Ishuretsuzo, the Image of Ezo: Tracing Persons,Things and the World
Period Tuesday,December 15 –Sunday, February 7, 2016
Venue Gallery 3,4, National Museum of Japanese History
Admissions

Adults: ¥420 (¥350)
Senior high school & college students: ¥250 (¥200)
* Fees in parentheses apply to groups of 20 or more
* Free admission for elementary & junior high school students
* Free admission for senior high school students every Saturday

Hours 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (entrance closed at 4:00 p.m.)
* Open hours and days are subject to change.
Closed Dec 14 (Mon), 21 (Mon),
Dec 27 (Sun), 2015- Jan 4 (Mon), 2016,
12 (Tue),18 (Mon), 25 (Mon), and Feb 1 (Mon)

The Hokkaido Museum, the National Museum of Japanese History and the National Museum of Ethnology are please to host the temporary exhibition titled “Ishuretsuzo, the Image of Ezo: Trading Persons, Things and the World.”  Those involved in its organization have worked hard to collect Ainu cultural resources and conduct related research and study.  Information and the findings on Ainu history, culture and other topics have been communicated also through exhibitions and other projects.  In recent years, national and prefectural government bodies, as well as an increasing number of municipalities and regions, have promoted actively the history and culture of the Ainu, thereby providing opportunities to learn about them and to promote the continuation of traditional indigenous way.

This exhibition brings together the original Ishuretsuzo works created by Hakyo Kakizaki, which are held by the Besançon Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology, in France, and by Hakodate City Central Library, it also includes sketches and reproductions created later by painters, as well as related works.  The purposes of the exhibition are: 1) to demonstrate the historical background of creating Ishuretsuzo paintings; 2) to explore the images of Ainu people based on these works; 3) to highlight the relationships between Ezochi and China, Russia, the United States and other parts of Northeast Asia and the northern Pacific region from the 18th century to the 19th century; and 4) to outline how people on Japan’s main island of Honshu and the area to the south, who saw the paintings, viewed Ezhochi and the rest of the world.

“Ishuretsuzo, the Image of Ezo: Trading Persons, Things and the World” is the result of a collaboration among the three museums.  It will be held at the Hokkaido Museum, as special exhibition to mark the facility’s opening, at the National Museum of Japanese History, as a temporary exhibition, and at the National Museum of Ethnology, as a special exhibition.  Although several previous exhibitions have featured the Ishuretsuzo collection, this large-scale event is unique in that it brings together known Ishuretsuzo pictures and related works, as well as a wide variety of resources that include folklore materials, maps, and written documents.

We hope visitors will enjoy the diverse perspectives represented in the exhibition, including those of Hokkaido and Ainu society in the 18th and 19th centuries, when the Ishuretsuzo paintings were created, relationships between Hokkaido and Ainu society and other parts of Northeast Asia, and of regional developments that were significant in world history.  We also hope the event will help to promote aspects of Ainu culture and history.

National Museum of Japanese History
Ishuretsuzo Exhibition Organizing Committee
National Museum of Ethnology