Special Exhibition Aves Japonicae <11> –Are Crows black?

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●Main Features of the Exhibition
- Drawings of birds and the corresponding specimens shown side by side.
- Providing an opportunity to observe details of Crows, that we tend to overlook.
- Present other Corvid birds, such as Eurasian Jay. Jays are thought to have originated in Japan.

●Overview of the exhibition
Crows are familiar birds to Japanese people, and they have often been used as a motif in Japanese paintings.
This exhibition features Kawabe Kakyo’s “Sketches of birds”, Vol. 19, “the Crow.” Many of the crows drawn here are deliberately colorless, and each feather is depicted with line drawings. At first glance, these paintings do not look like crows. However, if you look at them not in terms of color, but as objects that consist of overlapping feathers, the crows appear exactly like this.
It will be the same in crows as living creatures. Although they are close to us, we rarely have the opportunity to closely observe crows, rather tend to avoid them. This time, we will exhibit taxidermies and Japanese paintings side by side, that provides you to observe the realistic appearance of crows in detail, rather than the vague image of a “black bird”.
We will also take this opportunity to introduce other Crow family species. Recent research has pointed out that the Lidth’s Jay in Amami islands may be the ancestor of the Jay. Japan may be one of the original habitats of the Crow family, which spread from Oceania to Eurasia.

●Key Information
Title: Special Exhibition “Aves Japonicae 〈11〉 – Are Crows black?”
Dates: July 19 – October 19, 2025
Opening Hours: 11:00 – 18:00 (open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays) *Opening hours may change.
Closed: Mondays (or the following Tuesday if Monday is a national holiday; however, the museum is open on August 11 and 18) and September 1 – 8. May close irregularly.
Venue: Intermediatheque 3F [STUDIOLO]
Admission: Free of charge
Organizer: The University Museum, The University of Tokyo (UMUT)
Address: KITTE 2-3F, 2-7-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, JAPAN
Access: JR lines and Tokyo Metro Marunouchi line Tokyo Station (Marunouchi South Exit). Nijubashimae Station (Exit 4) on the Chiyoda Line (about 2 minutes on foot).

●Exhibition Page
https://www.intermediatheque.jp/en/schedule/view/id/IMT0290

●Contact
+81-47-316-2772 (NTT Hello Dial Service)
From Japan: 050-5541-8600 (NTT Hello Dial Service)

●Interview Application
press@intermediatheque.jp