Word: okushoin
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...however, when Takubo was about 15, his friend took him inside the okushoin, an area of one of the main buildings that had been the head priest's residence for centuries but was now virtually abandoned. Inside the dark building, every room was filled with seemingly forgotten artistic treasures, including the flowers by legendary 18th century painter Jakuchu Ito, which cover every wall of the room that was once the priest's private study. It was unlike anything Takubo had ever laid eyes upon. Unlike much of Japanese art, in which seasonal coherence and the balanced composition of complete landscapes...
...more than 40 years after his revelation, Takubo is back at Kotohira-gu, curating an exhibition of the treasures of the okushoin?the first time many of the pieces have been seen by the public in 125 years. Takubo says it is fate that he should return to liberate the works he loves more than all others by offering them to everybody. It all came about when his childhood friend, Yasutsugu Kotooka, who is the shrine's 22nd head priest, asked him a few years ago what special events could be held in 2004 to coincide with Senza...
...Right now, the art attractions at Kotohira-gu are not limited to the treasures of the okushoin. Current exhibitions there also include four other galleries of paintings, sculptures, scrolls and screens from various periods. One fascinating show is a retrospective of the work of Yuichi Takahashi, one of the first Japanese artists to adopt Western oil-painting techniques. His still lifes and landscapes, from the second half of the 19th century, are a fascinating glimpse of an artist struggling to master a new and foreign style while remaining traditionally Japanese in his subject matter...
...shrine has neither the money nor the staff to keep the okushoin open permanently and the building is not architecturally suited to being a full-time museum. So Takubo says he has no idea when the treasures will be on public display again?or if he will be around when it happens. "It could be 33 more years," he says, looking back at the inner sanctum filled with flowers. "It could be 125. I hope not, but it could...
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