Exhibition/event has ended.
"Life in the Kofun Period: Learning from Haniwa Figures" Exhibition
Tokyo National Museum
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Haniwa terracotta figures were first made from the early Kofun period and were used in groups, solely for decorating monumental tombs. Early haniwa were limited to plain cylinder, jar, house and bird shapes as well as a few others. Later, articles owned by chieftains (quivers, shields, swords armor, boats, etc.) emerged, but no human or animal figures (excepting birds) were produced.
In the mid-Kofun period (mid-5th century), animal haniwa including horse, dog and wild boar as well as human figures began to be produced in the Kinki (Nara and neighboring prefectures) region and spread to other parts of Japan. In the Kanto region particularly, numerous figurative haniwa have been discovered in both large and small tombs dating back to the second half of the 6th century. The various clothes and hairstyles of haniwa human figures indicate their sex, profession and role. Both whole and half-bodied figures exist, and this distinction is thought to have been used to position figures according to their importance among the groups.
The Tokyo National Museum has many haniwa human figures, but few pieces are intact. Most of them are either fragmentary or with certain missing parts. Nevertheless, those few intact figures display a wide variety, ranging from musicians and figures with unique clothes to those with tattooed faces, or armored men and women dressed in a garment resembling a priest's robe. Some of these figures are of exceptionally fine artistic quality.
[Image: "Man Playing Zither, Haniwa (Terracotta Tomb Figure)" From Niwatorizuka Tumulus, Mooka-shi, Tochigi, Kofun period, 6th century (Gift of Mr. Otsuka Shohei)]
In the mid-Kofun period (mid-5th century), animal haniwa including horse, dog and wild boar as well as human figures began to be produced in the Kinki (Nara and neighboring prefectures) region and spread to other parts of Japan. In the Kanto region particularly, numerous figurative haniwa have been discovered in both large and small tombs dating back to the second half of the 6th century. The various clothes and hairstyles of haniwa human figures indicate their sex, profession and role. Both whole and half-bodied figures exist, and this distinction is thought to have been used to position figures according to their importance among the groups.
The Tokyo National Museum has many haniwa human figures, but few pieces are intact. Most of them are either fragmentary or with certain missing parts. Nevertheless, those few intact figures display a wide variety, ranging from musicians and figures with unique clothes to those with tattooed faces, or armored men and women dressed in a garment resembling a priest's robe. Some of these figures are of exceptionally fine artistic quality.
[Image: "Man Playing Zither, Haniwa (Terracotta Tomb Figure)" From Niwatorizuka Tumulus, Mooka-shi, Tochigi, Kofun period, 6th century (Gift of Mr. Otsuka Shohei)]
Schedule | Mar 15 (Tue) 2011-Jul 31 (Sun) 2011 Opening Hours Information
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| Fee | Adults ¥1000; University Students ¥500; High School Students and Under, Under 18s and Seniors 70 & Over free. Special Exhibition Fees may be charged separately. | ||||||
| Website | http://www.tnm.jp/en/servlet/Con?pageId=B01&processId=01&event_id=8522 | ||||||
| Venue | Tokyo National Museum https://www.tnm.jp/?lang=en | ||||||
| Location | 13-9 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-8712 | ||||||
| Access | 10 minute walk from the Koen exit of JR Ueno Station, 13 minute walk from the Main exit of Keisei Ueno Station on the Keisei line, 15 minute walk from exit 7 at Ueno Station on the Ginza and Hibiya lines. | ||||||
| Phone | 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial) | ||||||
| Related images | Click on the image to enlarge it |
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