Yōmei Bunko Explained

Yōmei Bunko (陽明文庫), located in Utanokaminotanicho, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, is a historical archive[1] containing approximately 100,000 objects collected over the centuries by the Konoe family, the foremost of the five regent houses (go-sekke, 五摂家) of the imperial court nobility. The collection includes manuscripts, books, records, journals, letters, and antique works of art. In 1938, the Yōmei Bunko Foundation was established in its current location near Ninnaji Temple in northwest Kyoto by Fumimaro Konoe (近衛文麿, 1891 - 1945), then head of the family and prime minister of Japan.[2] Materials preserved in the archive illustrate over 1,000 years of Japan's history, ranging from the "Midō Kanpaku-ki",[3] the diary in his own hand of Fujiwara no Michinaga (藤原道長, 966 - 1028), one of the ancestors of the Konoe family, to 20th century materials relating to Fumimaro Konoe himself. The work of the archive includes making the collection available to researchers, conducting its own research, loaning items to exhibitions, and publishing facsimiles.[4] [5]

In April 2012, Yōmei Bunko changed its legal status to become a public interest incorporated foundation.[6]

The Konoe family and Yōmei Bunko

Konoe Fumimaro, founder of Yōmei BunkoThe Konoe family (近衛家) is a branch of the Northern Fujiwara (Fujiwara Hokke, 藤原北家). In the 12th century, the Fujiwara Clan monopolized the highest offices of state. Fujiwara no Tadamichi (藤原忠通, 1097 - 1164) served as sesshō (摂政, regent), kanpaku (関白, imperial advisor) and daijō-daijin (太政大臣, grand minister). The Konoe branch of the Fujiwara began with Tadamichi's eldest son, Konoe Motozane (近衛基実, 1143 - 1166). Tadamichi's third son, Kujō Kanezane (九条兼実, 1149 - 1207) founded the Kujō family (九条家). Later, the Takatsukasa (鷹司家) split from the Konoe, and the Nijō (二条家) and Ichijō (一条家) from the Kujō. These families would become known as the five regent houses.[7]

Successive heads of the Konoe family preserved many important documents, from family diaries to records of imperial court rituals and ceremonies. These were men who occupied the highest offices of the land, often as sesshō or kanpaku, throughout the Heian period. Although they had no official authority after the Heian gave way to the Kamakura period, the Konoe family continued to retain great influence as a regent house, deeply involved with court ritual and ceremony. The commitment to preserving the family legacy of important records grew from this long history of leading roles in both government and at court.[8]

From generation to generation, the heads of the Konoe family, themselves usually both highly cultured and artistically accomplished, continued to organize and add to the collection.[9] The 13th head of the family, Konoe Masaie (近衛政家, 1445 – 1505), served as kanpaku and daijō-daijin during the upheavals of the Sengoku, or Warring States, period. During the Ōnin and Bunmei wars, he sent 50 boxes of the family records for safekeeping to Iwakura, on the northern outskirts of Kyoto. This ensured that, when the Konoe family mansion was burned down in the Ōnin War, the records survived.[10] The 16th head of the family, Konoe Sakihisa (近衛前久, pen name 龍山, ryūzan, 1536 - 1612), was serving as kanpaku during the Honnō-ji Incident that led to the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate and the ascendancy of the Tokugawa. As kanpaku, he went on to form an alliance with Uesugi Kenshin, taking part in campaigns fought in Echigo and Kanto provinces. Despite living through one of Japan's most chaotic periods, Sakihisa found time to devote himself to cultural pursuits, becoming not only a renowned calligrapher, but also the leading waka and renga poet of his day.[11]

The 17th head of the family, Konoe Nobutada (近衛信尹, 1565 – 1614, in later life known as 三藐院, Sanmyakuin), was one of the Kan'ei Sanpitsu (寛永三筆, the "Three brushes of Kan’ei"), the pre-eminent calligraphers of the period.[12] Nobutada had no heir, so he adopted his nephew Konoe Nobuhiro (近衛信尋, Ōzan (応山) 1599–1649), who was the fourth son of Emperor Go-Yōzei. Nobuhiro was also a man of high culture, notably skilled in calligraphy, tea ceremony, and renga poetry.[13] In the mid Edo period, the 21st head of the family, Konoe Iehiro (近衛家熈, 1667 – 1736, pen name 予楽院, Yoraku-in) was also famed for his artistic accomplishments as calligrapher and tea master. Iehiro compiled the Ōtekagami, an album of outstanding works of calligraphy from all ages that is now a National Treasure, and also personally hand-copied a large number of old calligraphic masterpieces that are only known to us today through Iehiro's transcriptions.[14]

