Incense box decorated with the Eight Views of Omi (Lake Biwa)

This three-tiered box in the shape of a folding fan was made to hold incense. It is decorated using the technique of makie, in which gold, silver, and other metallic powders are sprinkled into wet lacquer to make pictorial designs.

Here, the artist has chosen to show a series of eight famous scenes around Lake Biwa—Japan’s largest inland lake, located to the northeast of Kyoto—in what used to be called Omi province. Two scenes from the series are on each side; for example, the top surface of the lid has the scenes “Autumn Moon at Ishiyama” and “Evening Glow at Seta.” The Eight Views of Omi are modeled after an earlier Chinese set of iconic scenes, the Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers.