Nijo-jo Castle Painting Gallery: Winter Exhibition in 2023

Waiting for Spring, Surrounded by Pine Trees: San-no-ma in the Kuroshoin
The original murals of the Ninomaru-goten Palace at Nijo-jo castle were created by Kano-school artists during major renovation of the castle in 1626, in
preparation for a visit by Emperor Gomizunoo (1596–1680). This exhibition features all the murals in the San-no-ma (Third Room) of the Kuroshoin at theNinomaru-goten Palace.

Role of the Kuroshoin’ s Third Room and pine trees
In the early Edo period, the Kuroshoin was called “Kohiroma” (lit.
“Small Hall”) in contrast to the Ohiroma (lit. “Grand Hall”), which
was used for official meetings between the shogun and visitors. In theOhiroma, the shogun mainly met feudal lords and envoys from overseas
countries, while the Kohiroma (Kuroshoin) was used for meetings withhigh-ranking court nobles and feudal lords close to the Tokugawa clan. It
is believed that, in both buildings, the Ichi-no-ma (First Room) was wherethe shogun sat during meetings, faced by visitors seated in the Ni-no-ma(Second Room), while the Third Room was used as a waiting room forvisitors before meetings.
While the murals in the First to Fourth Rooms of the Ohiroma depict
pine trees with birds, the alcove in the First Room and the murals of theThird Rooms of the Kuroshoin also feature pine trees. In Japan, evergreen
pine trees have been viewed as a symbol of eternal youth, longevity,and permanent prosperity. It is therefore thought that the Ohiroma andthe Kuroshoin were decorated with murals of pine trees in hopes of theperpetuity of the power of the Tokugawa shogunate.

From winter to spring
However, there are some differences between the depictions of pinetrees in the Kuroshoin’s Third Room and those in the Ohiroma. A hugepine tree extends its branches across each entire wall of the Ohiroma,
whereas the mural surfaces in the Kuroshoin’s Third Room are divided
by nageshi (horizontal beams) into upper and lower parts, on which
relatively small pine trees are depicted. Therefore, while the pine trees in
the Ohiroma exudes a feeling of majesty and grandeur, the pine trees in
the Kuroshoin’s Third Room have an elegant and light atmosphere.
The mural Matsu-zu (Pine Trees) under the nageshi in the Kuroshoin’s
Third Room features not only pine trees but also seasonal motifs that
represent the period from late summer to winter. For example, the sliding
doors on the east side (displayed on the right side of the gallery when seenfrom the front) are decorated with depictions of over-leafed pondweeds
blooming from late summer to autumn, while the tobusuma sliding doors
on the south side (displayed on the left side of the gallery) depict gentians
flowering in autumn. The four sliding doors on the north side (displayedon the right side of the gallery) show harvested rice fields and a whiteheron flying over them, while the wall next to the sliding doors depicts apine tree covered with a light layer of snow and two white herons standing
near its base.
As mentioned above, the Third Room of the Kuroshoin was a waiting
room for visitors to the shogun. At the appointed time, the visitors entered
the Second Room, which is decorated with a spring landscape withcherries blooming and small birds at play, to meet the shogun seated inthe First Room. When those visitors passed from the Third Room, whichfeatures late-summer to winter landscapes, into the meeting room, they
may have received a strong visual impression from the image of a brightand brilliant spring landscape depicted on the mural there. It can bethought that the pine trees in late-summer to winter landscapes depictedin the Third Room as a waiting room were intended to strengthen theimpression of the bright spring atmosphere of the meeting room.

Amanohashidate depicted at shoguns’ residences
Above the nageshi in the Third Room of the Kuroshoin room is amural called Hamamatsu-zu (Beach with Pine Trees) . This beach iscomposed of two long and narrow sandspits, one extending from east
to west on the north wall and the other from west to east on the southwall. These depictions are reminiscent of the geographic feature ofAmanohashidate, a famous place of scenic beauty. Recent studies haverevealed that a building called “Shinzokaisho” constructed by Ashikaga
Yoshinori (1394–1441), the sixth Muromachi shogun, and the Izumi-nishidono Palace constructed by Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436–90), the eighthMuromachi shogun, were also decorated with murals of Amanohashidate.
These buildings were both constructed on the site of Muromachi-dono,
the shogun's residence located to the northwest of the imperial palace.
Built by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408), the third Muromachi shogun,
Muromachi-dono was also called the “Flower Palace.” It has been
pointed out that Amanohashidate was selected as a motif for the murals
in the residences of Yoshinori and his son, Yoshimasa, probably handing
down the tradition originated by Yoshimitsu, who had his residencedecorated with a depiction of Amanohashidate, which he often visited.
Amanohashidate has been a famous landmark since ancient times and has
been a recurrent motif in literary works, such as Waka poems and Nohplays, as well as paintings.
If the Hamamatsu-zu in the Ku roshoin’s Third Room depicts
Amanohashidate, it is plausible to infer that the Tokugawa shogunate
created the mural not only due to literary and artistic tradition related to
Amanohashidate, but also since it was a motif often used to decorate theresidences of the Muromachi shoguns. The various types of birds depictedalong with cherries in the meeting room of the Kuroshoin also remind
us of the “bird alcove” that existed in the Shinzokaisho constructed byYoshinori, the sixth Muromachi shogun. The Tokugawa shogunate may
have chosen this motif with the aim of demonstrating its own status as thesuccessor to the Muromachi shogunate and the status of the Ninomarugoten Palace as the residence of the “shogun.” The Tokugawa shogunate
may have believed that this message would work more effectively on
high-ranking court nobles who entered the Kuroshoin—visitors withknowledge of the residences of the Muromachi shoguns— rather thanfeudal lords who entered the Ohiroma.
This choice of the motif was possible because the Kano school,
which created the murals of Nijo-jo Castle, had served the Muromachi
shogunate and fulfilled its commissions since the time of Kano Masanobu(1434?–1530?), the school’s founder. Painters at the time reproduced theirpredecessors’ works by hand or maintained an accumulation of theirpredecessors’ sketches, using those reproductions or original sketches assources of reference for their own creative activities. The residences ofthe Muromachi shoguns had disappeared by the time of the creation of themurals at the Ninomaru-goten Palace. However, it can be assumed thatthe murals could not have been created in conformity with the traditionof shoguns’ residences without the existence of the Kano-school painters,
who had served the shogunate since the Muromachi period and were able
to consult their own archives.

Kano Naonobu, the painter of the murals
The murals of the Third Room of the Kuroshoin are attributed to KanoNaonobu (1607–50). His elder brother, Tan’yu (1602–74), painted theabovementioned mural of the meeting room in the Ohiroma. Naonobu,
who was 20 at that time, is said to have received support from wellexperienced senior painters. His depictions of golden clouds covering
the surface like a curtain and pine trees bending in the form of a circular
arc seen in Matsu-zu in the Kuroshoin’s Third Room suggest his attitude
of following the examples of senior Kano-school painters. However, thegentle atmosphere of the entire mural and lovely and delicate depictionsof birds and flowers show a sign of his individuality. We hope that you
will enjoy exploring what new challenges the young painter took on while
following various traditions.
Shiho Nakano (Assistant Curator, Nijo-jo Castle)