The final day of Edward, Prince of Wales’s visit to Japan in 1922 was spent at Kagoshima. During his brief five hour period ashore on 9 May, he received delegations from all parts of the prefecture. This fubako contains an address from Nakagawa Nozomu, Governor of Kagoshima, who noted that the prince was visiting on the anniversary of ‘the very day when Your Royal House entertained our Crown Prince in Buckingham Palace last year’.

Fubako, or boxes for letters, were used in Japan from the sixteenth century to transport and present scrolls in a suitably impressive manner. The meticulous lacquer decoration reflects the significance of the documents within. From the Edo period, such boxes were often incorporated into a bride’s trousseau, decorated with the mon of the two families. Here, the artist has departed from Japanese motifs to reflect the occasion of the prince’s visit, adding Prince of Wales’s feathers in gold hiramakie (lacquer in low relief). No other fubako with this design is known to exist. Prince of Wales’s feathers also appear on the red brocade which lines the back of the address, within a foliate pattern of white chrysanthemums.

Text adapted from Japan: Courts and Culture (2020)