By TOMOYOSHI KUBO/ Staff Writer
August 31, 2020 at 08:00 JST
KYOTO--The public will get a rare chance to see cultural treasures usually closed off to the public at a special Kyoto exhibition this fall where they will be put on display at shrines and temples.
Among the valued cultural properties, the event will host a work of art by a master sculptor that is more than 600 years old.
The exhibition will be held at various locations across the ancient capital. It is being organized by the Kyoto Heritage Preservation Association and other institutions, and The Asahi Shimbun is a special sponsor of the event.
As a measure to guard against the spread of the novel coronavirus, the event will run for an extended period, from Sept. 1 to Dec. 13. Each of the 18 venues will have its own schedule.
Visitors will be required to have their body temperature checked at the venues and must avoid forming crowds.
A sitting statue of Hokan Amida Nyorai, from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333), will be on display between Oct. 15 and Nov. 1 at Hidenin, which is part of the Sennyuji temple complex in the city's Higashiyama Ward.
Measuring about 72 centimeters tall, the Buddha statue boasts a beautiful face carved from "hinoki" cypress using the "warihagi-zukuri" (split-and-join construction) technique.
Researchers identified it in 2009 as a work of master sculptor Kaikei after they discovered ink writing inside its head. The researchers were mostly from the Kyoto National Museum and Otsu City Museum of History in neighboring Shiga Prefecture.
Admission to view the exhibits will cost 1,000 yen ($9.50) for adults and 500 yen for junior and senior high school students per location; however, there may be some differences in admission fees among locations.
Revenues from the exhibition will be put toward repairing and preserving cultural properties.
The hours and facilities that will open are subject to change depending on the spread of the coronavirus.
The other facilities taking part in the special exhibition are Kamigamojinja shrine; the Umetsuji family house; Kitano Tenmangu shrine; the Reizei family residence; Shimogamojinja shrine; Honenin temple; Chionin temple’s Sanmon gate; Chorakukan hotel; Ryosokuin temple; Rokudo-Chinnoji temple; Chishakuin temple; Sennyuji's Shariden hall; Kaikoji temple; Tofukuji temple's Sanmon gate and Hatto hall; Toji temple's Kodo hall and five-story pagoda; and Iwashimizu Hachimangu shrine.
For more information, visit the association's official website at (http://www.kobunka.com/tokubetsu/index.html).
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A sitting statue of Hokan Amida Nyorai at Hidenin, a sub-temple of Sennyuji in Kyoto's Higashiyama Ward (Kenta Sujino)
