The Shōsōin (正倉院) is the treasure house that belongs to Tōdai-ji, Nara[1][2] The building is in the azekura log-cabin style, with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Daibutsuden (which houses the Great Buddha). The Shōsōin houses artifacts connected to Emperor Shōmu (701–756) and Empress Kōmyō (701–760), as well as arts and crafts of the Tempyō period of Japanese history.
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The origin of Tōdai-ji Shōsoin dates back to 756, when Empress Kōmyō dedicated over 600 items to the Great Buddha at Tōdai-ji to express her love for her lost husband, Emperor Shōmu. Her donation was made over five times across several years, then stored at Shōsōin. Later in Heian period, a large number of treasures, consisting of items and instruments used in important Buddhist services were transferred from a different warehouse in Tōdai-ji. Given the importance of the items stored in this warehouse, the administration of Shōsōin has been taken over by the government, currently the Imperial Household Agency.
After the Meiji Restoration, it came under the administration of the national government, and since World War II has been under the administration of the Imperial Household Agency. It is on the UNESCO register of World Heritage Sites as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara. It is also a national treasure of Japan.
The building is in the azekura (校倉) log-cabin style, with a raised floor takayuka-shiki (高床式). Shōsōin is the oldest surviving building of this type in Japan. Front width is about 33.1 m, depth is about 9.3 m, 1st floor height is about 2.5 m.
Shōsōin today holds around 9,000 items, leaving out items that are yet to be classified.[3] While many of the collection are of remainders from the 8th century and are of domestic production, either art or documents, there are also variety of items originating from Tang China. Other material comes from as far as India, Iran, Greece, Rome and Egypt.
Although these collections are not open to the public, selections are shown at Nara National Museum once a year in autumn.
Since 1994, the Imperial Household Agency's Office of the Shosoin Treasure House, which is responsible for the administration of the repository, has been producing exact reproduction of ancient Nara textiles. Apart from the appearance and colour, care has been given to reproduce the production and weaving style. The silk is donated each year by Empress Michiko, who personally runs the Momijiyama Imperial Cocoonery at Tokyo Imperial Palace[4].
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