The Summer Exhibition of Netsuke Art Museum
KYOTO, JAPAN, July 1, 2013 — As preparations for Kyoto’s Gion Festival get under way, Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum is offering visitors to the old capital the opportunity to admire one of Japan’s most intriguing art forms.
Netsuke miniature sculpture originated in the Edo period, an age of flourishing arts and culture. They were used as a fastener to suspend items like money or medicine cases and tobacco pipes to the obi sash, which was tied around the waist. Far from merely functional items, these tiny statues, intricately detailed and crafted from a variety of precious materials, became coveted accessories and remain highly prized among collectors today.
Kyoto Seishu Netsuke Art Museum is Japan’s foremost museum dedicated to netsuke sculpture. Located in one of Kyoto’s last remaining samurai residences, it houses an impressive collection of some 3,000 antique and contemporary pieces. The museum opens to the public for special exhibitions five times a year.
This summer, the museum presents the colorful works of Toun Shishido. Toun, a former jewelry maker who began devoting himself to the art of netsuke in 1997, was enticed by the 360° quality of the art form. As Kyoto enters its most important festival season, Toun has dared to stretch the conventions of netsuke carving to create mini replicas of hokogashira: the impressive, long-handled swords standing upon the giant floats that parade through the streets.
