Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s collection includes 36 works of calligraphy. As of its 2012 Grand Reopening, the museum has begun holding an annual collection exhibition. Calligraphic works from the collection are exhibited under a specific theme so as to cast light on the history of Japan’s modern calligraphy, which unfolded with this museum as a stage.
Brush, ink, ink stone, and paper are considered the four important tools of calligraphy. This exhibition will look at one of those tools—paper—with a focus on decorated ryoshi paper, a type of paper for calligraphy embellished with pictures and decorative elements. Visitors can look forward to beautiful pairings of “contemporary calligraphy” and “ryoshi paper” by such noted calligraphers as Seiku Ando, Saisho Onoe, Sasafune Kuwata, Suiken Suzuki, and Goho Hibino.