LONDON (Reuters) – From samurai armour to a folding screen depicting Mount Fuji, dozens of Japanese artifacts from the British royal collection go on public display in a new exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery near Buckingham Palace.
“Japan: Courts and Culture”, which opens on Friday, features more than 150 items, including gifts from Japanese emperors to Queens Victoria and Elizabeth.
“‘Japan: Courts and Culture’ tells the story of 350 years of artistic and diplomatic exchange between the courts of Britain and Japan,” exhibition curator Rachel Peat told Reuters at a media preview on Thursday.
“Many of (the items) were official diplomatic gifts presented by members of the imperial family…So they have this real courtly provenance and history.”
Items on show include swords, lacquer cabinets, paintings and intricate ornaments. Also features is a gift from Emperor Hirohito for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.
Elizabeth, who marks her Platinum Jubilee this year, received a box decorated with a silver heron in what is described as the first diplomatic gift between the two nations after World War II.
The exhibition runs until February 2023.
(Reporting by Sarah Mills; editing by John Stonestreet)
