Approximately 220 sliding door panels, including the gem of the collection, from the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto, will be exhibited at Kyoto National Museum, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto, at the beginning of the New Year. The Kyoto Office of the Imperial Household Agency announced the exhibition on October 13. In consideration for conservation, the agency had never allowed them to be loaned out. However, it finally accepted requests for disclosure of the painted panels for academic research. This will be the first public unveiling of the panels since their completion 152 years ago.

The current Kyoto Imperial Palace structure, which displays the old style of the palace, was built in 1855. Painters from the Kyoto art world of that time gathered their talents together to create the paintings for both the sliding and cedar doors, as well as other interior wall paintings, including the "Otsune-goten," or the Emperor's living quarters. Painters, either working exclusively for the shogunate and feudal lords or working privately, who joined the project included artists from various schools, such as Kyo Kano, Sumiyoshi, Maruyama, Shijo, Hara and others. In all, there are approximately 1500 paintings within the palace buildings.

Being exhibited for the first time are 212 sliding-door paintings and 10 cedar-door paintings from Otsune-goten and Ogakumon-jo which were once used during poetry recitals and the first-book-reading to a crown prince. Included in the exhibition are "Kiritake-ho-o-no-zu," an elegant painting with a paulownia, bamboo and phoenix pattern, and "Gyoninken-kokuchi-zu," a panel displaying a lesson in the philosophy of leadership based on a legend of the Chinese Emperor Gyo who governed his country well by appointing wise men as his officials. Both sliding-door panels were painted by Kano Eigaku who was called a master of the Kyo Kano school, and placed in the upper-level of Otsune-goten. In addition, there are some partition paintings with scenes unique to the palace, such as "Choga-zu" by Sumiyoshi Hirotsura of the Sumiyoshi school, depicting the princes expressing their New Year's greetings to the emperor, and courtly, gracious paintings, such as the artist Komai Korei's "Kamo-ma tsuri-gunsan-zu," a picture of the Aoi Festival parade.

Johei Sasaki, director of the Kyoto National Museum, expressed his hopes regarding the exhibition, saying, "What happened in the 19th century Kyoto art world has not yet been clearly revealed. Therefore, the Kyoto Imperial Palace sliding-door panels, which the artists of the time created with all their effort, are precious as research materials. It feels to me as though a time capsule is opening after 152 years. This exhibition should be the first step in reconsidering the real state of the Kyoto art world in the 19th century."

The New Year's special exhibit, "Kyoto-gosho Shohekiga," or "Special Exhibition: Sliding Door Panels of the Kyoto Imperial Palace," will be open from January 6 to February 18, 2007.