On several occasions in modern times, beginning from 1900, this ancient family collection was entrusted to the Kyoto University Library (then the Kyoto Imperial University Library). Finally, Fumimaro Konoe, while serving as prime minister in the troubled times before and during the Second World War, decided to establish the Yōmei Bunko Foundation in 1938 as a permanent repository for his family's historical archive. The name Yōmei was taken from an alternative name for the Konoe family which derived from the Yōmeimon Gate, one of the 12 gates to the imperial palace outer grounds, inside which stood the old Konoe mansion.[15]

The Yōmei Bunko occupies an approximately 8,550m2 site in the Rakusai district, close to Ninna-ji Temple. In addition to the original buildings, two repositories and a reading room/office building, the Sukiya style Kozansō was added in 1944. Important examples of Showa period architecture, these have all been registered as National Tangible Cultural Assets. Most of the grounds lie within one of Kyoto's Preservation Districts for Groups of Historic Buildings, and adjoining the site to the north is a 28,916m2 forested hilly area containing numerous ponds also destined for preservation as a protected environment and landscape.[16]

The library collection contains many significant historical journals written by court nobility in addition to the Midō Kanpaku-ki diary of Fujiwara no Michinaga. There are letters written in their own hand by emperors and prominent historical figures, items related to court ceremonies and ritual, old manuscripts relating ancient legends and imperial poetry collections. In addition to being an invaluable historical resource, the collection also represents a unique history of the art of calligraphy.

While many of the ancestral treasures of the old aristocratic and daimyō families were lost in the aftermath of the Second World War, this legacy of the Konoe family survived thanks to the timely establishment of the foundation, a fact that makes the collection even more uniquely valuable.

Exhibits are displayed in a room on the upper floor of the library, although as a rule this is not open to the general public without a letter of introduction. Facsimiles of major documents are regularly published in editions of the Yōmei Sōsho.

Cultural properties

National treasures

Important cultural properties

Diaries by Konoe family heads

Other diaries

Letters

Tales and Poetry Anthologies

Legal documents

Music manuscripts

Records and manuscripts

Miscellaneous

Art objects

Access and information

Visits to the archive require a letter of reference from an accredited scholar or researcher.

Public exhibitions are held for three months in spring and autumn (limited to groups with reservations), from 10 am to 16 pm, closed Sundays and holidays.

Location and access:

Address: Utanokaminotanicho 1–2, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

Access: Take the bus for Togano-o from Kyoto Station. Get off at the Fukuōji stop and it is only a few minutes walk.

References

http://ymbk.sakura.ne.jp/

https://rmda.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/collection/konoe

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/flagship-project-activities/memory-of-the-world/register/full-list-of-registered-heritage/registered-heritage-page-5/midokanpakuki-the-original-handwritten-diary-of-fujiwara-no-michinaga/

Exhibition pictorial record

https://www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=551&lang=en

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Courtly Millenium - Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection.
  2. Web site: Konoe Collection | Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive.
  3. Web site: Midokanpakuki: The original handwritten diary of Fujiwara no Michinaga | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
  4. Nawa Osamu, 2016, pp 1, 25
  5. Nawa Tomohiko, 2016, pp 262-264
  6. Nawa Osamu, 2016, p 26
  7. Nawa Osamu, 2016, pp 10-11
  8. Nawa Osamu, 2016, p 11
  9. Nawa Osamu, 2016, p 11
  10. Nawa Osamu, 2016, p 23
  11. "Courtly Millenium − Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection", p 233
  12. "Courtly Millenium − Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection", p 234
  13. "Courtly Millenium − Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection", p 236
  14. "Courtly Millenium − Art Treasures from the Konoe Family Collection", p 87
  15. Nawa Osamu, 2016, pp 11, 24, 25
  16. Nawa Tomohiko, 2016, p269

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