Woven Mat with Silk Border

竜鬢筵

At a glance — Art Object · Asuka period · held by Tokyo National Museum · designated Important Cultural Property of Japan.

Fact Sheet

Designation: Important Cultural Property (重要文化財)
Category: Art Objects
Period: Asuka period
Date: 601–800
Held by: Tokyo National Museum
Location: Ueno, Tokyo
Catalogue ID: cobas-117703

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Same period: Asuka art objects →
At this museum: All 1632 works here →

Rushes were dyed and interwoven with glittering strips of straw to make the design on this mat. Another mat (Important Cultural Property) that reportedly belonged to Empress Suiko (554–628) was passed down at Hōrinji Temple in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture. Together, they preserve the appearance of Japan’s early woven rush mats. The border fabric has flowers and vines in weft-faced compound weave and supplementary weft patterning, both standard medieval Japanese techniques. The addition of such fabric reveals how the mat was carefully preserved in later periods at Hōryūji Temple to ensure it retained its shape.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.

Record & Sources

Designation: Important Cultural Property (重要文化財), Government of Japan
Catalogue ID: cobas-117703 (permanent)
Official record: Japan Search — jpsearch.go.jp/item/cobas-117703
Holder's collection: ColBase — Tokyo National Museum
Photograph: Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase — CC BY 4.0. CC BY 4.0 licence

Cite this page: “Woven Mat with Silk Border（竜鬢筵）.” Treasures of Japan, catalogue no. cobas-117703. Tokyo National Museum. https://treasures.yamato-kenkou.com/treasures/woven-mat-with-silk-border/ — entry last verified 1 November 2026.

Full record data (as published in the official catalogue record)