Tokyo has many museums and most of them are concentrated within the walking distance from the Ueno Station.. Besides Tokyo National Museum, there is the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, The University Art Museum Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and The Ueno Royal Museum.. And around Tokyo, there are The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Setagaya Art Museum, Ancient Orient Museum and many many more.. So one could literally spend the whole week or even month, visiting these museums!!
It was hot in the morning.. I took Keio's Inokashira Line to Shibuya, then I transfered to the Ginza Line to Ueno. It was a short 10 minutes walk under the hot sun with some shades in between. Admission fee is 1,300 yen for adult, but I showed my Student ID and managed to get the discount for Tertiary Students. So it was 900yen 'only'.
From the TNM website, it was written 'This exhibition, "Zen Treasures from the Kyoto Gozan Temples", in commemoration of the 600th anniversary of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, presents famous works of Zen culture from the Kamakura period through the Muromachi period, from the Kyoto Gozan and related temples. '. Yes, I know, it's about Kyoto's temples/shrines and statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, AGAIN.. :p
In this exhibition I got to see some of the Gozan Temples-related artifacts that were either off limits to the public during normal times and/or were scattered all over Japan in various different museums and temples.. For example, on display is the phoenix that is perched on top of the Kinkaku-ji Temple, the photos of the interior of Kinkaku-ji Temple before it was burnt down, plenty of paintings and writings from the 13th, 14th and 15th Century and some raw paintings of Zen Masters from China, like 慧能 and 慧心.. There are also lots of statues and carvings of the temples' abbots, Kannon-bosatsu, Bodhisattvas and Buddha.
During that period of time, which coincides with China's Tang Dynasty (唐朝) , all the writings were in Kanji!! as in Chinese Kanji! 写的全是中国的汉字!! I was actually quite pleased with myself as I was able to read what was written on the paintings, scrolls, diary and etc. Although I must say their writings really put me to shame.. In most of the formal documents, like decree, scripture copies and correspondence, each and every character was written as if it was type-setted!! :o
Kyoto Gozan Temples refers to Nanzenji, the highest ranked among the Gozan temples, followed by the other five: Tenryuji, Shokokuji, Kenninji, Tofukuji, and Manjuji. Until then did I realised the importance of Nanzenji among the Zen temples in Japan, which makes me wanna go back Kyoto for a 2nd visit even more.. :)
I really loved the paintings and writings on displayed but yet no photography allowed, which is the normal practice. In the end I bought the exhibition commemorative book that cost 2,500yen that has ALL the things on display and with plenty of descriptions and information.. :)
Other than this special exhibition, there is another smaller special exhibition that has just started today, The Path of Buddha, which showcase, again, Buddha statues/carvings/etc. Of course there are also other regular exhibitions, like the 'Itabi Tablets - Stone Memorials from the Medieval Age', 'Masks and Costume for the Noh Play "Yamanba"', Japanese Archeology and many more..
All in all, I was there at TNM from around 10:30am to almost 2:30pm.. I under-estimated the time I would spend looking through all the exhibits.. even with 4 hours, I didn't go to Toyokan, which has all the Asian civilization exhibits and Hyokeikan, which is the education center.. Walked until my legs are aching.. and add to the fact that I've not eaten anything, except a small packet of crackers since last night's 6pm! I was too famished.. I was both thirsty and hungry.. There were no vending machine within the museum, at least I didnt see any. I didn't eat until I got back to my dorm, 2 hours later but I did manage to buy a drink on my way back to Ueno Station..
Maybe next week I wanna go to National Museum of Nature and Science which is having a special exhibition named, 'The Three Great Civilizations of Mesoamerica and the Central Andes: The World of Maya, Aztec and Inca'. Even its regular exhibits are interesting enough, like space exploration and DINOSAURS!! :p The special exhibition will be on open until Sep 24, so I have about 1 month to make my trip there... :)
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