Century Akao Collection

The Century Cultural Foundation was established by Mr.Yoshio Akao of Obunsha Co. Ltd. to preserve and pass down artefacts of calligraphic culture. It is engaged in the collection and storage of works of pictorial art and calligraphy, classical books, and arts and crafts, as well as educational and promotional initiatives employing such materials.
Mr. Kazuo Akao, who succeeded the first director, established the Century Museum, and together with Dr. Shigemi Komatsu, who advocated ‘Kohitsugaku’(the study of ancient writing) was invited as the first director of the museum, and together they worked tirelessly to collect works and further enrich the Century Akao Collection. Currently, the collection consists of 2,325 titles, including calligraphy, paintings, metalwork, lacquer work, and sculptures, all of which were donated to Keio University in March 2021 and housed at Keio Museum Commons and Keio Institute of Oriental Classics (Shido Bunko).
In addition to ancient mirrors, which are among the best in Japan in terms of quality and quantity, the collection includes many excellent calligraphic works, such as Sutra of Seeing the Budhisattva Fugen :
Copied by TAIRA no Motochika, Musashino, a collection of ancient calligraphy, and Collected poems of Lady Ise (Ishiyama Fragment), attributed to FUJIWARA no Kinto. In addition, the Kohitsu family material, which include a large number of copies of the works handled in the appraisal, and which were left by KOHITSU Ryoshin the 13th generation of the Kohitsu family, are expected to yield new discoveries in the near future.