A series of “Famous Japanese Illustrated Handscrolls”

Registered as National Treasure, a series of full-scale reproductions

The Tale of Genji Illustrated Handscrolls
Set of four scrolls

About 120 years after Musasaki Shikibu completed the novel “The Tale of Genji” around the first year of Kanko (1004), the Illustrated Handscrolls were produced, and are Japan’s oldest existing scrolls. The technique “tsukurie (built-up painting)” was used by multiple court artists and each of the 13 chapters in these four scrolls includes 1~3 illustrations with beautifully written text on sumptuously decorated “ryoshi” paper.
Various techniques such as “fukinuki yatai (blown-off roof)” for both indoor and outdoor settings and “hikime kagibana (line for an eye, hook for a nose)” for human faces of the noblemen, are used. This is truly one of the most important masterpieces in the history of Japanese painting.

Scroll One
Dimensions: 21.9×817.3 cm
The Tokugawa Art Museum
Commentaries by Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Scroll Two
Dimensions: 21.8×535.6 cm
The Gotoh Museum
Commentaries by Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Scroll Three
Dimensions: 22.1×472.0 cm
The Tokugawa Art Museum
Commentaries by Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Scroll Four
Dimensions: 21.8×541.2 cm
The Tokugawa Art Museum
Commentaries by Tokugawa Yoshinobu
Price
JPY 482,000 (tax excluded)

    Feature

  1. 1) Commentaries are attached on each title, written respectively by prominent scholars in two languages: Japanese and English, and function as an academic study guide and reference for both domestic and international readers.
  2. 2) The original textures and colors of the work are vividly revived in reproduction by using light-resistant toners on acid-free paper (Bagasse) or Japanese paper (Torinoko). This would never have been possible using conventional printing methods.
  3. 3) The scrolls are digitally printed by the most up-to-date printing technology for high definition images in our on-demand system, so we are always able to provide the newest products to match customers’ needs.
  4. 4) Our long established “Long Sheet Printing” technology is used to create the more than 10-meter-long handscroll on one seamless sheet of paper.

Contact

  1. hayano@e-art.ne.jp