Resources

The traditions—Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushanokojisenke—provide instruction in the Way of Tea to students around the world. Learn more.

The term for puppetry, wayang, comes from the Indonesian word for shadow bayang. Wayang kulit, shadow puppetry using figures made from water buffalo hide, is considered to be the oldest freestanding puppet form; the earliest references to it date from the 800s.

Asian Art Museum Storyteller Miriam Mills tells an excerpt from the Ramayana in the Southeast Asian galleries at the Asian Art Museum with the use of artworks from the museum’s collection.

Artist Joanna Swan discusses India and her work during the during the PechaKucha Night at the Asian Art Museum.

Along with the more traditional jeweled sword and scabbard, this impressive gun served as a ceremonial object, held by one of Sultan Mahmud I’s attendants during state ceremonies. While the flamboyant decoration of the gun lent itself to public spectacle, the experience of extracting its treasures from the gun’s stock is a more personal act. This video reveals the various components of this ornate gun. View this gun in the exhibition, Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts (on view at the Asian Art Museum from Feb. 26 to May 8, 2016).

Lesson plan on the monetary and cultural value of Japanese swords and the role they played in Japanese trade.

The Tosa school, which originated in Kyoto during the Muromachi period (1392–1573), traditionally painted for the imperial family and nobility. They took as their subjects classical Japanese literature, such as the Tale of Genji and the Tales of Ise. Learn more.

The annual Bell-Ringing Ceremony follows the Japanese custom in which the end-of-the-year bell (joya no kane) is struck 108 times before midnight on New Year’s Eve, symbolically welcoming the New Year and curbing the 108 mortal desires (bonno), which according to Buddhist belief torment humankind.

Asian Art Museum Docent, Peter Sinton, gives a talk on his collection of Japanese gift covers. This talk was in conjunction with In the Moment: Japanese Art from the Larry Ellison Collection, wherein speakers explored their passion behind collecting. This talk was part of a Thursday Night event.