Programme of Events

CBL J 1125.2, ill. 21 – The celestial robe of feathers from The tale of the Bamboo Cutter. Early 17th century,Japan.

© The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library,Dublin

Running until 5 August, the Library’s summer exhibition is The tale of the Bamboo Cutter. On display are exquisite Japanese 17th-century handscrolls, which recount one of the most important stories in Japanese classical literature. The scrolls, which have recently undergone extensive restoration, generously funded by the Sumitomo Foundation, Tokyo, are believed to be the earliest surviving illustrated version of the story - the oldest Japanese work of prose fiction, written in the early Heian period (9th-10th century).