Introduction to the highly-skilled work of the <i>hyogushi</i>, or Japanese painting restorer. Shows three masters of the craft - Takashi Sugiura, Shigero Mikkaichi, and Makoto Souta - as they work independently, and in concert on the restoration of three different objects at the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.: a Buddhist triad of Shaka, Monju, and Fugen, painted on silk, from the Muromachi period (15th century); <i>Gayety in a Riverside Tea-Hosue</i>, an 18th-century painting on paper of the Ukiyo-e school; <i>Monkeys and Trees on a River Bank</i>, a folding six-panel screen attributed to the 16th-century Muromachi-Suiboku artist Sesson. Carefully documents the methods and materials used during restoration, describing the various glues, backings, papers, and methods of mending, as well as rolling and hanging techniques, and framing fabrics. Presents the conflicting views of the Tokyo and Kyoto schools of <i>hyogushi</i> on the subjects of washing, filling, etc. Narrated by Martin P. Amt. -- AATA