Tokyo National Museum, Ueno Park Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan

The National Museum of Tokyo houses more than 100,000 works of Japanese, Chinese and Indian art, including more than 100 of Japan's National Treasures. Its main building comprises 25 exhibition galleries (of which 20 are normally open to the public). It was built between 1932 and 1938 to replace the Imperial Museum, which was seriously damaged in the 1923 earthquake, and presented to the Imperial House. The latter ceded all proprietary rights over the building and its artistic treasures to the state in 1947. Until 1868 the Kan-eiji Temple stood here; it was at the time the most importantBuddhist temple in Edo. In 1875 the temple was rebuilt close by, just outside the park.On the right hand side of the main building lies the Museum for East Asiatic Art, with 15 exhibition galleries. It was opened in October 1968. The objects on display are changed from time to time.Rooms 1-3: Buddhist sculptures from the Asuka period (552-645) to the present, as well as examples from China.Room 4: Old textiles, especially valuable examples from the Asuka period.Room 5: Metalwork, especially Buddhist sacred vessels, etc. (6th-16th C.)Room 6: Historical weapons and military equipment.Room 7: The art of the swordsmith is illustrated with exhibits from different centuries.Room 8: Historic Japanese clothing. Ceramics from Japan, China and Korea.Room 9 and 10: Japanese, Korean and Chinese pottery from various periods.Room 11: Japanese painting from the Nara Period (645-794) to the kamakura Period (1192-1336).Room 12: Japanese painting from the Muromachi Period (1392-1573) including masterpieces by the monks, Josetsu, Shubun and Sesshu.Room 13: Japanese painting from the Momoyama (1573-1603) and Tokugawa (1603-1868) periods, including works of the Kano, Tosa, Sumiyoshi, Korin and Maruyama schools.Room 14: Coloured xylographs from the Tokugawa Period.Rooms 15 and 16: Japanese and Chinese masterpieces of lacquer-work of various centuries, including examples of lacquer-carving, gold lacquer, lacquer with mother of pearl.Rooms 17 and 18: Japanese painting of the Meiji Period.Rooms 19 and 20: Masterpieces of Japanese calligraphy, examples from the nara Period to the Tokugawa Period.There are two other galleries near the main building: Hyokeikan: objects excavated from graves, settlements, etc., reveal the prehistory of Japan. The so-called Haniwa, pottery figures which were buried with the dead, are especially worthy of note. Toyokan: objects from China and Korea.Behind the main building there is a typical Japanese landscape garden. Three pavilions have been brought here, and they give it the character of an open-air museum. The Tein Teahouse (Rokuso-an) dates from the 17th C. In the Okyo Pavilion (Okyo-kan) pictures with plant motives by the famous landscape artist Maruyama Okyo (1735-95) are on show, while pictures by Kano School painters are displayed in the Kujo Pavilion. There is also a storehouse from the Kamakura Period.Horyuji-homotsukan, the Treasure of the Horyuji Temple near Nara which was completed in 1964, lies nearby. It is, however, open only on Thursdays when the weather is good.