Contets

Outline of Exhibition

Outline of Exhibition

Morning glories have been cherished by many people since ancient times. Japan has experienced morning glory booms time and again, particularly since the Edo Period, such as in the Bunka, Bunsei, and Tempo eras (1804 - 1844), Kaei and Ansei eras (1848 - 1860), and Meiji and Taisho eras (1868 - 1926). Each boom has resulted in in the creation of new morning glory variations, with various changes and combinations made to leaves and flowers to be enjoyed. This practice – in modern genetics terms, discovering mutations and developing them into strains – was unique around the world, and a great many varieties were produced at the end of the Edo Period. However, some of these unfortunately fell victim to the popularity of the glamorous, large-blossomed morning glories and died out before much could be widely known about them. Others were carefully conserved by the efforts of some hobbyists, although they were not cultivated widely, and have survived even to this day.

Since 1999, the National Museum of Japanese History has exhibited these traditional morning glories produced using the original knowledge and technologies accumulated since the Edo Period as historical resources in an effort to increase people’s awareness and to make them think about the relationship between people and plants.

Following on from our 2016 exhibit, “The Modern Morning Glory Boom,” where the focus was on the resurgence of new morning glory variations and the rapid leap in popularity of large-blossomed morning glories in the modern period, the theme of this year’s exhibit is “The Modern Morning Glory Boom, The Sequel.” Using panels for each topic, the focus here is on the development and characteristics of the Asagao Kaiho (Morning Glory Journal) which carried prints by growers, the spread of modern cross-fertilization and breeding methods, and the history of research into Mendelian genetics using morning glories.

Period	Jul. 31 (Tue) - Sep. 9 (Sun), 2018
Venue	Botanical Garden of Everyday Life, National Museum of Japanese History
Admissions	¥100 Groups of 20 or more: ¥50 per person * Free admission for children junior high school age and younger * Free admission for high school students every Saturday
Hours	9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (no entrance after 4:00 p.m.) * The Garden will open at 8:30 a.m. on Monday Aug. 13 to Sunday Aug. 19, 2018. * Viewing is best in the early morning due to the special way in which the morning glory bloom.
Closed	Aug. 6 (Mon) , 20 (Mon) ,27 (Mon), and Sep.3 (Mon) *The exhibition is opened on Aug. 13.
Sponsor	National Museum of Japanese History

Exhibition Lineup

The morning glories grown and bred by us will be exhibited in pots in the greenhouse, Azuma-ya, and the Yoshizu exhibition hall of the Botanical Garden of Everyday Life. The contents of the exhibition are shown below.

●Mutant morning glories: 40 masaki strains, 25 demono strains
  * Including an apetalous morning glory discovered by the NMJH in 2005
●About 25 strains of large-blossomed morning glories produced since the Meiji period
●About 10 strains closely related to morning glories, produced in Europe and North America

A total of about 100 strains will be on display in some 700 pots.

	1) Green variegated, star contracted, dragonfly leaves, red in white, spray star flower The leaves are thick because of a gene called kikyo-uzu (star contracted). The flower is called kikyo-zaki or hoshi-zaki because it blooms like a Chinese bellflower (kikyo) or star (hoshi) with pointed petals.
	2) Green, crumpled, semi-contracted willow leaf, green delicate, duplicate flower The leaves are narrow like willow, and the petals are thin and tapered like dianthus. The flower is called sai-zaki because it blooms like the saihai (baton) held by samurai commanders.
	3) Yellow cicada leaves, chestnut brown, fully open, large-blossomed flower (Danjuro) The leaves are yellow cicada leaves, and the flower is of a brown color also called kaki (persimmon). It is named Danjuro because the color is Ichikawa Danjuro’s favorite.
	4) Matsushima, hoe-shaped leaves, purple in white, flecked, multicolored, fully open flower (Sakiwake) The Matsushima leaves have green splotches on yellow leaves, and the flower pattern is flecked, variegated, and multicolored.
	5) Yellow gripping dragon claw leaves, purple full wind-bell, feathered, duplicate flower The whole stem is undulating, with the leaves tucked so strongly inward that their surfaces are not seen. The leaves are called tsumeryuba (dragon claw leaf) or kikusuiba (water-scooping leaf), and the flower has tubular petals called furin (wind-bell) whose tips are folded.
	6) Green, contracted willow leaf, Edo-purple, delicate, duplicate flower Slightly cascading, as the demono seedlings have thin, willow-like, contracted leaves. Once they have flowered, these blooms last for a long time due to the thickness of the petals. The color fades easily, starting out as a brilliant violet, but gaining a reddish tinge by the afternoon. * Appearance rate: 1 in 16
	7) Green delicate leaves, black pigeon cut crisscrossed flower The spaces between the petals are deep, and with the lapse of time after blossoming, each petal will fold inward. The petals will rarely fold neatly, and they will usually be rolled inward.
	8) Green contracted, knitted leaf, contracted Lilliputian, reddish gray, fully open flower The leaves are very firm and dark green like a cactus. The strain grows very slowly and only up to around 20 cm.
	9) Green variegated, peacock leaves, blue fasciated fully-open flower A variety known as fasciated, with the growing tip of the stem forming into a linear shape so the stem widens like a ribbon and does not branch. The flowers bloom together in clusters.

Note: Please note that items in the exhibition are subject to change.

• Past Exhibitions,Events