Modern Nagano prefecture is a landlocked prefecture located in central Honshu. A mountainous region, it is home to the Japanese Alps, a series of mountain ranges that bisect the main island, and a total of nine of Japan’s twelve highest peaks. The region has long been a popular destination for travelers seeking the beauties of mountain landscapes and the pleasures of hot springs. The city of Nagano, formerly in Shinano Province, has been renowned for its temples for over 1,000 years and hosted the 1998 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
Learn more about the Nagano area introduced in the NATURE/SUPERNATURE exhibition here:
● NATURE/SUPERNATURE Exhibition
The power and beauty of nature has been a central focus in Japanese culture, rooted in the belief that supernatural forces and beings are at work in all aspects of the natural realm. For centuries, Japanese artists and artisans have illustrated these themes, reaching new heights in the Edo (1603-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) eras with the rise of woodblock printing.
This exhibition of over sixty Japanese prints from the Scripps College collection in Claremont, CA features works by some of Japan’s finest artists such as Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) portraying not only gorgeous vistas of the Japanese landscape, but also the fascinating deities and supernatural creatures that were believed to inhabit and influence nature – from ghosts to shape-shifting animals to trickster spirits. The three sections of the exhibition delve into these images of the natural world and its supernatural dimensions, as well as the evolution of new woodblock printing techniques as one of the world’s first forms of “mass media.”
Explore the free exhibition and sign up for programs at
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