station. It's not a very famous or large art museum, but it feels unexpectedly good. The size is moderate, the exhibits are rich, and most importantly, the logic is clear. The instructions were also very clear. This reminds me of the Xi'an Museum, which also has clear logic, clear instructions, and rich exhibits. Of course, the Xi'an Museum is much larger than Idemitsu. In addition to exhibitions, the service facilities of the museum are also very good. There are staff at the elevator entrance on the first floor to help press the elevator. After you go up, there are two staff at the ticket office to sell tickets. After buying the tickets, there is a bathroom, a bag storage area, and a free drinking water area. Disposable paper cups and several water dispensers are provided. Each water dispenser provides three types of tea, barley tea, black tea, and sencha (hoji tea), which can be cold or hot. The best thing after that is that the seat is facing a large floor-to-ceiling window, opposite the Imperial Palace and Hibiya Park. Sitting on the spacious seat while drinking tea and basking in the sun, while looking at the greenery in front of me, my body and brain are a little relaxed after watching the exhibition. Looking tired, here is really a rare rest and relaxation. The security guard in the museum is a man, wearing a suit and walking around from time to time, but he speaks very softly. The shopping area equipped with the museum is not large, but the items are exquisite and not expensive. I bought a handkerchief with a colorful Tang pattern. It was very beautiful and only cost 600 to 700 yen. I visited so many art museums in Tokyo, and this is the first one I have collected in a mobile app.

Okay, now that we’ve talked about the art museum, let’s talk about this exhibition. The theme of this exhibition is Yakimono, that is, pottery and porcelain. The key words are color, pattern and shape. It is displayed in chronological order from these three aspects.

Chapter 1 The World of Zhu and Uzumaki - From Jomon Earthenware to Haniwa

I know Zhu, it is red. The original pottery all liked red because it represents Blood represents fire, both majestic and powerful things. The vortex is a pattern, a bit like the water vortex of the English letter C or J, which is called vortex or scroll script. Earthen vessels from the Jomon Period have such patterns on them. The pottery in this part is very simple and innocent, like a person's childhood. Haniwa's horses and soldiers looked like mud pinched by a child, with their round mouths open. Sure enough, the whole human race, regardless of individual people, is always innocent, simple and cute in childhood. By the way, Haniwa refers to the pottery on top or around the Japanese ancient tombs that guard the tombs. It is divided into cylindrical and image Haniwa. The exhibits I looked at this time seemed to be hollow in the middle. It might have been necessary to bake them like this in ancient times. In addition, I saw a work from the Chinese Neolithic Age, a painted pottery double-eared pot, which should be from 2600 BC to 2300 BC. I was a little shocked that our pottery patterns were so elegant and solemn at that time.

Chapter 2: Brilliant Colors, Medieval Forms - From the Kofun Period to the Muromachi Period

I don’t like any of the exhibits in this part. It has lost the innocence and simplicity of ancient times, and the exquisite beauty of later generations. However, the most important thing in this era was the birth of glaze. The first thing shown in this chapter is Sue ware. Its glaze is made of fuel ash that melts during firing and naturally adheres to the pottery. It is called natural glaze. There are several gray-glazed pottery on display later, mainly using plant ash, which is the first artificially glazed pottery in Japan. Before firing, glaze made of plant ash is applied to the pottery with a brush. During firing, the plant ash melts to form a dark green glaze. But I don’t know what people thought at that time. I looked at several exhibits and all saw glaze flowing down from the mouth of the bottle. The introduction said that the glaze flowed very neatly and beautifully, but I felt that the glaze flowed messily. After squatting and looking at it for half a minute, I really couldn't feel the beauty. There are not many exhibits in this chapter, only ten, so I took a quick look and went to the next chapter.

Chapter 3: Colors, Patterns, and Shapes of Envision—Porcelain from across the sea

This section displays all Chinese pottery, and the number of exhibits that I liked instantly increased dramatically. There are two Tang Sancai porcelain pillows and one Tang Dynasty tricolor porcelain pillow. I have seen so many Tang Sancai paintings, and I am still amazed every time I see them again. Three colors of yellow, green and white are the most common colors of Tang Sancai, and the exhibits this time are mainly green. Fresh, smart and beautiful. The Tang Dynasty is really amazing, so rich and complex, yet so fresh and delicate. The architecture is so majestic, the poetry is so sincere, and even the porcelain is so beautiful. Praise the Tang Dynasty! There is also a plum vase with blue and white engraved scrollwork. It was fired in Jingdezhen kiln. It should be from the Southern Song Dynasty. It is elegant and restrained.

Comparing the two, one of the Tang Dynasty and the other of the Song Dynasty, one emphasizes emotion and the other emphasizes reason, one has bright colors, and the other has elegant colors. It's really completely different.

Chapter 4 The Shape of Tea Soup - Kamakura Period to Momoyama Period

This part is all ceramics related to tea ceremony. Tea bowls, teapots (water pouring), peanuts (flower arrangement utensils), etc. There are many exhibits in this section, and my favorite is the Shino series of works from the Momoyama period Mino kiln. Shino ware uses feldspar white glaze, which has brown eyes like orange peels on the surface, and fire color often appears on the edge of the white glaze. Originally, this kind of pottery was made under the orders of Shino Munenobu, a tea master in the Muromachi period, and now there are Aka Shino, Natsu Shino, and of course Muji Shino. Aka Shino is red, Natsu Shino is bluish-gray like the color of a mouse, and Muji Shino is white Shino yaki without patterns. Among the works on display this time are the Shino Mountain and Water Bowl and the Rat-Shino Herb and Flower Bowl, both of which date from the Momoyama period. Although it is not as stunning as Akashino and Kiln-changed Shino ware, it is gentle and tranquil and still quite popular with me.

Chapter 5: Elegant and refined patterns - the gorgeous Edo period

Chapter 5 is the section with the most exhibits, with almost fifty exhibits. According to the faction, it is divided into Karatsu, Kakiemon, Kyoyaki, etc. From the Edo period, painted porcelain also became popular. The porcelain at this time was brightly colored, with detailed outlines and a mixture of flowers, birds, pines and bamboos, but it could easily look tacky and petty. What is slightly more impressive among the exhibits is the porcelain with geometric patterns. There is also a stunning black tea bowl named "This Flower". The flower here is the elegant name of plum blossom. A white plum floats on the black glaze, and the overall feeling is very elegant.

Chapter Six Modern Colors, Patterns, and Shapes—Meiji and the Birth of Individual Writers

The last part is modern pottery. The style of the works is influenced by the West, and more emphasis is placed on techniques. . Personally, I don’t have much feeling for this part of the exhibits. And there are very few exhibits, only six.

I walked around the small Idemitsu Museum for more than two hours without realizing it. My legs were sore and my head was dizzy. Fortunately, there are many seats facing the floor-to-ceiling windows where you can rest after the show. After drinking a cup of tea, I was in a daze for a while, and before dusk fell, I went home with a carefully selected Tang pattern handkerchief. Such a simple and fulfilling weekend was within reach before, but now it is difficult to achieve during the epidemic.

Reference:

Idemitsu Museum official website: t-s/cnt-s-11-02_2_4b832138-5e5f-423c-ab90-0be991007056.html

Note: except Scenery photos of the rest area, other pictures are from the Internet