Description
The <i>Daily Sketches for Longevity and Exorcism</i> depict lions in various forms, as well as lion dancers. Katsushika Hokusai created this series of daily sketches at age 84–85, when he resided in Obuse, Shinshu (present-day Nagano Prefecture). They were painted not for a commission, but rather as a wish for his own longevity. Several sheets from this series are known to exist in both domestic and overseas collections. However, the pieces donated to Kyushu National Museum are noted for how remarkably well they have survived as a whole set of 219 sheets, as well as their clear provenance. Originally, they were in the care of Hokusai’s daughter, O-Ei. She later gifted them to Miyamoto Shinsuke, a retainer of the Matsushiro domain in Shinshu, as a replacement for an undelivered hanging scroll that Shinsuke had commissioned of Hokusai. These paintings feature dynamic brushstrokes that fully capture Hokusai’s overflowing creativity on paper.
<Translated by Rachel Lam, Edited by Sheila Ryan>
Data source
ColBase
"ColBase: Integrated Collections Database of the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan" is a service that enables a multi-database search of the collections in the four national museums (To...
Contents holder/Provider
Aggregator
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
The National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH) comprise four National Museums (Tokyo National Museum, Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum) and two National Research Institutes for Cultural Properties (Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, and Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties), as well as the International Research Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Asia-Pacific Region (IRCI) in Sakai City, for a total of seven institutions.
Last updated
March 16, 2026