New Acquisitions to the Museum in Fiscal Year 2015, Part One

Museums have the important responsibilities of safekeeping irreplaceable cultural properties and exhibiting them for the public. Fulfilling its role as a national institution, the Tokyo National Museum engages in the safekeeping and wide-ranging exhibition of exceptional cultural properties from Japan and other Asian nations, while passing down Japan’s culture to future generations.

The Museum’s collection, however, is still not sufficient for a comprehensive exhibition of Japanese culture and for allowing the public to expand their appreciation and understanding on a variety of themes. We therefore continue to enrich the collection by acquiring high-quality cultural properties every year.

Last fiscal year we acquired a total of 166 cultural properties through donations by charitable individuals and through purchases. Each of these objects is indispensable in examining the cultures of Japan and other Asian nations.

On this occasion, we are displaying 70 donated cultural properties in rooms T1 and T2 on the second floor of the Honkan and eight purchased works in the Thematic Exhibition Room on the first floor of the Heiseikan (the latter will be displayed from May 31-July 10). Through these exhibitions, we hope to introduce visitors to our Museum’s collecting activities, and to the appeal of these varied objects, which vividly communicate to us the cultures of the past.