On September 12, a special exhibition titled "Aki-fuyu-no Keibutsu-ten," or autumn and winter seasonal sights, started at the gallery of Nijo Castle in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto. The showpieces include the wall paintings from the Shiro-Shoin's fourth chamber, Yon-no-ma. It is the first time all the paintings of birds and flowers which decorate the usually closed Yon-no-ma chamber are open to the public.

The Shiro-Shoin's Yon-no-ma is a private space for the Shogun, and is the only place decorated with bird and flower ink paintings inside Ninomaru Palace. Some of the paintings have been displayed before, but for this exhibition, all 20 wall paintings in the Yon-no-ma chamber are set together, along with 15 glass-screen-covered wall paintings including "Tatsuta Fuzoku-zu," or a genre painting depicting the Tatsuta area, which usually decorates "Oohiroma Chodai-no-ma," a small enclosed room named "Musha-kakushi," or a warriors' hiding room.

Visitors gazed with interest at the paintings with soft ink strokes depicting herons and sparrows around snow-covered willows or Japanese plum trees, and genre paintings of court nobles, as well as common people, enjoying colored autumn leaves at the Tatsuta River in Nara Prefecture. The exhibition will be open until November 3. There is an admission fee.