The first event of the new year at Matsuya Ginza: “Twelve Houses of Kyoto,” an exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Matsuya Ginza’s opening and the 120th anniversary of the founding of *Fujin Gahō*.

The twelve “schools” participating in the exhibition—including the Ikebana, Raku, and Sen schools—are all organizations that have been rooted in Kyoto for hundreds of years, passing down their aesthetic sensibilities, techniques, and philosophies of life as distinct “schools.”

Flower arrangement, tea ceremony, pottery, dyeing and weaving, traditional performing arts, Japanese painting, waka poetry, court culture, cuisine, and crafts.

The only things lined up there are “houses,” each with its own distinct worldview, authority, and long history.

These “houses”—which would normally rarely intersect—come together across different fields under the common theme of “house,” and stand side by side on equal footing, at the same time, and in the same space within the urban landscape of Ginza, Tokyo. This composition in and of itself is already extraordinary.

The convergence of the department store as a medium, the 100th anniversary of Matsuya Ginza, and the 120th anniversary of *Fujin Gahō*—all significant milestones in time—eloquently brings to light the depth, diversity, and complexity of cultural transmission in Japanese culture.

Twelve "houses" from Kyoto come together in one place.

I think that fact alone was the highlight of this exhibition.

I recommend it.

[Exhibition List]

Flower Arrangement: Ikenobo School, Court
Doll Master—Ito Family; Kyoto Dance (Inoue School)—Inoue Family;

Japanese Painting—Uemura Family; Kongo School Head Family—
Kongo Family; Dyeing and
Weaving—Shimura Family; Tea Ceremony (Urasenke School)—Senke Hyotei;

Lacquerware
—Takahashi Family; Yuzen Dyeing—Nakamura Family; Gagaku

—Moriguchi FamilyPottery Studio: Raku Family
; Reizen School of Poetry: Reizen Family