NATIONAL MUSEUM OF TOKYO
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The museum's incredible collections and the surrounding Ueno Park are essential to discover the country's rich history.
It is the largest and oldest museum in Japan. It was originally established in 1871 as the Imperial Household Museum. After its partial destruction in 1923 during the earthquake, the main building was rebuilt between 1932 and 1937. It contains about 100,000 pieces, but only a part of the collection is accessible to the public. The museum covers an area of just over 10 hectares and consists of four large buildings: the Honkan in the center for Japanese art with sculptures (Nara, Kyōto, Kamakura), ancient fabrics, swords and armor, porcelain; the Heiseikan, an archaeological building for Japanese prehistory; the Tōyōkan, offering a gallery of oriental art from Southeast Asia, the Pacific, Korea and China, or Mediterranean countries; and finally the Hōryūji Homotsu Kan, which houses works from the Hōryūji, the famous temple founded by Prince Shōtoku Taishi near Nara, and masterpieces from the Asuka period. This last part is incredible! It contains sculptures, bronze statues of monks, masks, textiles, paintings and metal objects. Another hall, Hyokeikan, houses temporary exhibitions. Of the four buildings, the most interesting for non-specialists is surely the Honkan. This den of imperial architecture houses the world's largest collection of traditional Japanese art. Between different buildings and temporary exhibitions, it is impossible to see everything at once, but it remains an essential step of a stay in Tokyo.
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