- Address: 13-9 Uenokōen, Taitō-ku, Tōkyō-to 110-8712, Japan
- Phone: +81 3-3822-1111
- Official website: www.tnm.jp
- Opening date: March 10, 1872
The Tokyo National Museum is Japan's oldest and largest cultural center. It was founded in 1872 and today it stores more than 120,000 expositions. In addition to its own collection, the main museum of the country regularly organizes thematic exhibitions about pharaohs, anime,
General information
The history of the museum began in 1872, when the largest exhibition in the history of Japan was held. For the first time, personal belongings of the imperial family, items from the palace treasury, antique utensils, stuffed animals, various cultural monuments and natural products that demonstrated the natural wealth of Japan were presented to the general public for the first time. The exhibition quickly gained popularity, in total it was visited by about 150 000 people. It became a vivid event in the life of Japan and Asia in general.
To hold a large-scale exhibition, a special institution called Taysaiden was set up at the Tokyo's Yusima-saido temple. It is this building that became the prototype of the modern Japanese National Museum in Tokyo, which today consists of four buildings.
Structure of the museum
The Tokyo National Museum is located in the Ueno city park . This explains the presence of a luxurious landscape around. The area of the museum by world standards is quite large - 100 000 square meters. m.
On the territory there are 4 buildings:
- Main building, Honkan. The building is designed in the Art Deco style with national elements. This is the heart of the museum, the main exhibition gallery. It was opened in 1938. There are exhibits that show the way of development of national culture from antiquity to our days. The collection consists of objects of Buddhism, drawings, requisites of the Kabuki Theater, screen with plot painting and much more. And it is in this building of the Tokyo National Museum that the armor of the samurai is, perhaps, the most popular exhibit.
- The ceremonial building, Hokakeikan. It was opened almost 30 years before the main, in 1909. His architect was Takuma Katayama. The two-story building with a blue dome is externally devoid of luxury, but inside it completely corresponds to the ceremonial events that were planned to be held here. The building itself is an architectural monument in the style of the Meiji era. Today the building is used as an educational center.
- East Corps, Toyokan. For the first time it opened its doors in 1968. It is distinguished by the fact that there are art objects and archaeological finds of all countries except Japan itself. The collection helps visitors to trace Japan's cultural ties with other states.
- The Heisei Corps. He was discovered the latest in 1999. It stores in itself the treasures of the oldest and one of the largest temples of Khorju-ji in the city of Nara . The center of the collection are the main attributes of religious ceremonies - metal jewelry of a huge size.
How to get there?
The National Museum is located in the heart of Tokyo , so you can reach it by metro . To do this, you need to sit on the blue (Keihintohoku Line) or green branch (Yamanote Line), which are served by JR and reach the station Uguisudani Station. In 30 m from it there is a city park in which the National museum is located.