Tokyo National Museum
The Tokyo National Museum or TNM is an art museum in Ueno Park in the Taitō ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the four museums operated by the, is considered the oldest national museum and the largest art museum in Japan. The museum collects, preserves, and displays a comprehensive collection of artwork and cultural objects from Asia, with a focus on ancient and medieval Japanese art and Asian art along the Silk Road. There is also a large collection of Greco-Buddhist art. As of April 2023, the museum held approximately 120,000 Cultural Properties, including 89 National Treasures, 319 Horyuji Treasures, and 649 Important Cultural Properties. As of the same date, the Japanese government had designated 902 works of art and crafts as National Treasures and 10,820 works of art and crafts as Important Cultural Properties, so the museum holds about 10% of the works of art and crafts designated as National Treasures and 6% of those designated as Important Cultural Properties.
The museum also holds 2,651 cultural properties deposited by individuals and organisations, of which 54 are National Treasures and 262 are Important Cultural Properties. Of these, 3,000 cultural properties are on display at one time, with each changing for between four and eight weeks. The museum also conducts research and organizes educational events related to its collection.
The facilities consist of the Honkan, holding the Japanese Gallery; the Heiseikan and Hyokeikan, holding special exhibitions; the Toyokan, holding the Asian Gallery; the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, holding important relics originally preserved at Nara's Horyu Temple; the Kuroda Memorial Hall, holding a collection of works by Kuroda Seiki; and the Research and Information Center. There are restaurants and shops within the museum's premises, as well as outdoor exhibitions and a garden where visitors can enjoy seasonal views.
The Tokyo National Museum is one of four museums operated by the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage; the other three are Kyoto National Museum, Nara National Museum, and Kyushu National Museum. The Tokyo National Museum is a representative museum that comprehensively exhibits Japanese cultural assets, but other national museums are more complete in specific areas, such as cultural assets from the Meiji era in the 1800s to the present. The Independent Administrative Institution National Museum of Art, operates seven museums specializing in specific fields, including those focusing on modern art and Japanese crafts and those focusing on Western art. Two museums managed by the National Institutes for the Humanities focus on folklore. The Museum of the Imperial Collections, managed by the Imperial Household Agency, focuses on cultural assets donated to the nation by Japanese imperial family.
Names
The museum went through several name changes. The original 1872 exhibition was known as the "Museum of the Ministry of Education". The compound in Uchiyamashita-chō was initially known simply as "the Museum" before becoming the "Sixth Bureau of the Home Ministry", after which it was again known as the Museum and then the "Museum of the Museum Bureau". It was renamed the in 1888, reflecting its change of ownership of the imperial household. As other museums opened, this changed to the more specific Tokyo Imperial Household Museum in 1900. Following the government reforms imposed after World War II, it was renamed the "National Museum" in 1947 and the "Tokyo National Museum" in 2001. The museum is also sometimes known as the "Ueno Museum".History
Yushima Seido Exhibition
The Tokyo National Museum is the oldest national museum in Japan. It considers its origin to have been the or, a public exhibition of imperial artwork and scientific specimens held by the Ministry of Education's Museum Department from 10 March to 30 April 1872 during the 5th year of the Meiji Era. The items' authenticity had been ascertained by the recent Jinshin Survey, which catalogued and verified various imperial, noble, and temple holdings around the country. Directed by Shigenobu Okuma, Tsunetami Sano, and others, the 1872 exhibition expanded on an 1871 exhibit at the Tokyo Kaisei School in order to prepare for an international exhibition at the 1873 [Vienna World's Fair] celebrating Franz [Joseph I of Austria|Franz JosephI]'s 25th year as emperor. Japan decided to honor their invitation primarily in order to raise the international standing of Japanese manufactures and boost exports of Japan|exports]; 24 engineers were also sent with the delegation to study cutting-edge Western engineering at the fair for use in Japanese industry. The most important products of each province were listed and two specimens of each were collected, one for display in Vienna and the other for preservation and display at a new museum. The 1872 exhibition, held at the Taiseiden Hall of the former Confucian temple at Yushima Seido in the Shoheizaka neighborhood, was open daily 9 am to 4 pm and ultimately admitted about 150,000 people. The 1873 exhibition in Vienna, apart from the collection of regional objects, also included a full Japanese garden with shrine, a model of the former pagoda at Tokyo's imperial temple, the female golden shachi from Nagoya Castle, and a papier-maché copy of the Kamakura Buddha. The next year, Sano compiled a report on the fair in 96 volumes divided into 16 parts. Gottfried Wagener, a German scientist then working in Tokyo, wrote its reports on "The Art Museum in Respect to Arts and Various Crafts" and "The Establishment of the Tokyo Museum", arguing strongly for the creation of a museum on western lines in the Japanese capital.Uchiyamashita museum
While the Vienna World Fair was going on, the locally-held objects were organized by the Exposition Bureau into a temporary display at a compound in Uchiyamashita-chō, immediately southeast of the Imperial Palace, in March 1873. It opened on 15 April and was open to the public for the next 3½ months, after which it opened on the days in each month ending with the numbers 1 or 6. A special exhibition in 1874 focused on new technology in medicine, chemistry, and physics. On 30 March 1875, the museum was moved under the Home Ministry. By this time, it included seven buildingsincluding a greenhousewith displays covering Japanese antiques, agriculture, and the natural sciences; the grounds had an area for livestock and a room for bears. The museum continued to be connected to industry and was closely involved with the national industrial exhibitions held in Ueno Park in 1877, 1881, and 1890.Ueno museum
