Notice on the Special Exhibition
“The Count of Clouds: Mount Fuji Through the Eyes of Masanao Abe”
Next month, the JP Tower Museum INTERMEDIATHEQUE (IMT) is opening the special exhibition “The Count of Clouds: Mount Fuji Through the Eyes of Masanao Abe.”
The eleventh head of the Fukuyama feudal clan, Masanao Abe (1891-1966) was also an exceptional scientist specializing in meteorology. Devoting his research to clouds, Abe founded in 1927 the Abe Cloud Air Current Research Observatory on the heights of Gotemba, at the foot of Mount Fuji, and left a colossal observation archive on mountain clouds and air currents near Mount Fuji. In reality, the large format photographs of clouds drifting on Mount Fuji, taken on the pretext of scientific observation, are remarkable artworks that capture the appearance of mountains before the war, a sight that is forever inaccessible.
Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Masahiro Abe and his Public Association Mushikuitakanoha, the Abe family’s academic heritage was donated to the University Museum, the University of Tokyo (UMUT). By presenting the Count of Clouds’ unknown heritage, this exhibition aims at reevaluating Abe’s research, while elucidating the veritable face of Mount Fuji, a figure that Katsushika Hokusai could not fully express in his Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
KEY INFORMATION
［Title］Special Exhibition “The Count of Clouds: Mount Fuji Through the Eyes of Masanao Abe”
［Dates］May 28, 2016 –
［Opening Hours］11:00 - 18:00 (open until 20:00 on Friday and Saturday; last entry 30 minutes before closing) *Opening hours may change.
［Closed on］Mondays (or the following Tuesday if Monday is a National Holiday), Year-end holidays. May close irregularly.
［Venue］Intermediatheque 2F [GREY CUBE]
［Organizer］The University Museum, the University of Tokyo (UMUT)
［Cooperation］Public Association Mushikuitakanoha, Gotemba City Board of Education, Helmut Völter
［Admission］Free of charge
［Address］JP Tower / KITTE 2-3F, 2-7-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
［Access］JR lines and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line Tokyo Station. Direct access from the Marunouchi Underground Pathway.