Discovery & Wonder

"Wow, look at that!" "The detail, the color--it's just amazing." Such are the reactions--sometimes audible--as visitors explore the extraordinary Harry F. Bruning Collection of Japanese books, scrolls, maps and prints at Brigham Young University. It is an experience defined by discovery and wonder. This book highlights some of the most outstanding items in the collection and includes a complete holdings list. It also offers an introductory essay about the why and the how of Bruning's collecting. But this is not all--this book also shares our journey of discovery about particular moments in Japan's past and Bruning's past, and their wider historical and cultural contexts. This journey was possible through collaborative research as well as undergraduate student experiential learning contributions. Without our students, this project would not have come to fruition. As you peruse its pages, we hope you ponder, as we have, "How did something so valuable make its way to BYU? What can we learn from it?" We hope you are filled with the same sense of awe and curiosity that filled us. The items may be inanimate, but their history is animated by many intriguing human lives which can be discovered and appreciated in the pages of this book.