"Famous Swords From Temples and Shrines" Exhibition

Kyoto National Museum

This event has ended.

This exhibition introduces several historically renowned swords originally belonging to famous temples and shrines. Among these, the oldest known example is an early Heian (794-1185) sword with black-lacquered scabbard. Other famed swords include a Kamakura-period (1185-1333) tachi (slung sword) that has been historically associated with the Genji clan, a katana (sword) that has belonged alternately over the generations to the Ashikaga shoguns and the powerful Otomo clan in Bungo Province, and another katana that the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1534-82) purportedly took from the warrior Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-60) in the Battle of Okehazama. Also on exhibit will be swords that originally belonged to shrines, such as Nyakuoji Shrine in Kyoto, Kasuga Shrine in Nara, and Sanage Shrine in Aichi Prefecture, that are now in private collections.
*Exhibiting at the Collections Hall, Galleries 16-17

[Image: "Brocaded and Jeweled Scabbard" (Edo Period) Yasaka Shrine]