“Chinese Lions” (Provided by the Museum of the Imperial Collections)
Masterpieces of Japanese art handed down by the imperial family for generations are to be designated as national treasures for the first time.
They include “Chinese Lions,” which is painted on a folding screen by Kano Eitoku (1543-1590) and regarded as one of his most important works, and “The Mongol Invasion,” a picture scroll dating from the Kamakura Period (1185-1333).
The Council for Cultural Affairs submitted a report July 16 to the education minister proposing that four paintings and a work of calligraphy be given the double status of important cultural properties and national treasures.