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

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 in order to pass 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.

Of these, 70 donated cultural properties were recently exhibited in rooms T1 and T2 of the Honkan. Now we are displaying eight purchased works here in the Thematic Exhibition Room of the Heiseikan. Through these exhibitions, we hope that visitors will gain a better understanding of our collecting activities and the appeal of these varied objects, which vividly communicate to us the cultures of the past.