Bugaku Scroll

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

As early as the seventh or eighth century, when formal diplomatic contacts between Japan and the Asian continent were at their peak, dance and music from central and southeast Asia, China, and Korea were combined with native Shinto song for court performances known as gagaku. Bugaku is the dance repertoire of gagaku. Performed by court nobles and by hereditary guilds of professional musicians at rituals and banquets, gagaku was an important part of life at court, particularly during the Heian period (794–1185), and is still performed today. The exotic colors, patterned spatial design of the choreography, and highly controlled energy of the dancers and musicians stand out in this seventeenth-century recording of the tradition.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art