TEZEN MUSEUM The Museum Collection

Long considered eccentric and unorthodox, the painter Soga Shohaku has recently been reevaluated after collection and research initiated by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (U.S.A), renowned for one of the finest collections of Chinese and Japanese paintings in the world. Shohaku’s “Landscape of the Four Seasons" in Tezen Museum’s collection, is a marvelous example of this artist’s little known oeuvre, comprising four folding screens (byobu), gracefully depicting the ever-changing expressions of nature.

Horie Yusei was born in the town of Daito, in the Ohara district of Shimane prefecture at the end of the Edo period. After studying in Matsue city, he went to Kyoto and learning a range of Chinese painting techniques, as well as the Maruyama school’s coloring method, before traveling all over Japan. At the age of 51, he was invited by the Hirose domain’s ruling clan to become a retainer - an honour above his traditional station, sometimes bestowed on accomplished artists at the time. One of the most distinguished painters of Izumo, he left many works to posterity, and also fostered many disciples.

The beauty of a Japanese sword is to be found not only in the blade but also the mountings, such as saya (scabbard), tsuba (hand guard), kozuka (the handle of a small knife, in a pocket of the saya), kogai (a skewer, in a pocket of the saya), fuchi (mouth), kashira (tip), and kojiri (a fitting at the tip of the scabbard). The museum’s collection includes many varied swords and their mountings, dating from the Muromachi through to the Edo era (14th –19th century).

Nishida Kitaro is a philosopher known for his book, Zen no Kenkyu (A Study of Good). Born in Ishikawa prefecture, Nishida studied philosophy at Tokyo Imperial University (now The University of Tokyo) and went on to teach at a number of schools, including Kyoto University, where his lectures garnered much attention, and he spawned many disciples. Following the publication of Zen no Kenkyu, his first philosophical work, his ideas came to be referred to as ‘Nishida Philosophy’. Nishida is now recognized as a one of this country’s best-known philosophers, with a world-wide reputation. Incidentally, his favorite walking route in Kyoto is now known as Tetsugaku no Michi, or ‘Philosopher’s Path’, in memory of him.
Tezen Hakusaburo (1903 - 2007), the tenth head of the Tezen family, and the museum’s first director, got to know Nishida in the 1920s. Some of the letters they exchanged are displayed in the museum, including examples of Nishida’s original classical Chinese and Japanese poetry.