The Past and Present of Kagawa: The History and Culture of Kagawa

A bell-shaped bronze vessel used in the Yayoi period is suspended from a tree by the pit house. Bell-shaped bronze vessels are thought to have been used during festivals and rituals. Why not ring the bell to listen to a sound heard by the Yayoi people? 

This earthen coffin was discovered in the Imaoka burial mound in Takamatsu. It is one of the oldest clay coffins ever found in an ancient tomb. Its unique features include fine decorations on the lid and holes used to secure the lid to the base. 

A method of applying strips of cloth using lacquer onto a sculptural base made of clay, which is later removed once the surface has hardened, is known as the hollow dry lacquer technique. This statue is a reproduction of an important cultural property kept at the Ganko-ji Temple in Sanuki, Kagawa. It was created using the same technique that was used to make the statue of Ashura at the Kofuku-ji Temple in Nara. People in Kagawa knew how to make dry lacquer statues because the technique had been brought from the nearby capital through the Seto Inland Sea. The artists figured out the techniques that were used at the time to create the reproduction. 

A reproduction of the east tower, one of a pair of stone pagodas built on the ground of Shiromine-ji Temple in Sakaide, Kagawa is on display here. Together with the west tower, the original stone towers are an important cultural property. Shiromine-ji Temple, the 81st sacred spot on the Shikoku 88 Temple Pilgrimage, is the burial place of Emperor Sutoku, and it has been a place of worship since ancient times. The east tower, comprised of granite, was built in 1278, in the later years of the Kamakura period. Scaffolding was erected around the original east tower to create a mold to create the faithful reproduction, which is 5.9 meters tall. 

A reproduction of the Edo Koju Lantern at the port of Shinbori in Marugame, Kagawa is on display here. During the Edo period, many ships carrying people wanting to visit the shrines of Konpira arrived at Marugame, and they contributed to the construction of a pier at the port. The group of people who contributed to the construction of the pier was called the Koju. The names of 1,385 contributors were engraved on the base of the lantern. The lantern is also called the Tasuke Lantern in honor of Tasuke Shiobara, who donated 80 ryo. The faithful reproduction was created based on a full-scale model. 

The folding screen depicts the castle and town of Takamatsu in the Edo period.  It shows us that the sea castle stood directly on the coast, so that the moat was filled with seawater, and it shows the ways that people lived. It is a rare piece of art that is historically, artistically and culturally significant. A large format printing process in which colors were separated and printed over each other was used to create this accurate reproduction. In the final stages, color correction was done by hand. To make the original, pigments were applied to gold leaf. For the reproduction, gold ink was used for a realistic effect. 

This is a reproduction of a warehouse that belonged to a village headman that lived in western Kagawa. You can watch the video to see how furniture and tableware were stored inside it. The warehouse was built with exquisite craftsmanship using genuine building materials, including roof tiles treated to give them a worn appearance and namako walls made of plaster. 

The living room and kitchen within the public housing built in Kagawa in 1954 were faithfully reproduced based on an original blueprint. The kitchen had a wooden floor instead of an earthen floor because the house was located in a town. Charcoal-fueled cookstoves were used at the time. People, however, soon gained access to water and gas supplies, and electric appliances. 

This is a reproduction of a classroom in the Shodoshima Tanoura Branch School, a school featured in the novel Twenty-four Eyes by Sakae Tsuboi, who was born in what is now Shodoshima-cho. The building was originally constructed in 1902 as Tanoura Ordinary Primary School, and it was in use until the school was closed in 1971. It is one of the few school buildings built in the Meiji period that still exists in Kagawa. You can watch the video that is played in the classroom to learn about the modern history of Kagawa.