News Release

Tsuzuri Project donates to Kanazawa College of Art a high-resolution facsimile of Sotatsu's "Screen with Scattered Fans," to be displayed to the public with five previous works

TOKYO, November 27 2023—Canon Inc. announced today that the Tsuzuri Project (officially, the Cultural Heritage Inheritance Project), a joint project organized by the Kyoto Culture Association (NPO) and Canon, donated to the Kanazawa College of Art a high-resolution facsimile of "Screen with Scattered Fans" by Tawaraya Sotatsu—the original of which resides in the collection of Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Arts, Washington D.C., U.S.A. —as part of the project's Stage 16. The facsimile will be displayed to the public at the university from Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, 2023, coupled with other five Tsuzuri facsimile screens.

Screen with Scattered Fans was painted in the Edo period (17th century) and features a number of fan paintings with various motifs, such as The Tale of Hogen, The Tale of Heiji, and Tales of Ise, pasted on a golden folding screen. As the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, which houses the original cultural property, forbids the collection to be taken out of the museum in accordance with the will of its founder, the original masterpiece cannot be seen without visiting the site. By producing its high-resolution facsimile, this artwork, considered to be a Japanese historical masterpiece, was "brought back" to Japan.

Canon’s EOS R5 full-frame mirrorless camera was used to capture images of the original work, after which Canon applied its proprietary color matching system and image processing. The facsimile was then output using large-format inkjet printers with 12-color pigment ink. Finally, expert Kyoto craftsmen applied gold to the facsimile and mounted it on folding screen frames, completing an extremely accurate reproduction of the original work. The life and the artworks of Tawaraya Sotatsu, the creator of this work, are said to have had certain ties with Kanazawa City, where the Kanazawa College of Art is located. The university will exhibit the donated work to the public on campus and utilize it in classes.

Considering this donation as an opportunity, from Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, including the donated work, a total of six high-resolution facsimile artworks, including "Pine Trees" by Hasegawa Tohaku, who was native to present-day Ishikawa Prefecture, will be exhibited to the public at the university. The originals of them are treated with extra care from the viewpoint of preservation, and opportunities for viewing them are limited. In this public exhibition, however, visitors can view the works up close without glass cases and take photos of them, thus experience them in a way that only high-resolution facsimiles allow.

Exhibition details

Title	Masterpieces of Japanese traditional paintings –centered on works of painters related to Ishikawa Prefecture- an exhibition commemorating the donation of the high-resolution facsimile of Sotatsu's "Screen with Scattered Fans"
Date & Time	Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, 2023
Venue	Kanazawa College of Art (2-40-1 Kodatsuno, Kanazawa-city, Ishikawa Prefecture), Art Commons A (Building 4, 2nd floor)
Exhibition hours	10:00 – 17:00 (1st day: 14:30 – 17:00, last day: 10:00 – 16:00). No closure day
Admission	Free
Sponsor	Kyoto Culture Association (NPO) and Canon Inc.
Co-sponsor	Kanazawa College of Art
Financial support	The Hokkoku Shimbun

• The above information is subject to change. For up-to-date information, please refer to the Kanazawa College of Art website:
  https://www.kanazawa-bidai.ac.jp/

Tsuzuri Project works to be displayed

A high-resolution facsimile of “Screen of Scattered Fans” (Owned by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Original creator: Tawaraya Sotatsu)
A work of Tsuzuri Project Stage 16, donated to the Kanazawa College of Art

A high-resolution facsimile of “The Wind and Thunder Gods” (A national treasure of Japan. Owned by Kenninji Temple. Original creator: Tawaraya Sotatsu)

A high-resolution facsimile of “Wind God and Thunder God / Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn” (Important cultural properties of Japan. Owned by Tokyo National Museum. Original creator: Ogata Korin / Sakai Hoitsu)^{1, 2}

A high-resolution facsimile of “Pine Forest” (A national treasure of Japan. Owned by Tokyo National Museum. Original creator: Hasegawa Tohaku)¹

A high-resolution facsimile of “Cypress Trees” (A national treasure of Japan. Owned by Tokyo National Museum. Original creator: Kano Eitoku)¹

A high-resolution facsimile of “Cooling off” (A national treasure of Japan. Owned by Tokyo National Museum. Original creator: Kusumi Morikage)

• 1.

  Created in the Joint-research Project on the Creation and Utilization of High-resolution Facsimiles of Cultural Properties by The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage and Canon Inc.

• 2.

  The originals of Wind God and Thunder God / Flowering Plants of Summer and Autumn currently exist as two separate pairs of screens for preservation reasons. In the high-resolution facsimile, the two artworks make the front and back side of a pair of folding screens to restore their original figures.

About the Tsuzuri Project

The Tsuzuri Project is a joint social contribution initiative organized by the Kyoto Culture Association (NPO) and Canon. Many of Japan’s precious ancient cultural assets have limited viewing opportunities, often because they have been moved overseas or are preserved in storage as designated national treasures. Combining Canon’s technical expertise in imaging, processing and output with the master craftsmanship of traditional Kyoto artisans, the Project produces high-resolution facsimiles. High-resolution facsimiles are donated to related recipients such as shrines, temples, local governments and museums. These cultural assets are available for a variety of purposes including public display and tangible educational materials. Works from artists including Katsushika Hokusai, Tawaraya Sotatsu and Ogata Korin, have been selected since, with 60 facsimiles produced and donated to date.

For more information, please visit the official Tsuzuri Project website:
https://global.canon/en/tsuzuri/