High-Resolution Reproduction of the National Treasure "Chinese Lions Produced in collaboration with Canon Inc. Open to the public at the Tokyo National Museum through June 30

The National Center for Cultural Properties, National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, and Canon Inc. have produced a high-resolution facsimile of the National Treasure "The Chinese Lion" from the collection of the Imperial Palace San-no-Maru Shōzōkan under the "Joint Research Project on the Production and Use of High-Resolution Facsimiles of Cultural Properties". The completed high-resolution facsimile will be on display in the "Tobira of Japanese Art," an interactive exhibition space in Room 3 of the Main Building of the Tokyo National Museum, and will be open to the public*1 until June 30, 2024*2.

High-resolution facsimile of "Chinese Lions" (right screen: by Kano Eitoku, National Treasure; left screen: by Kano Tsunenobu, National Treasure)

The Center for Utilization of Cultural Properties and Canon have been conducting a joint research project since October 2018 with the aim of providing more people with opportunities to become familiar with cultural properties and a deeper cultural experience. So far, 15 high-resolution facsimiles have been produced to provide an appreciation experience that cannot be achieved with original cultural properties, including exhibits that allow visitors to appreciate the details up close without a glass case, outreach programs for educational institutions, and hands-on exhibits combined with video.

The National Treasure "Chinese Lions," for which high-resolution facsimile reproductions have been produced, is a very large folding screen (over 2m20cm high), the right screen of which is a masterpiece by Eitoku Kano, a master of the Momoyama school of painting who served Nobunaga Oda and Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The right screen is a masterpiece by Kano Eitoku, a master of the Momoyama school of painting who served Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The two imposing lions striding among rocks are depicted with powerful brushwork. The left screen was created to match the right screen by Eitoku's great-grandson, Tsunenobu Kano, a painter who served the Tokugawa family in the early Edo period. Today, the right and left screens are presented together as a single folding screen.

The production of the high-resolution facsimile utilizes the "Tsuzuri Project" technology promoted by Canon Inc. and the Kyoto Culture Association, a non-profit organization. By combining Canon's advanced digital technology for input, image processing, and output with the skills of Kyoto's traditional craftsmen, the facsimiles faithfully reproduce the original cultural assets, not only in size but also in the artist's brushwork, the vivid colors of the mineral pigments, the gold leaf, and the metal fittings.

The completed high-resolution facsimiles will be on display to the public in the "Tobira of Japanese Art," an interactive exhibition space in Room 3 of the Special Exhibition Hall of the Tokyo National Museum's Honkan until June 30, 2024. Visitors can fully experience the power of the work, the powerful brush strokes, and the heroism of the Chinese lions through the unobstructed view of the reproductions in the glass case.

A video introducing the production process of this work was released today on the Bunkatsu YouTube channel. We hope you will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the production of high-resolution facsimiles realized through the fusion of the latest digital imaging technology and traditional craftsmanship.

URL: https://youtu.be/wT3in63mgBI

*1. Exhibition period is subject to change without notice.

2. Admission to the comprehensive cultural exhibition is required. For details, please visit the Tokyo National Museum official website.

https://www.tnm.jp/

About the Tobira of Japanese Art

The Tobira of Japanese Art is the first exhibition room that visitors to the Tokyo National Museum should visit. The exhibition halls that extend beyond the Tobira are divided into four sections: "Seeing (Images Introducing Japanese Culture)," "Enjoying (Digital Chronology of Japanese Art)," "Perceiving (High Definition Reproductions)," and "Touching (Cultural Properties in 8K: Touching and Moving Famous Tea Bowls).

In each corner, visitors can experience the wonder of cultural properties that have been passed down from person to person through observation and hands-on experience. In the "Kankei (High-resolution facsimiles)" corner, high-resolution facsimiles of folding screens and hanging scrolls are displayed according to the season. For details, please visit the website of the Center for Utilization of Cultural Properties.

Tobira of Japanese Art" https://cpcp.nich.go.jp/modules/r_exhibition/index.php?controller=dtl&id=24

About the "Tsuzuri Project

The "Tsuzuri Project" is a social contribution activity jointly promoted by the Kyoto Culture Association and Canon Inc. since 2007. Many of Japan's ancient and precious cultural assets have limited opportunities to be appreciated, such as works that have been shipped overseas throughout history and works that are carefully preserved as national treasures. The Tsuzuri Project combines Canon's advanced digital technology for input, image processing, and output with the skills of traditional Kyoto craftsmen to produce high-resolution facsimiles that faithfully reproduce the original cultural properties. The high-resolution facsimiles are donated to temples, shrines, local governments, museums, and other institutions associated with the cultural properties, and are used in a variety of settings, including public viewing at the donation sites and in school education. So far, Canon has produced high-resolution facsimiles of a total of 60 works, including those by Hokusai Katsushika, Sotatsu Tawaraya, and Korin Ogata.

Canon "Tsuzuri Project" website: https://global.canon/ja/tsuzuri/

Information on the original works introduced in this release can be found on ColBase (an integrated search system for the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage collections).

ColBase is a service that allows users to search across the collections of the four National Museums of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum), the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and the Imperial Palace San-no-maru Shōzokan.

The images on ColBase can be used for commercial use without application. (However, the source of the image must be clearly indicated. Please read the "Terms of Use" for details)

https://colbase.nich.go.jp/

■Center for Utilization of Cultural Properties

The National Center for Utilization of Cultural Properties was established in 2018 at the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage. With the vision of "creating a society where all people think about and participate in the preservation of cultural properties for the next 1,000 to 2,000 years," the Center engages in a variety of activities with the mission of "creating opportunities for as many people as possible to become familiar with cultural properties.

Center for Utilization of Cultural Properties

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