Japan’s National Treasures: Balancing Cultural Preservation with Promoting Tourism

Five-stringed biwa lute from shitan wood with mother-of-pearl inlay, from the collection of the Shōsōin Repository. (© Jiji (archive))

In 2012, Itō Jakuchū’s series of 30 scrolls Colorful Realm of Living Beings was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. This was the first time the series had been shown in its entirety outside Japan. Photograph taken on March 26, 2012. (© AFP/Jiji)