“Tokyo National Museum 150th Anniversary Special Thematic Exhibition: Museum of the Future” At the Second Gallery sponsored by Canon, “Through the Four Seasons: High-Resolution Facsimiles of Folding Screens

Viewing Experience of the High-Resolution Facsimiles and Projection Mapping of Four National Treasures

The Tokyo National Museum 150th Anniversary Special Thematic Exhibition “Museum of the Future” was held between October 18 and December 11, 2022, to experience Japanese art with a new appreciation using digital technologies.

At the Second Gallery sponsored by Canon, “Through the Four Seasons: High-Resolution Facsimiles of Folding Screens,” high-resolution facsimiles of the national treasures “Amusements under the Blossoms,” “Cooling Off,” “Viewing Maple Leaves,” and “Pine Forest” (all originals owned by the Tokyo National Museum), created using technology from the Tsuzuri Project, were used, and projection mapping was used to project images in each work. The exhibit was composed in a way that allowed visitors to experience the seasons in which it was painted. This fusion of works and digital technologies allowed for close-up appreciation not normally possible with the original cultural assets, providing a viewing experience as if the painted landscape were close at hand.

Also, given how well “Through the Four Seasons: High-Resolution Facsimiles of Folding Screens” was received by the public, the same content will be on display as the “The Door to Japanese Art: The Four Seasons” from January 2 to March 12, 2023, in Room T3 of the Tokyo National Museum Main Building.

Many people visited the exhibition, taking their time to admire the four seasons of Japan. See the video below for projection mapping that shows the worlds of these works.