A WINDOW INTO JAPANESE ART

Seven works.
A closer comparison.

Follow a brushstroke, study a sword guard, or discover a new favorite print. Get closer to Japanese art through an independent selection from The Met’s Open Access collection.

Explore the collection
— sourced artworksOpen access public-domain images
New Year's Day at the Ōgiya Brothel, Yoshiwara — Katsushika Hokusai
FROM THE COLLECTIONNew Year's Day at the Ōgiya Brothel, Yoshiwara · ca. 1804Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

THE OPEN COLLECTION

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Seven-work snapshot · loading

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Real objects. Original sources. A closer look.

This is a small selection, not the full museum collection. Dates and attributions reflect the source records at the time of import.

Compare two sword guards in this selection

The two objects share a title, but their source records describe different materials, dates and attributions. The 16th-century entry records iron; the 19th-century entry records several metals and alloys. Compare the source fields below without treating either object as representative of every sword guard.

Sword Guard (Tsuba) · 36.120.162

Source date label
16th century
Attribution, as recorded
Attributed to the Hagi school
Materials
Iron
Dimensions, as recorded
Diam. 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm); thickness 1/8 in. (0.3 cm); Wt. 2 oz. (56.7 g)
Accession number
36.120.162
Source metadata updated
2025-03-06T04:54:30Z
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Sword Guard (Tsuba) · 36.120.79

Source date label
19th century
Attribution, as recorded
Inscribed by Ishiguro Masayoshi
Materials
Copper-gold alloy (shakudō), gold, copper-silver alloy (shibuichi), copper
Dimensions, as recorded
H. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm); W. 2 5/8 in. (6.7 cm); thickness 5/16 in. (0.8 cm); Wt. 5.4 oz. (153.1 g)
Accession number
36.120.79
Source metadata updated
2025-12-20T04:50:39.43Z
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Attribution matters: “Attributed to the” and “Inscribed by” are preserved because they do not make the same authorship claim. Dimensions are reproduced as supplied: a diameter and a height/width pair are different measurements, so no size ratio is calculated.

Date labels such as “ca.” and “century” retain the source’s uncertainty. The search tool’s chronological sort uses the source’s begin-year field, which is a range boundary, not a verified making year. A blank date or period stays unknown.

Open any of the seven original museum records

This is a seven-work sample from one museum. It includes two prints, two paintings, two sword fittings and one craft object. It does not establish a history of all Japanese art, market prices or current gallery display. Imported snapshot: 2026-10-06T09:29:18Z.

A collection with a clear source.

Every artwork links to its museum record and includes its materials, credit line, and data date. Only verified public-domain records with Open Access images are included.

How this atlas is made
A CLOSER LOOK

Open Access · Public domain

CC0 1.0 information ↗