"Trouble Afoot!"：TOKYO HERITAGE WEEK 2021 Exhibition
Trouble Afoot! Case Files from Edo in the Final Years of the Shogunate.
Greeting
Welcome and thank you for accessing the Tokyo Heritage Week 2021 Tokyo Metropolitan Library Exhibition, "Trouble Afoot! Case Files from Edo in the Final Years of the Shogunate."
The Special Collections Room of the Tokyo Metropolitan Central Library holds the Materials on Construction of Edo Castle (the KORA Household), which is officially designated as an Important Cultural Property. Each year in Tokyo Heritage Week, we decide on a theme and present an exhibition of Important Cultural Properties and rare materials from the Edo and Meiji periods related to this theme.
This year, we present "Case Files from Edo," an anthology of incidents and disease outbreaks from the final years of the Shogunate government in the mid-1800s. Part 1, Major Incidents in Edo, covers six incidents that took place in the fifteen years from Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in 1853 through to the regime change to the Meiji government in 1868. Part 2, Edo's Calamities, presents materials related to the Ansei Great Earthquake and outbreaks of infectious diseases such as cholera. We hope that kawaraban (commercial news-sheets of the Edo period), colored woodblock prints, and other materials on display here give visitors some sense of the way the resilient townsfolk of Edo overcame these calamities. Part 3 of the exhibition focuses on Edo Castle in the Final Years of the Shogunate, providing insights into Edo Castle through materials including architectural drawings selected from the Materials on the Construction of Edo Castle (the KORA Household).
We are trialing a digital exhibition format for the first time here. We have provided accessible commentary on the content of the exhibition, including the capacity to zoom in on images and follow links to related materials. We hope that visitors also enjoy reading the anecdotes connected with these exhibits.
We would be delighted if this exhibition brings visitors an even sense of connection with our cultural properties.
November 2021