Nezu Museum - Object of the Special Exhibit

These 2 screens are considered Japanese National Treasures, and they are something to see! Paint on gold leaf panels. The iris screen only comes out once a year, in season, and how lucky we caught it. The mountain stream in summer screen was also incredible as it has a really modern feel for something done in late 1600s/early 1700s. They are huge screens, each work has two 4 panels screens, so they take up the entire side of the building.

Hard to believe the colors could be so vibrant, but as with many of the old items we have seen, many have been meticulously cared for and often with a single family for generations. These were removed from Tokyo during WWII as were thousands of other precious works. The museums in many places we have been are different than many in the west because the don't seem terribly interested in partial reconstructions or fragments of ancient pieces that you can imagine being great. They collect the entire specimens in near mint condition. And that includes some really ancient things that you can't believe could survive the ages. So we have been lucky to see some real treasures on this journey.

John did confess to being just about museumed-out. I am just about there too.

Then yesterday we saw a sign for an interesting photography retrospective and thought ... well maybe we can handle at least one more!