The Tokyo National Museum presents this rare opportunity to discover one of Europe’s finest collections of Japanese narrative art. On view until July 20, the exhibition brings together 25 exceptional works seldom seen outside Ireland, celebrating a remarkable cultural dialogue between Japan and the Chester Beatty museum in Dublin.
The collection was assembled by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, whose fascination with Japanese art began after his visit to Japan in 1917. Today, his holdings of illustrated handscrolls and picture books rank among the most important outside the country. Organised around five themes, the exhibition explores the richness of Japanese storytelling traditions, from courtly romances and heroic chronicles to folktales, supernatural worlds and poetic reflections on nature.
Among the highlights is Song of Lasting Sorrow by Kano Sansetsu, a lavishly illustrated 17th-century masterpiece depicting the tragic love story of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei. Also featured are magnificent scrolls of The Tale of Genji, rare depictions of the warrior-monk Benkei, dramatic demon-slaying narratives such as Shutendoji and works inspired by medieval performance traditions.
The exhibition culminates with extraordinary visions of the natural world, including a rare version of On a Riverboat Journey by Ito Jakuchu. Together, these treasures reveal the extraordinary breadth of Japanese pictorial storytelling while highlighting more than a century of cultural exchange between two island nations.
