Ôsaka Castle and Eggenberg Castle

Arms and Armor of Austria and Japan

What began with the sensational discovery in Schloss Eggenberg of a Japanese folding screen from the early 17th century which depicted Ôsaka (in Japanese: Ôsaka zu byôbu) and led to the creation of a twinning between Ôsaka castle and Schloss Eggenberg in 2009, is continued in the collaboration between the city of Ôsaka's historic museum and the Universalmuseum Joanneum.

The exhibition presents objects from the city of Ôsaka's historic museum alongside items on loan from the Landeszeughaus, Schloss Eggenberg, the Alte Galerie, the Steiermärkische Landesarchiv as well as the Universitätsbiblitothek in Vienna. At the start there are six artworks by Andreas Trost and Georg Matthäus Vischer which illustrate the development of the city of Graz in the 16th and 17th centuries and compare it with that of the city of Osaka. Just as much space is given over in this exhibition to warfare at the time of the Thirty Years' War as it is to tournaments. Armour from the Landeszeughaus – including ceremonial armour by Michael Witz – is contrasted with Japanese armour.