Yōmei Bunko

Yōmei Bunko (陽明文庫), located in Utanokaminotanicho, Ukyō-ku, Kyoto, is a historical archive[1] containing approximately 100,000 objects collected over the centuries by the Konoe family, the foremost of the five regent houses (go-sekke, 五摂家) of the imperial court nobility.

In 1938, the Yōmei Bunko Foundation was established in its current location near Ninnaji Temple in northwest Kyoto by Fumimaro Konoe (近衛文麿, 1891 - 1945), then head of the family and prime minister of Japan.

Fujiwara no Tadamichi (藤原忠通, 1097 - 1164) served as sesshō (摂政, regent), kanpaku (関白, imperial advisor) and daijō-daijin (太政大臣, grand minister).

Although they had no official authority after the Heian gave way to the Kamakura period, the Konoe family continued to retain great influence as a regent house, deeply involved with court ritual and ceremony.

[10] The 16th head of the family, Konoe Sakihisa (近衛前久, pen name 龍山, ryūzan, 1536 - 1612), was serving as kanpaku during the Honnō-ji Incident that led to the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate and the ascendancy of the Tokugawa.

Despite living through one of Japan's most chaotic periods, Sakihisa found time to devote himself to cultural pursuits, becoming not only a renowned calligrapher, but also the leading waka and renga poet of his day.

[11] The 17th head of the family, Konoe Nobutada (近衛信尹, 1565 – 1614, in later life known as 三藐院, Sanmyakuin), was one of the Kan'ei Sanpitsu (寛永三筆, the "Three brushes of Kan’ei"), the pre-eminent calligraphers of the period.

[13] In the mid Edo period, the 21st head of the family, Konoe Iehiro (近衛家熈, 1667 – 1736, pen name 予楽院, Yoraku-in) was also famed for his artistic accomplishments as calligrapher and tea master.

Finally, Fumimaro Konoe, while serving as prime minister in the troubled times before and during the Second World War, decided to establish the Yōmei Bunko Foundation in 1938 as a permanent repository for his family's historical archive.