Tohoku University Main Library 

1st floor Multipurpose Room, left of the entrance before the barrier

This exhibition features two important sets of historical documents from premodern Japan, the Ruijū Sandaikyaku and the Documents of Hōzawa. It showcases new research on the collections and, for the first time, English translations of the materials.

The Ruijū Sandaikyaku (Assorted Regulations from Three Reigns) is a fundamental source for the study of the legal system of ancient Japan, compiled in the 11th century. The copy held in the Kano Collection of Tohoku University Library is an abridged version, but it contains sections not included in other existing copies of the text that shed new light on Japanese society during the classical period. The Documents of Hōzawa, held at Tohoku University’s Department of Japanese History, is a crucial set of sources for the study of medieval Japan from a local warrior house in Sendai. Both collections were recently designated as important cultural properties, with Miyagi Prefecture designating the Ruijū Sandaikyaku an important prefectural cultural property in 2024, and Sendai City granting an important cultural property designation to The Documents of Hōzawa this year.

The Documents of Hōzawa were translated in their entirety into English over the course of a seminar in the Faculty of Arts and Letters at Tohoku University, while some of the exhibit’s explanatory captions for the Ruijū Sandaikyaku will be presented in English translation for this exhibition. The organizers of the exhibition hope that students and faculty from abroad can attend and learn more about the history of Sendai and Japan.