Chinese Buddhist Sculpture
1st floor Room 1
April 20, 2021 (Tue) -
April 24, 2022 (Sun)
The galleries feature art and artifacts from regions including China, Korea, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, India, and Egypt.
1st floor Room 1
April 20, 2021 (Tue) - April 24, 2022 (Sun)
This section mainly features stone or gilt bronze Buddhist statues from about the 6th to the 8th century. The statues on display present the exquisite form of sculptures from the golden era of Buddhist statues in China.
2nd floor Room 3
July 20, 2021 (Tue) - December 5, 2021 (Sun)
This part introduces artifacts from West Asia and Egypt, known as the cradle of the earliest civilizations.
2nd floor Room 3
June 29, 2021 (Tue) - July 3, 2022 (Sun)
This part mainly features Buddhist statues from Gandhara (northwestern Pakistan) and Mathura (northern, central India) from the 2nd to the 5th century. The wide variety of sculptures on display is a notable feature.
2nd floor Room 3
September 14, 2021 (Tue) - October 31, 2021 (Sun)
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.
3rd floor Room 4
May 18, 2021 (Tue) - November 14, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery focuses on pottery and jade objects from about 3000 BC to AD 200. The items on display present the beauty that ancient Chinese people pursued in the form and color of pottery, as well as the characteristic luster of jade.
3rd floor Room 5
June 29, 2021 (Tue) - November 7, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery focuses on Chinese bronzes from about 1,800 BC to 1,000 AD. The changing shapes and designs of the bronzes on display provide clues to the thoughts and shifting religious beliefs of the ancient Chinese people.
3rd floor Room 5
June 29, 2021 (Tue) - November 7, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery introduces burial goods from about the 2nd century BC to the 8th century AD. During this period, the aristocracy and ruling elites were buried in tomb mounds along with numerous items meant to ensure their comfort in the next life, such as miniature models of daily goods (mingqi) and tomb figures shaped like servants or other people to care for them after death. The miniature models are often related to livestock or agriculture and give clues about the dietary practices of people living during this period. Visitors will also have the opportunity to see tomb figures from the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and earthenware decorated in the renowned "three-color glaze" (sancai) of the Tang dynasty (618–907).
3rd floor Room 5
June 15, 2021 (Tue) - November 7, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery presents the changing expressions of Chinese ceramics from the 7th to the 19th century.
3rd floor Room 5
July 6, 2021 (Tue) - September 26, 2021 (Sun)
Album of Antique Textiles, 16th–19th centuryJapanese tea masters of the Edo period (1603–1868) prized textiles from overseas, many of which were imported from China. To catalog their collections, they compiled albums showcasing samples of gold brocades and damasks along with different types of striped and multicolored textiles. Tea masters prized these small pieces of cloth and dutifully added labels to each one as they bound them into albums. They used these albums to improve their knowledge of imported textiles and also as guides to appraise fabrics used in tea ceremonies or for tea utensils.
4th floor Room 7
April 6, 2021 (Tue) - April 10, 2022 (Sun)
In the 2nd century BC, Chinese tombs were not simply holes in the ground. They developed to have walls and ceilings, with a structure almost like underground mansions. Tombs also appeared that had shrines built above ground for the bereaved families to perform rituals. Particularly in Shandong province and southern Henan province, sturdy stone was favored for making the tombs and shrines, with the stone surfaces used for carving images. Many of these stone bas-reliefs were created until the second half of the 2nd century in the Eastern Han dynasty.
4th floor Room 8
September 7, 2021 (Tue) - October 17, 2021 (Sun)
This exhibition introduces art imported to Edo Japan through four chapters: 1) Ōbaku: A New Wave of Zen Buddhism, 2) Bird-and-Flower Paintings by Shen Quan, 3) Paintings and Calligraphy by Chinese Visitors to Edo Japan, and 4) Ichikawa Beian’s Reception of Chinese Calligraphy.
5th floor Room 9
September 7, 2021 (Tue) - December 5, 2021 (Sun)
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 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. Over the past 7,000 years, a number of ornate decorative techniques have grown out of Chinese innovations, including: built-up layers of lacquer that are then carved, mother-of-pearl inlay, incised lines of gold, and a special type of decorative inlay made up of different colors of lacquer and outlined in incised lines.
5th floor Room 9
September 7, 2021 (Tue) - December 5, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery introduces the decorative art of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) in China, such as works of jade, cloisonne, glass, and bamboo. The items on display feature the beauty of fine technical skill and the sophisticated atmosphere of Qing–dynasty decorative art.
5th floor Room 10
April 27, 2021 (Tue) - October 24, 2021 (Sun)
This part highlights Korean polished stone tools and metal objects that had a great influence on Japan's Yayoi culture.
5th floor Room 10
April 27, 2021 (Tue) - October 24, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery presents artifacts from Korea’s Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–668 AD), an era when powerful rulers vied for control of the Korean Peninsula. The three kingdoms were comprised of Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast. A fourth state, known as the Gaya confederacy, also existed in the south before being annexed by Silla.
Each region made full use of the materials of the time—namely, gold, silver, bronze, iron, glass, and jade—to create distinct ornaments and other objects including, armor, horse tack, clay tiles, and pottery.
5th floor Room 10
April 27, 2021 (Tue) - October 24, 2021 (Sun)
This gallery introduces Korean ceramics from the Proto–Three Kingdoms period (1st century BC–3rd century AD) to the Joseon dynasty(1392–1910).
5th floor Room 10
April 6, 2021 (Tue) - September 20, 2021 (Mon)
This gallery features the essence of Korean Buddhist art.
5th floor Room 10
June 29, 2021 (Tue) - September 20, 2021 (Mon)
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.
Basement Room 11
July 6, 2021 (Tue) - February 20, 2022 (Sun)
This section introduces sculptures from Khmer, with a focus on stone statues from the Angkor period (9th-13th century). The Tokyo National Museum collection of Khmer sculptures, which are distinguished in both quality and quantity, was acquired in 1944 through an exchange project with the research institute l'École francaise d'Extrême-Orient.
Basement Rooms 12 & 13
July 6, 2021 (Tue) - February 20, 2022 (Sun)
This special thematic exhibition does not limit its scope to a particular nation or region, but instead features Islamic art from all over the world. It was made possible through the generous cooperation of the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia and their willingness to loan works from their impressive collection of Islamic masterpieces.
Islam was founded as a monotheistic religion in the 7th century by the Prophet Muhammad (ca. 570–632) on the Arabian Peninsula. After its founding, Islam gradually spread outward to Europe, North Africa, and Central Asia, eventually reaching East and Southeast Asia. It is currently the world’s second most widely practiced religion next to Christianity. Many Islamic dynasties rose and fell as the religion spread across the globe, and each one developed its own version of Islamic culture enriched by elements of local cultures.
This exhibition showcases decorative art objects and historical materials that highlight the diversity within Islamic culture and promote a deeper understanding of the Islamic world.