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Outline

What Can Be Learned From Illustrations of Shrine and Temple Grounds?

Illustrations of shrine and temple grounds drawn in the early modern age are extremely valuable and useful historical reference materials. These shrine and temple ground illustrations have come to be recognized as important reference materials for research concerning shrines and temples.

Illustrations from mainly pre-medieval times have been used in fields such as architectural history, religious history, historical geography and art history. Illustrations of grounds from early modern times have been overlooked as valuable research references. For this reason, the National Museum of Japanese History included the subject of hand-drawn illustrations of shrine and temple grounds from the early modern period in a national location survey of museum reference materials conducted in 1999. This special exhibition, based on the results of that survey, focuses on the value and significance of illustrations of shrine and temple grounds produced mainly in the early modern period as research materials and presents the topic from a variety of perspectives. The exhibition also reveals how modern temples and shrines that are now the sites of annual events, pilgrimages and leisure outings are connected to pilgrimages in the early modern age.