Series Historical Collection: Speaking to the Future - Natural History Albums - In Pursuit of True Forms

Natural history albums in the Tokyo National Museum were mostly collected, compiled or produced during the early Meiji period (1868-1912) by Tanaka Yoshio and other members of the Natural Products Section of the Museum Bureau. They compiled them using albums from the Edo period (1613-1868) together with paintings prepared by the artists at the Museum Bureau. They were published and served to disseminate Western science among Japanese people. The Natural Products Section was later abolished, and its collection, including natural history albums, was handed over to the Imperial Household Museum's History Section.

This display features the work of Kimura Kenkado and Hotta Masaatsu, who compiled natural history albums during the Edo period, as well as painters including Sekine Untei and Takahashi Yuichi from the pre-museum days, and Nakajima Gyozan and Hattori Sessai who worked for the museum. Also highlighted are objects from Tanaka Yoshio's collection, such as a bat-shaped toy boomerang that he brought back from Vienna.