For more than 700 years until the modern period, members of the Konoe family have been prominent among the nobles of the Imperial Court. Descended from Fujiwara Iezane (ca. 1179-1242), whose own elite clan can be traced back to the beginnings of written Japanese history in the seventh century, the Konoe were chosen to become kanpaku — the chief advisers, and occasionally regents, for the emperor — and to provide the brides who would become empresses. Though lacking military power, they ranked higher than all the daimyo warlords, who lobbied them from time to time to intercede for an Imperial nod of legitimacy on political matters.
The exhibition "Courtly Millennium — Art Treasures from the Konoe Family" at the Tokyo National Museum celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Yomei Bunko in Kyoto, a museum-foundation established to conserve the treasures and records of this great family. Many of the exhibits consist of calligraphy by emperors, Konoe family members and other nobles — among them rarely-seen National Treasures and other important cultural properties — and include diaries and letters that provide an opportunity to glimpse into the rarefied world of Imperial court life over the past thousand years.
After the Imperial family moved from Nara to Kyoto in 794, and throughout the relative peace of the Heian Period (794-1185), Imperial court culture became highly refined. Though it was evolving away from the court style imported from China toward a uniquely Japanese one, it was still influenced by Chinese ideals of cultural attainment. Such value was placed on a courtier's mastery of calligraphy, for example, that his position in the palace was strongly determined by the elegance of his writing and poetry (as well as his ability to paint and play music).