Tokyo National Museum

Founded in 1872, this is the country's oldest museum and by far its largest collection of Japanese art. It occupies several buildings around a courtyard in Ueno Park: the main hall for Japanese work arranged chronologically, a separate building for the rest of Asia, an archaeology wing with the clay figures and rope-marked pots of the Jomon period, and a quiet, dim gallery of seventh and eighth century objects transferred from a temple near Nara. The collection includes a large number of designated national treasures, but they are shown in rotation, both for conservation and because there is no space to show everything at once. Screens, armour, sword blades, lacquer and Buddhist sculpture all cycle through.

History

The museum traces its origin to the Yushima Seido exhibition of imperial artwork and scientific specimens held by the Ministry of Education from 10 March to 30 April 1872. In 1873, while the Vienna World Fair was on, objects kept in Japan went into a temporary display just southeast of the Imperial Palace, which opened on 15 April (Wikipedia, Tokyo National Museum).

The main sights

• The main hall - Japanese art in chronological order, from early sculpture through screens to woodblock prints.
• The archaeology wing - Jomon pots and clay figures, the strangest objects in the building.
• The temple treasures gallery - seventh and eighth century bronzes and masks in near darkness, usually empty.
• The Asian gallery - Chinese, Korean and Central Asian holdings, rarely crowded even on busy days.

When to go

Open all year except Mondays and the New Year break. Weekday afternoons are calmest. Blockbuster special exhibitions bring long queues that spill into the courtyard, so if you want the permanent collection, come while everyone else is in the temporary show. The garden behind the main hall opens only for limited spring and autumn seasons.

Before you go

It is too big for one visit and the chronological hang can feel like homework. Because the treasures rotate, the specific famous object you came to see may well be in storage, and the website is the only way to check. English labels exist but are short. Ueno Park is packed during blossom season and the queue for tickets moves slowly then.

Nearby

Ueno Park also holds the national science museum and a western art collection; Yanaka's old lanes lie north.

Key facts