Spring Special Exhibition "The Beauty of Dyeing and Weaving"

At the foot of Mount Koya, in the Amano region, there is the Amano Shrine (Niutsuhime Shrine), which is worshipped as the guardian deity of Mount Koya, and has had a close relationship with Mount Koya since ancient times. During the Kamakura period, the monk Gyosho dedicated a Song edition of the Buddhist scriptures to the shrine, and throughout the Middle Ages, a memorial service (Ichikyo-e) was held to offer the Buddhist scriptures, and bugaku dance was performed at the ceremony.

This exhibition will focus on the costumes used in the Bugaku dance performed at the Amano Issaikyo Assembly. While there are few surviving examples of dyed textiles from each period, these are not only important examples for understanding the development of Bugaku costumes, but are also extremely valuable as some of the few basic documents in the history of Japanese dyeing and weaving. It shows that the Bugaku dance of the Amano Shrine was not limited to local performing arts, but was of high quality, incorporating the best of the craft arts of the time.

Please enjoy the magnificent and splendid Amanosha Sutra Assembly, which utilized the most cutting-edge aesthetic sensibilities and techniques of the time.