Change of Exhibits, Regular Exhibitions: Starting from September 26, 2023 (Tue)
Regular exhibitions at Tokyo National Museum are rotated almost every week. This page provides the latest information on the change of exhibits.
* Some works are exhibited for a longer period of time.
Japanese Gallery (Honkan)
Room 13 features selected swords and sword–fittings from the Heian to Edo periods, including Blade for a Long Sword (Tachi), Named “Meibutsu Ōkanehira”.
Heiseikan
On Mount Haguro, a sacred mountain in Yamagata Prefecture in northern Japan, there is a Shinto shrine known as Dewa Sanzan Jinja. The shrine faces a pond, into which numerous bronze mirrors were dropped as sacred offerings over the centuries. Thus far, approximately 600 of these mirrors have been recovered.
Most of these mirrors were created between the Heian (794–1192) and the Edo (1603–1868) period, with the ones believed to date to the late Heian period showing particularly fine craftsmanship. These mirrors are thinly cast and their reverse, non-reflective sides are decorated with images inspired by yamato-e, a classical style of Japanese painting that thrived at the imperial court.
This exhibition presents the bronze mirrors of Mount Haguro that are housed at the Tokyo National Museum. It focuses on their designs, the beauty of which reflects profound religious faith.
Asian Gallery (Toyokan)
This room mainly features artifacts discovered at Silk Road sites by the Japanese Ōtani expeditions at the start of the 20th century. Works are exhibited on rotation and illustrate the wide range of art and religious objects found in the diverse cultures along the Silk Road.
Lacquer is the sap of the lacquer tree, which grows in East and Southeast Asia. Naturally sticky, it can be brushed onto different materials, and it hardens into a durable coating that is waterproof and resistant to acids, alkalis, and heat. The history of lacquerware in China dates back to the Neolithic period (ca. 10,000–2100 BC). Over the millennia, a number of decorative techniques evolved in China, including lacquer relief carving and lacquer with incised lines filled with gold leaf. Chinese lacquerware frequently feature abstract spiral patterns (called “pommel scrolls”) or pictorial scenes of landscapes, flowers, birds, pavilions, and people.
This section of the gallery introduces decorative art from China’s Qing dynasty (1644–1912), including works of jade, cloisonné, glass, and bamboo. These works illustrate the fine craftsmanship and sophisticated design aesthetic of decorative art from this period.
This gallery features Korean furniture, clothing, and room decor from the Joseon dynasty (1392–1910). While the costumes, furniture, tableware, and stationery each possessed individual beauty, their appeal was enhanced by their placement in living spaces.
The art of “miniature painting” is one of India’s best-known genres. These paintings use elaborate brushwork and vibrant colors to depict a variety of themes, including: Indian myths, Hindu gods, portraits of kings, scenes from history, and love stories. Miniature paintings can also be enjoyed for their distinct regional styles that reflect India’s rich history of cultural diversity.
Taiwan’s population includes not only Han Chinese, who originally came from the mainland, but also 16 indigenous tribes. Of these tribes, the Payuan people based in southern Taiwan form a hereditary society that consists of two classes: the nobility and commoners.
This exhibit shows clothing and tools pertaining to the daily lives and culture of the Payuan people. Among these, two swords have designs incorporating a venomous snake that these people have long revered as a symbol of the nobility’s ancestral spirits. A vest, another object in the lineup, is made of clouded leopard fur―a material only chiefs, the highest-ranking members of the nobility, were allowed to wear. These and other objects on display reflect the social and spiritual values of the Payuan people.
The Gallery of Horyuji Treasures
The textiles held in the collection date from the mid-7th to 8th century and consist mainly of Buddhist ritual banners (ban), table mats (joku), and robes or other clothing worn by monks. The textiles also include fragments whose original uses are unknown, including rare ancient textiles, such as warp-faced compound weaves, tapestries, warp ikat fragments, complex gauze (ra), and plain- and twill- weave silks.
Kuroda Memorial Hall
Created to honor Kuroda’s artistic career and exhibit his works, this room was opened to visitors when the hall was founded. The inscription in Chinese characters on the panel above the doors reads: “Memorial Room of Viscount Kuroda,” which is said to be the handwriting of the painter Nakamura Fusetsu. This room allows visitors to view Kuroda’s works from the collection, which mainly consists of those donated by his family, and gain glimpses of the character of Kuroda, who contributed greatly to modernizing Western-style painting in Japan and improving the status of art in general in Japanese society.