A Mirror of Japan’s Nobility

Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This portrait of the imperial family shows the emperor and empress flanking eight-year-old Prince Haru, the emperor’s only living son, who reigned as Emperor Yoshihito from 1912 until his son Hirohito took over from his ailing father in 1921. Family portraits like this one were a form of propaganda aimed at demonstrating the emperor’s cultural authority as a modern head of state. They also resonated with the government’s efforts to encourage Westernization. Although the painting of cranes, pine trees, and plum trees in the background and the dragon vase at center are traditional works featuring highly auspicious images of East Asian origin, the family’s clothing, hairstyles, books, and furnishings are conspicuously European.

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