Kyoto City Museum Search

Captivating artworks await at this mansion museum

Using the residence-cum-studio of Yasuyuki Namikawa (1845-1927), a leading Japanese cloisonné artist from the Meiji and Taisho eras, this museum was opened to commemorate his achievements. The exhibition features Namikawa’s cloisonné artworks, sketches and tools that he retained at hand, which are rotated in spring and fall. His works are characterized with the yusen-shippo technique of using wire to outline minute patterns and applying enamel to them. This technique offers vivid colors in many different shades to various patterns, such as flowers, birds, butterflies, and landscapes, which blend superbly with the unique shapes of vessels.

The museum building, constructed in 1894 as a kyo-machiya townhouse with an omoteya-zukuri style, still retains the original appearance of a Meiji-era residence-cum-studio with a kiln and other equipment. It therefore gives visitors a feeling of being immersed in the life of the Namikawa family and the artist’s cloisonné creation activities.

With a pond filled with water drawn from the Lake Biwa Canal for use in the enamel grinding process, the garden was landscaped by the renowned gardener Jihei Ogawa VII (1860–1933). The main house is fitted with glass shoji screens for people to enjoy the picturesque view of the garden.