JP.I: Ancient Modernity - Physical Relics

As previously outlined in the overview, this series of six blogs will focus on the main topic of Japan's "Ancient Modernity." In this first blog, I will discuss and explore the first subtopic as well as its contemporary relevance: physical relics. The word "relic" is defined as "an object or article of religious or cultural significance from the past. [1]" The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to signify and recognize cultural properties regarding archaeological materials [2]. To become a National Treasure, an artifact must first be selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology based on its "especially high historical or artistic value." There are a total of fewer than fifty artifacts on the National Treasure list, with all the items spanning the spectrum timeline from as early as 4,500 B.C. up until the fourteenth century (1361 AD). The majority of them have been excavated from tombs, kofun (ancient mound/megalithic graves), sutra mounds, or other archaeological sites. Many of these materials are now housed in museums (31), temples (9), shrines (8), and a university (1) across 27 cities in Japan. A significant portion of these natural treasures (7 out of 49) are housed solely within the Tokyo National Museum.

An evening rain, hand sketch of the Otagi Nenbutsuji temple, with its founding history dated back to the middle of the eighth century (766 AD). To me, a relic is a gift from the past, one that reminds us of where we came from and how we once were. It is a surviving portal among many that were destroyed or lost with time. A relic echoes to a culture about their Gods, their ancestors, and most importantly, their very own first footprints. Japan's ability to live in harmony with its ancient past is one to admire. During my trip, I had come across various castles laying at the heart of modern cities, generational restaurants whose kitchen fires still burning, and ancient statues people still touching. The Japanese people adore these objects and revere them with a bottomless sense of respect. They are proud. Almost too much that I felt contagious. Seeing them handle their own relic with such pride made me wish to also treat it with an equivalent reverence. As a foreigner, I could not understand their stories, yet I was still moved just knowing how long a certain artifact has been at its location. Even if I make it way past the average human lifespan, my window of time is still seemingly insignificant compared to the permanence of these objects. Like a sand in the vast desert.

Despite their undeniable cultural significant, how relevant are the existences of these inanimate objects during our time? Have their value passed, just as their time did? I stood in front of the Himeji Castle's displayed kimonos, seemingly mourning for them. When will they ever be adorned again? They will probably never. Whosever skin they touched since more than two hundred years ago may

very much have been the last. In a sense, they now matter to us just as much as an eggshell does to a bird: they give us an identity - something for us to look at and be proud of where we came from; but nothing more, nothing less.

Left: Photo of an ancient lamp in Himeji Castle, whose once burning fire is now replaced with the stale, white light of a LEB bulb.

Right: Photo of a samurai warrior's armor in Himeji Castle, a functional relic that has rendered itself impractical in modern warfare.

Word Count: 592 Words

Citation: 1. Relic. (2023, June 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relic

2. List of National Treasures of Japan (archaeological materials). (2022, November 22). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Treasures_of_Japan_(archaeological_materials)