Country Life

The Japanese connection

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THE first exhibition to bring together Japanese treasures from the Royal Collection opens this week at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace (April 8–February 26, 2023). It charts the history of Anglo-japanese relations since the first English ship sailed to Japan in 1613, with an exchange of gifts between James I and Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, which included a samurai suit (right). Over the next two centuries, when Japan was closed to the West, apart from Dutch traders, the Royal Family, especially Queen Caroline, were prolific collectors of Japanese lacquer, porcelain and textiles. Since the 1850s, there has been a steady exchange of gifts, including a folding screen given by Prince Komatsu Akihito on the occasion of Edward Vll’s coronation and a cosmetic box decorated with a heron presented to The Queen by Emperor Hirohito for her coronation. For tickets, telephone 030–3123 7301 or visit www.rct.uk

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