Six Hanging rolls from the Kikutei Collection have been newly released

Thanks to the Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive Fund, six Hanging rolls from the Kikutei Collection have been newly released.

Kikutei Collection is an assembly of manuscripts and books handed down through the Kikutei Family founded by Kanesue (1281-1339; 兼季), the forth son of Sanekane Saionji (1249-1322; 西園寺実兼). The Kikutei (Imadegawa) Family was designated one of the highest status court families called the Seiga (清華) family which members can be appointed as Daijō-daijin (太政大臣) and served as biwa (Japanese lute) players. The collection includes many records of the court rituals, documents on music and instruments, and diaries hand-written by nobles.
The collection deposited in 1921 and 1923 and additional documents and scrolls of portraits related to the Kikutei Family were donated to the Main Library, Kyoto University by the owner of the collection and were formally registered as the holdings of the library in January 2021.

▼Kikutei Collection

"Kinnori-kō waka" (公規公和歌) is a letter from Kinnori Imadegawa (今出川公規) when he asked Michishige Nakanoin (中院通茂) to correct his waka.

"Kinnori-kō waka" (公規公和歌)

The four Buddhist paintings all depict Myōonten in vivid colors.
Myōonten, holding a biwa (Japanese lute), is the god of music, and it is evident that the Kikutei (Imadegawa) Family, who served as biwa players, worshipped in this god.

"Shihon chakushoku Myōonten goson zo" (紙本著色妙音天五尊像)

The digitization of the above-mentioned rare materials has been realized thanks to the Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive Fund.
We sincerely extend our appreciation to their generosity, with our determination to continue this digitization project to preserve and make the best use of our rare materials at the same time, which we believe will lead to the promotion of research and culture.

As of March 29, 2024, the Digital Archive provides 2,092,330 images of 25,177 titles.