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Bronze mirrors were introduced into Japan from China and Korea during the Yayoi period (about 300 BC - AD 300). At first they had a religious function and were regarded as symbols of authority. The Japanese soon learnt to make their own mirrors using the lost-wax technique, decorating them with Chinese or native Japanese designs.

By the Nara period (AD 710 -794) mirrors were being made for everyday use, with the increasing use of Japanese designs, such as native plants and animals symbolising good fortune. From the Kamakura period (1185-1333) a design showing Hôraizan (the Chinese 'Island of Immortality') became popular.

Mirrors gradually became more robust. They mostly have a central boss, often in the shape of a tortoise, which was pierced and a cord passed through for holding. More new designs and the first handled mirrors appeared in the Muromachi period (1333-1568).

During the Edo period (1600-1868), mirrors decorated with lucky symbols or Chinese characters were given at weddings. Mirrors became larger as hairstyles became more ornate; some mirrors in Kabuki theatre dressing-rooms were up to fifty centimetres across and were placed on stands. The faces of mirrors were highly polished or burnished, with itinerant tinners and polishers specializing in this work.

Since the mirror, together with the sword and the jewel, were symbols of Imperial power, mirror-makers were deeply revered and often given honorary titles such as Tenka-Ichi ('First under Heaven'). However, this title was often misused and was officially prohibited in 1682.

Bronze mirrors were replaced by glass mirrors after the Meiji Restoration (1868).

Diameter: 11.1 cm

Bronze mirror decorated with pines and cranes

From Japan
Late Heian period, 12th century AD

Early Japanese mirrors used a number of designs based on Chinese originals. However, from the Nara period (AD 710-94), Japanese mirror-makers began to substitute native Japanese motifs: for example, plants of good omen such as cherry, blossom and pine replaced auspicious Chinese flowers, and we find cranes instead of phoenixes.

Cranes mate for life, so they are often used as emblems of marital fidelity. They also appear at New Year to signify long life. Here the cranes fly together in perfect symmetry, while the pine boughs, also symbols of New Year, are scattered more informally across the design.

Diameter: 12.9 cm (excluding jingles)

Bronze mirror

From Japan
Middle Kofun period, 5th century AD

Jingles and rattles are found on mirrors of the Kofun period (about 3rd -7th century AD). They possibly had some shamanistic ritual significance, but it was a fashion that quickly died out. One of the rattles on this mirror still sounds when it is shaken.

The craftsmen of the Kofun period copied very formal Chinese-style decoration. The surface of the mirror has concentric rings of simple hatching with a softer whorl design in the centre.

As mound burials for leaders became more widespread, grave-goods almost always contained a set of mirror, sword and jewel - all symbols of authority, and objects with powerful ritual significance. The mirror, sword and jewel still form the regalia of the Japanese Imperial family.

Diameter: 15 cm

Bronze mirror with a handle

From Japan
Edo period, 18th century AD

This mirror is decorated with a perfect miniature landscape. Peacocks stand beneath a flowering plum tree beside a waterfall and winding stream. To the left irises are coming into bloom. The handle has its original rattan binding.

The mirror is inscribed Fujiwara Masashige saku (‘Made by Masashige of the Fujiwara family'). Makers of mirrors often had high status in Japan because the mirror, together with the sword and the jewel, formed part of the Imperial regalia.

Length: 32.4 cm (with handle)

From Japan
Edo period, late 17th or early 18th century AD

'First under Heaven'
During the Edo period, some bronze mirrors were made with handles, and without the usual central boss. This allowed a much greater freedom of composition in the design. This mirror depicts a man punting a log by water. Such designs showing people at work were particularly popular among richer townsmen from the late seventeenth century.

This unusually large handled mirror is inscribed Tenka-Ichi ('First under Heaven'). Leading mirror-makers were often much revered, since the mirror, together with the sword and the jewel were emblems of Imperial power. From the late sixteenth century an outstanding craftsman could be elected by his guild as Tenka-Ichi. This practice was officially stopped in 1682, but the title was still misused by inferior craftsmen and continues to appear throughout the Edo period.

Diameter: 12.2 cm

Bronze mirror in the shape of a lotus

From Japan
Muromachi period, 15th-16th century AD

The eight-petalled lotus is the symbol of Enlightenment in Buddhism. Here it provides a perfect basis for the ornate design of a pair of birds in flight among scrolls of stylized flowers and tendrils.

Diameter: 12 cm

Round mirror box

From Japan
Possibly made in the Kamakura period (1185-1333)

Hiramakie and mother-of-pearl inlay

We can not be certain exactly when this box was made, as decorative techniques using gold filings were developed in Japan as early as the Nara period (AD 710-94) and continued well into the seventeenth century. The design has delicate pieces of mother-of-pearl inlaid into the lacquer background, which has been scattered with gold filings and burnished giving it the appearance of flat gold.

The box was made to contain a round bronze mirror, perhaps similar to one in The British Museum's collections.