Keio University Faculty of Letters Komonjoshitsu, “Animals in the Edo period”
March 14(Tue.) – 28(Tue.), 2023
Dates: March 14(Tue.) – 28(Tue.), 2023
Closed: Sundays, public holidays
Venue: Old University Library 2nd Floor, Temporary Exhibition Room, Keio History Museum
*Click here for access to the venue
Open: 10:00-18:00
Admission: Open to all
Organizer: the Keio University Faculty of Letters Komonjoshitsu
Welcome, all, to this exhibition organized by the Keio University Faculty of Letters Komonjoshitsu: Animals in the Edo Period.
The Faculty of Letters Komonjoshitsu holds around 50,000–60,000 works of early modern literature from the Kanto region, collected by Emeritus Professor Nomura Kanetaro.
Every year, we hold annual exhibitions covering a diverse array of themes as a means of introduction for the materials in our collection. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, we have unfortunately had to suspend these exhibitions.
While the situation with the coronavirus is still unpredictable, we have pushed through to hold our first exhibition in four years. This year’s theme is “Animals in the Edo Period”.
We face many issues surrounding animals today, from the pet boom that arose alongside the COVID-19 pandemic to the loss of habitat for wildlife and their subsequent impact on agriculture, the resumption of commercial whaling, and more. These issues are not limited to the present: in our collection at the Komonjoshitsu, too, are more than a few works that connect to the matters of today.
This exhibition includes not only works held by the Komonjoshitsu, but also those from the Keio University Media Center and Department of Ethnology and Archaeology, and even materials from collections outside of the university. These materials paint a picture that pivots our perspective to the side of animals, as we explore the relationship between humans and animals in the early modern period.
We hope that this exhibition will make you think about how humans and animals should interact, as living things that share the same Earth.