Seminar Held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems: On One roll of “Buke Sumo Emaki (picture scroll of martial families’ sumo) by Sansetsu KANO”
Once a month, by inviting not only the Institute’s staff members but also researchers from other institutions as the presenters, the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems holds a seminar to discuss cultural assets mainly focusing on arts and crafts. On Tuesday, 29th March, Yoshiya YAMASHITA (Curator of Japanese Painting of the Tokyo National Museum) delivered a presentation under the title mentioned above. This Emaki, owned by the Sumo Museum in Ryogoku, has an overall length of over 12 meters. Its existence had not been well known until it was recognized as a Sansetsu’s work and was displayed and publicly shown in the special exhibition “Kano Sanraku and Sansetsu” (March 30th to May 12th 2013) that Yamashita organized during his tenure at the Kyoto National Museum.
First, the presentation has drawn attention to the Japanese style motif that changed the previous image of Sansetsu having been created based on the works of Chinese type motifs. Then, the scenes that depicted the moments of various sumo techniques such as “Kawazu-gake” winning technique and the viewers’ excitement were explained in detail and Sansetsu’s characteristics were confirmed from his way of depicting portraits, including especially the faces and looks. Further, focusing on the postscript by his heir Einoh, the presenter gave his view on the issue of Sansetsu’s supporters and the background of the birth of this Emaki.