The Legendary Empress Jingū

Kōsai Hokushin 蛟斎北岑

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jingū, a legendary empress of Japan, was a warrior-ruler, said to have been active in the third century. A wet nurse cradles her son, the future emperor Ōjin. Takenouchi no Sukune, her wizened general, holds a fan inscribed with the words “destroyer of armies,” referring to a militarily auspicious star in the Big Dipper, and a reminder that Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) and many of his students—including Kōsai Hokushin—were adherents of the cult of the North Star.

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