iDaitokuji: A Zen Temple Beyond Compare
Treasures from Daitokuji, the Kyoto Zen temple founded in 1326, and its sub-temples, shown for its 700th anniversary and including the Kizaemon Ido tea bowl (National Treasure).
More in Tokyo
Kano Shoei's Buddha Entering Nirvana is over six metres tall, with mourners and animals packed around the dying Buddha. It is one of 157 works from Daitokuji, the Kyoto Zen temple founded in 1326, and its sub-temples: the first such show in 41 years and the first in Tokyo.
The route runs from the founder through Ikkyu, the warlords and the tea masters, and you finish inside a recreation of the main gate's upper floor, which the temple keeps shut. Ikkyu's portrait shows a stern old monk, so anyone raised on the Ikkyu-san anime meets its quick-witted boy at the far end of his career.
Time it: the halves are almost completely swapped on 10 November, when Muqi's Guanyin, the Nirvana and the Yohen Tenmoku bowl leave and Muqi's Dragon and Tiger arrives. Tickets are ¥2,300 at the Heiseikan counter, no reservation needed, and include the permanent galleries that day. It is open until 8pm on Fridays, Saturdays and 1, 2 and 22 November.
Editor's pick
The finale recreates the upper floor of Daitokuji's main gate, which the temple keeps shut, with Sen no Rikyu's statue on public view for the first time. Before it come 157 temple treasures, including the Kizaemon Ido tea bowl.
Look for
Muqi's Guanyin, Gibbons and a Crane
Until 8 November, three 13th-century hanging scrolls in soft graded ink: Guanyin in the centre, a monkey on one side and a crane on the other.
The Yohen Tenmoku tea bowl
Until 8 November, Ryoko-in's Song-dynasty Jian ware bowl, a National Treasure, with the iridescent spots on its black glaze that give it its name.
The Kizaemon Ido bowl
On view for the whole run, a plain 16th-century Korean tea bowl that tea masters prized for its form and glaze, now a National Treasure.
Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
A 15th-century handscroll of yokai on the march, some of them everyday objects turned into creatures; the section on show changes during the run.
The main gate's upper floor
The finale recreates the closed upper storey of Daitokuji's gate, with its seated Buddha from 1404 and Sen no Rikyu's statue, both on public view for the first time.
Good for
- Evening Visits
- Nerding Out
- Out-Of-Town Guests
Skip if
You're coming for Muqi's Guanyin or the Yohen Tenmoku after 8 November: both leave at the changeover.
With kids
Junior high students and younger get in free. The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons scroll, a comic procession of yokai and objects come to life, is the obvious stop for kids.
Also at Tokyo National Museum
On now nearby
Sex in Nature (生きものたちの性)
National Museum of Nature and Science
Challenging Infectious Diseases: Past, Present and Future (Noguchi Hideyo 150th Anniversary)
National Museum of Nature and Science
Picturing the Theater: From Delacroix and Daumier to Toulouse-Lautrec and Klinger
National Museum of Western Art
Nearby
Image credits
5
- Daitokuji: A Zen Temple Beyond CompareCourtesy of Tokyo National Museum
- Tokyo National MuseumWiiii, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
- National Museum of Nature and ScienceDaderot, CC0
- Tokyo Metropolitan Art MuseumJoe Mabel, CC BY-SA 2.0
- National Museum of Western ArtJoyofmuseums, CC BY-SA 4.0