Horyu-ji Temple treasure gold copper Buddha, Tokyo National Museum

Of Horyuji Temple dedicated treasure, we will exhibit gold copper Buddha until the 6th – 8th centuries. At the same time, the backlight of the same period, the extrusion Buddha will also be exhibited.

Horyuji dedicated more than 300 precious Temple treasures to the Imperial family in 1878 (Meiji 11), and was awarded 10,000 yen. With this aid from the Imperial Family it was decided to maintain the cathedrals and dango since the 7th century. The treasure donated to the imperial family was temporarily transferred to Shosoin and was then stored in the Imperial Museum in 1882 (Meiji 15) as “Horyuji Temple dedication gift” (Collection of the Imperial Family). After the war, when the Tokyo Imperial Museum under the jurisdiction of the Miyauchi province became a national museum, all four were returned to Horyuji and all 10 treasures left in the court were stored in the National Museum. After that, some of the treasures left in the temple were transferred to the country, and these nearly 320 treasures are now stored in the Tokyo National Museum Horyuji Treasury. (The famous “Prince Shotoku and Prince Two Prince” and “Hoshua Yoshiko” etc are still owned by the Imperial family)

Buddha statue (buddhist image) is an image expressing the figure of Buddha, which is a subject of Buddhist belief. The principle of Buddha (Buddha, Tathagata) is “awakened”, “a person awakened to the truth”, “a person who opened enlightenment”. In the early Buddhism “Buddha” refers to the founder of Buddhism Gautama · Siddhartha (Buddha, Buddha Nyorai), but with the development of Mahayana Buddhism, various images of “Buddha” such as Buddha Buddha, Amitabha Nyorai etc. are created became.

“Buddha image” originally refers to the statue of “Buddha”, that is, the statue of Buddha Buddha, Amitabha nyorai etc. In general, it is a Buddhist image such as Bodhisattva statue, heavenly statue image, Mingo statue, The whole image is also generically called “Buddha image”. In a broad sense, images and prints are included, but in general when referring to “Buddha images” it often refers to statues of round engravings stereoscopically represented. Materials of statues are various, such as metal, stone, wooden, plastic, and lacquer.

Tokyo National Museum

Tokyo National Museum collects and preserves cultural assets spanning the Toyo region widely, mainly in Japan as a comprehensive museum in Japan, for public viewing and conducts research related to this and educational dissemination project etc. , Aims to preserve and utilize cultural properties that are valuable national assets.

From April 1, 2007, the National Museum belonging to the National Museum of Japan and the National Institute for Cultural Properties to which the National Museum of Japan belongs were integrated, and the “National Institute of Cultural Properties” was launched. We will promote the preservation and utilization of cultural properties, which are precious national assets under the new corporation, more efficiently and effectively.