Home / Events / 100 Years after the Taisho Earthquake and 320 Years after the Genroku Earthquake: Two Great Kanto Earthquakes and Kamakura

Exhibition/event has ended.

100 Years after the Taisho Earthquake and 320 Years after the Genroku Earthquake: Two Great Kanto Earthquakes and Kamakura

Kamakura Kokuhoukan Museum

Finished

The year 2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the Taisho Kanto Earthquake, which occurred on September 1, 1923. The severe shaking and tsunami caused buildings to collapse and fires to break out all over the Kanto region, resulting in the loss of many precious lives. The Kamakura area in particular suffered tremendous damage because of its proximity to the epicenter, and the statues and treasures of local temples and shrines were no exception. To revive the damaged treasures, repair technicians from the Bijutsu-in (Art Institute) in Nara came to Kamakura. Repair work began at a repair station set up in the precincts of Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gu Shrine. Later, a repair shop was established in the Kamakura National Treasure Museum, which opened in 1928 (Showa 3), but it is not widely known that the repair work was undertaken not only for treasures in Kamakura but also for treasures from temples and shrines outside the city and Kanagawa Prefecture.

This exhibition focuses on the restoration projects of cultural properties in Kamakura at the time of the 100th anniversary of the Taisho Kanto Earthquake. By also shedding light on the function of the Kamakura National Treasure House, which was constructed in the wake of the earthquake, as a repair center, the exhibition hopes

This exhibition aims to help viewers to reconsider the two tragic earthquake disasters in the Kamakura region in the 18th and 20th centuries and the recovery from them, especially the damage and reconstruction of temples and shrines.