Japanese American National Museum
Jidai: Timeless Works of Samurai Art
August 1 – 30, 2015
iron. (Courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum)
Jidai: Timeless Works of Samurai Art looks at the weaponry and armor of the samurai—Japan’s elite warrior class. Assembled from collections in the greater Los Angeles area, Jidai features rare and historically significant samurai artifacts dating as far back as the Kamakura Period (AD 1185–1333) in Japan.
Jidai contains many notable highlights, including a tsuba (sword guard) made by Japan’s most famous swordsman, the legendary Musashi Miyamoto.
One very special piece was made in the modern era: a tanto (dagger) secretly forged at Manzanar concentration camp by “Kyuhan” Kageyama, a Japanese American who was incarcerated there during World War II. This unique tanto is the only verified artifact of its kind known to exist, and has never before been displayed in a museum.
Jidai also features blades bearing test-cut inscriptions attesting to their sharpness; beautiful and elaborate sword fittings and mountings; matchlock firearms; and examples of the samurai’s iconic armor.
Jidai is a special display curated by Darin S. Furukawa, an artist, educator, and samurai arts specialist, and Michael Yamasaki, founder of Japanese sword dealer tetsugendo.com and the only non-Japanese national to win the All Japan Sword Appraisal Championship.
Artifacts are drawn from the collections of Frankie Banali, Cyrus Chan, Darin S. Furukawa, C. Granick, Terry Hara, M. Kaufman, the Museum of Global Antiquities (MOGA), tetsugendo.com, and G. Yoshino.
In conjunction with the Jidai exhibition, Japanese Samurai Sword Lecture will be presented by curators Michael Yamasaki and Darin S. Furukawa on Saturday, Aug. 15 at 2:00 pm. Curators will explain about the unique forging process and special properties of the Japanese samurai sword; how the distinctive armor of the warrior class functioned not only as protection, but as a reflection of the wearer’s personality. The sword lecture is a part of admission free Natsumatsuri Family Festival.
The Japanese American National Museum is located at 100 North Central Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90012. (213) 625-0414. www.janm.org