was founded in 1873 on land that had been held by the metropolitan government since the destruction of most of the Kaneiji Temple during the Boshin War that established the Meiji Restoration, partially following the example set by the American government at Yellowstone the preceding year. Hisanari Machida, the museum's first director, had advocated the use of the spacious park for a wide-ranging museum as early as 1873 but parts of it were used for the military and education ministries until 1875, when the Home Ministry acquired complete control. The museum's early conception was based on the South Kensington Museum in London, but important changes were made. The museum collections were divided into the eight categories of fine arts, nature, agriculture & forestry, history, law, education, industry, and land & sea. The ministry gave the entire park to the museum in January 1876 but its facilities there weren't completed until 1881, when the original Honkan was completed in time for the Second National Industrial Exhibition; the smaller brick building used by the first National Industrial Exhibition in 1877 was incorporated into this as a wing. In April 1881, the museum was moved from the Home Ministry to the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade. It began construction on the associated zoo and added the Asakusa Bunko collection to the museum as its book department.A ceremony attended by Emperor Meiji opened the museum and zoo on 20 March 1882; the library was reopened on September 30. The facilities were open to the public every day except Mondays and two days around the New Year. In 1888 or 1889, the imperial household took over ownership of the museum, focusing its operations on cultural and scientific pursuits and ending its direct involvement with trade and industry. The original [|Honkan] was severely damaged in the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, and exhibits were moved to the undamaged [|Hyokeikan]. The structure having originally been promoted as having "solidity... matched by no other" in Japan, its collapse led to disillusionment with the architecture and style it represented.
Upon the marriage of Hirohito in 1924, the entire Ueno Parkalong with the museum and the zoowere returned to the Tokyo Municipal Government as a present. While the main building's reconstruction was being discussed, the natural science collections were removed from the museum in 1925 to form the separate Tokyo Museum of the Ministry of Education. An Imperial Museum Innovation Promotion Committee was assembled the next year following the ascension of Hirohito as emperor, which ultimately decided to replace the former building. In 1931, they held a design contest and selected the Imperial-Crown plan from Jin Watanabe.
The present Honkan was opened to the public in 1938, having reorganized its collection to dissolve the history department and classify its holdings as art. In November 1940, the Shosoin were publicly displayed for the first time to celebrate the supposed 2600th anniversary of the ascension of the first emperor of Japan. 400,000 came to see them during the 20-day exhibit.
The museum saw attendance begin to fall after 1925; it was closed in 1945 during the final phases of the Second World War. It was placed under the Ministry of Education in 1947, the Independent Administrative Institution National Museum in 2001, and the Independent Administrative Institution National Institutes for Cultural Heritage in 2007.
From October 18, 2022 to December 11, the Tokyo National Museum celebrated its 150 year anniversary by displaying all of its 89 national treasures in a single exhibition for the first time.
Facilities
[|Heiseikan]
The hosts regular special exhibitions in the four large galleries on its second floor; the first floor includes the Japanese Archaeology Gallery, another space for temporary exhibits, a spacious lounge and café, an auditorium, and lecture and orientation rooms. The first floor also holds the gallery of major donors to the museum.The Heiseikan was first opened in 1999. Its name reflects the regnal era of its creation, the rule of Emperor Akihito, which lasted from 1989 to 2019. The building was erected to commemorate the wedding of Crown Prince Naruhito to Masako Owada on 9 June 1993.
The Japanese Archaeology Gallery introduces the use of archaeology to date excavated objects and includes a display of various finds from Japanese sites, including Jomon linear appliqué pottery, some of the oldest pottery in the world.
Hyokeikan
The was opened in 1909. Its name reflects its construction in honor of the wedding of Crown Prince Yoshihito and Sadako Kujo on 10 May 1900. As an example of the Western-influenced architecture of the late Meiji Era, it was designated an Important Cultural Property in 1978. It is closed to the public except during special exhibitions.Kuroda Kinenkan (Kuroda Memorial Hall)
The Kuroda Memorial Hall holds a collection of works by the important Western-style artist Kuroda Seiki. Its collection presently comprises 126 oil paintings and 170 drawings, as well as sketchbooks, letters, &c. Located northwest of the main museum compound, it has free admission and separate hours of operation.Designed by Okada Shinichirō, the hall was built in 1928 as part of Kuroda's bequest to use part of his fortune "to fund projects to promote art". In 1930, it became the headquarters of the Art Research Institute, which became the Tokyo Research Institute for Cultural Properties. The TRICP moved in 2000, with the Kuroda Memorial Hall reopening as a public gallery the next year. In 2007, its administration was transferred to the Tokyo National Museum, which renovated it before reopening it on 2 January 2015. Admission was originally restricted to two-week periods in January, Spring, and Autumn but it is presently open whenever the main museum is.
The exhibition on the second floor consists of 4 rooms: the Kuroda Memorial Room, the Reading Room, the Audiovisual Room, and the Collection Highlights Gallery. There is also a cafe on the first and second floors.
Shiryokan (Research and Information Center)
The holds books, magazines, images, and other documents relating to history, archaeology, and the fine and applied arts in Japan, Asia, and the Middle East.The [|Research and Information Center] was opened in 1984. The floor open to the public includes two reading rooms, an exhibition area, and counters for requesting items held in the archives on the other floors. Free access is available without admission to the rest of the museum through the compound's west gate.