! — io" 



1_E 



West Win$ 



Central Section 5 



±X1 



BASEMENT FLOOR 



The entrance hall to this floor (Room 5 on plan) is lined 

 with cases exhibiting robes and headgear of Japanese court 

 ladies of the early nineteenth century. The court dress of 

 Japan is fuller than the ordinary clothing and unconfined at 

 the waist. The Empress's robe, called "go-i," or robe of 

 five thicknesses, is of silk damask made in five thicknesses 

 on the edges of the sleeves and skirt, so as to give the 

 appearance of a number of robes. Both winter and sum- 

 mer styles of "go-i" are exhibited. Color prints and wood 

 carvings are displayed on the vacant wall space of the 

 entrance hall, which gives access, through a passage on the 

 left, to the main Japanese Hall. 



A pair of sliding temple doors, painted by an artist of 

 the Kano School in 1750, are shown in the entrance to this 

 hall, and the hall itself (Room 4 on plan) has been de- 

 signed, decorated and lighted with a view to suggesting the 

 atmosphere of the Island Empire. A particularly rich and 

 representative assemblage of armor, weapons, costumes, 

 objects connected with religion, musical instruments, games 

 and writing implements, together with Japanese books, 

 color prints and other illustrated material, is to be seen 



203 



