A four-panel shaped box, painted blackish-brown outside, contains portraits of an old man and a young pine tree in the high-relief style. The interior is made of gold lacquer. The bottom center has an inscription.
常形4段の印籠で、黒蝋色塗金平目地に高蒔絵で翁と若松を高蒔絵で表す。段内部は金梨子地。底部中央下に作銘。
View the original at Japan Search →Unusually for a Japanese statute it opens with a preamble, which states that finding joy in creating culture and living among it is an unchanging wish of people, and that culture contributes to world peace. Article 2 then sets the principles: the autonomy of those who make culture must be fully respected, and their creativity, standing and capacity considered.
The cool part. Article 2, paragraph 3 is the line worth reading twice. It says that creating and receiving culture is a right people are born with, and requires an environment in which citizens can appreciate, participate and create regardless of age, disability, economic situation, or the area they live in. Four barriers named in statute, one of which is your postcode. It puts the arts in the same grammatical register as infrastructure. Not a subsidy argued for each year, a standing obligation.
Verify at e-Gov 法令検索 →Use it A motif small enough to blind-deboss, which is where restraint actually shows.
Description source: museum curator text, translated — not generated