Treasures of JapanA catalogue of Japan's designated cultural properties
2,690 works catalogued

Home › Browse › Calligraphy & Books › Heian period › Saibara shō (Collection of Ancient Ballads)

Important Cultural Property

Saibara shō (Collection of Ancient Ballads)

催馬楽抄
Saibara shō (Collection of Ancient Ballads) (催馬楽抄)
PLATE IImage: Tokyo National Museum, via ColBase — CC BY 4.0
At a glance — Calligraphy & Book · Heian period, 11th century · held by Tokyo National Museum · designated Important Cultural Property of Japan.

Fact Sheet

Designation
Important Cultural Property (重要文化財)
Date
1001–1100
Location
Ueno, Tokyo
Catalogue ID
cobas-56871

Find more

Ballads called [saibara] were later arranged with music and sung by Heian-period aristocrats at festive occasions. This collection comes with a postscript dated 1125. A separate note records that the contents of this collection was passed down from a son of the powerful regent Fujiwara no Michinaga (966–1028) to his descendants.

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

Record & Sources

Cite this page: “Saibara shō (Collection of Ancient Ballads)（催馬楽抄）.” Treasures of Japan, catalogue no. cobas-56871. Tokyo National Museum. https://treasures.yamato-kenkou.com/treasures/saibara-sh-collection-of-ancient-ballads/ — entry last verified 1 November 2026.
Full record data (as published in the official catalogue record)
  • Genre: Calligraphy
  • Material: Ink on paper
  • Cultural property designation: Important Cultural Property
  • 員数: 1巻
  • 分類: 書跡
  • 品質形状: 紙本墨書

Also at the Tokyo National Museum More →

More calligraphy & books of the Heian period More →

Advertisement