LONDON - The first exhibition in Europe of Shinto-related art and artifacts opened to the public at the British Museum in London on Wednesday.
The display, entitled ''Shinto -- The Sacred Art of Ancient Japan,'' has taken three years to plan and features 110 priceless artifacts from more than 80 shrines, temples and museums in Japan.
The last Shinto, or ''the way of gods,'' exhibition outside Japan was in the United States in the 1970s and this year's display in London is considered to be one of the highlights of the Japan 2001 cultural festival in Britain.
Items being exhibited include eight National Treasures and 60 important cultural assets, including some on loan from Ise grand shrine and from the Imperial Household Collection.
Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs assisted the museum with the organization of the event, which is the third Asian religions exhibition at the British Museum, after Buddhism and Hinduism.
Starting in the beginning of the 16th century and working back through time to prehistoric Japan, the exhibition features a number of wood sculptures and paintings depicting Shinto deities and their Buddhist hybrids. One of the highlights of the medieval period on show is the representation on silk of the deer mandala from the Nara National Museum.
Other exhibits include a wooden model of a horse from the Kamakura period (1192-1333), which depicts the continuation of the Kofun period (A.D. 300 to seventh century) custom of donating live horses to shrines.
Going even further back in time, the exhibition also contains a sixth-century mirror featuring Shinto shrine buildings in the form of storehouses.
It was common by the eighth century for a mirror, jewel and sword to be installed in shrines. These so-called ''Three Sacred Treasures'' were seen as spiritual vehicles of the Shinto gods.
There are also displays of ceramics, including pots, decorated with human and animal forms from the Jomon period (10,000 B.C.-300 B.C.), reflecting the cycle of life and death from which Shinto beliefs evolved.
Victor Harris, the keeper of Japanese antiquities at the British Museum, said the exhibition is of great significance because it is the first of its kind in Europe. Harris said he hopes the display would show visitors the important role Shinto has played in Japan's development.
The exhibition certainly seemed to strike a chord with those who attended a special preview Tuesday.
Julia Ruxton, a picture researcher from London, said, ''Having seen a lot of these artifacts reproduced in books, to see them in real life is amazing to me. I think it's an amazing achievement to have borrowed all these things from Japan.''
The exhibition, which runs through Dec. 2, is being held in the museum's Japanese galleries.
AP-NY-09-05-01 0501EDT
Copyright 2001 The Kyodo News Service.