The Japanese Collections 



The collections in Frank W. Gunsaulus Hall (Room 

 30, on the second floor, south-east corner) are intended 

 to illustrate certain phases of the social and artistic 

 life of Japan, and, for the most part, are typical of the 

 period known as the Tokugawa (1603-1868), so called 

 from the family name of the shoguns or military com- 

 manders, who ruled over that country from the seven- 

 teenth to the middle of the nineteenth century. When 

 Japan opened her doors to the world in 1868, she had 

 been dwelling in seclusion for over two hundred years, 

 admitting no foreigners save a few Dutch traders, who 

 were allowed to land an occasional ship at the port of 

 Nagasaki in the seventeenth century. The main por- 

 tion of the country had been untouched by European 

 influence during that time. 



After centuries of internal strife, the mode of living 

 changed very considerably in the peaceful Tokugawa 

 period, and all life took on a richer and more leisurely 

 aspect. The arts and especially the crafts were devel- 

 oped to a marked degree. Such pastimes as poetry 

 writing, the tea ceremony, and flower arrangement, 

 filled many of the hours of the leisure classes. 



The shogun was at that time so powerful and dwelt 

 in such grandeur that many of the early travellers and 

 possibly our own Commodore Perry, who landed with 

 his fleet on Japanese soil in 1853, thought him to be 

 the real emperor. At any rate, the signature which 

 seals the treaty of 1854 is that of the shogun, and reads 

 TaiKun( "Great Lord"). 



From the days of her first sovereign, who is believed 

 to have descended from the Sun Goddess, Japan has 

 been a monarchy, acknowledging one supreme ruler, 

 her emperor. In reality, however, the country was a 



[4] 



