The is a museum in the most southern prefecture of
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. The museum complex in the Omoro-machi area of
Naha
is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...
, the capital city of
Okinawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city o ...
. It opened in November 2007, and includes art, history, and natural history museums focusing specifically on Okinawan topics.
The museum building, constructed largely of local Okinawan
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, was designed with the imagery of Okinawa's ''
gusuku
often refers to castles or fortresses in the Ryukyu Islands that feature stone walls. However, the origin and essence of ''gusuku'' remain controversial. In the archaeology of Okinawa Prefecture, the ''Gusuku period'' refers to an archaeologica ...
'' (castles) in mind. It contains roughly 24,000 square meters
沖縄県立博物館
Okinawa Information IMA. Accessed 29 July 2008. of floor space on its four above-ground levels and one basement level. The art museum and history/natural history museum are located on opposite sides of a common lobby, and visitors can buy admission to one or the other, or a combination ticket.
History
The Okinawa Prefectural Museum was originally established in May 1972, as a matter of course following the end of the US Occupation of Okinawa and its return to Japan, being primarily a renaming and reorganization of the Ryukyu Governmental Museum (琉球政府立博物館) established in 1946. It was based in the Ōnaka-chō neighborhood of Shuri, near Shuri Castle
was a Ryukyuan ''gusuku'' castle in Shuri, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Between 1429 and 1879, it was the palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, before becoming largely neglected. In 1945, during the Battle of Okinawa, it was almost completely destroye ...
, and was closed in 2007, moving to the new site. The museum in its former incarnation focused upon Okinawan history, natural history, folk life, and related topics. The art museum included on the new site is the first prefectural art museum in Okinawa.[
]
Sections
The gardens in front of the museum include reproductions of two traditional-style Okinawan buildings - a thatch
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
-roofed storehouse, and a traditional-style tile-roofed home - along with a number of ''shisa
is a traditional Ryukyuan cultural artifact and decoration derived from Chinese guardian lions, often seen in similar pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology. Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some ...
'' statues and other items representing Okinawa's tradition of pottery and ceramics. A sculpture garden located behind the museum features large contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
works, and opens onto a large public park, Shintoshin Park.
The Natural History section of the museum is entered via a glass-floored walkway designed to look as though one is walking over coral
Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...
, approaching an island.[沖縄県立博物館・美術館]
Culture Resort Festone website. Accessed 29 July 2008. A large wrap-around screen shows short films about the geological origins of the Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...
and about its natural environment, flora, and fauna. Several rooms cover a variety of aspects of the islands' natural environment, including numerous specimens of the islands' flora and fauna, a discussion of the dangers facing coral reefs and endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, and Minatogawa man
The Minatogawa man or Minatogawa specimens are the prehistoric population of Okinawa, Japan, represented by four skeletons, two male and two female, and some isolated bones dated between 20,000 and 22,000 years BCE. They are among the oldest skel ...
, the oldest ''Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' specimen found in East Asia.
The History section is organized around a large map of the Ryukyu archipelago projected onto the floor and connected into a number of computer terminals allowing visitors to explore aspects of individual islands, including satellite photographs of famous sites, native flora and fauna, and local culture. The several rooms of the history section of the museum cover the entire history of the Ryukyus
This article is about the history of the Ryukyu Islands southwest of the main islands of Japan.
Etymology
The name "Ryūkyū" originates from Chinese writings. The earliest references to "Ryūkyū" write the name as 琉虬 and 流求 () in the ...
, from early Jōmon period
The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...
culture through the return to Japanese sovereignty following the US Occupation. Numerous artifacts, art objects, and reproductions thereof are employed to illustrate the historical topics.
The Art Museum includes spaces for special temporary exhibits along with galleries displaying objects from the museum's collection. The exhibitions focus on early modern and contemporary artworks by Okinawan artists, those relating to or associated with Okinawa in some way, and a number of other works by Japanese, other Asian, and American artists. The permanent exhibits are rotated three to four times a year.
In addition to the main exhibit halls, cafe, museum shop, and auditorium, the museum includes an extensive library, and a where visitors can explore aspects of Okinawa's natural environment and folk culture in a hands-on manner, including traditional clothing, musical instruments such as the sanshin
The is an Okinawan and Amami Islands musical instrument and precursor of the mainland Japanese (). Often likened to a banjo, it consists of a snakeskin-covered body, neck and three strings.
Origins
Its close resemblance in both appearance a ...
, and a variety of puzzles and games. The museum also hosts a variety of events, including live performances, lectures, and films.
See also
* Prefectural museum
A prefectural museum is a museum that specializes in collections local to a prefecture of Japan.
Prefectural museums emerged in postwar Japan, and since these institutions are of recent origin their collections tend not to contain older Japan ar ...
References
External links
Official Site
Accessed 29 July 2008.
{{authority control
1972 establishments in Japan
Art museums and galleries in Japan
Prefectural museums
Museums in Okinawa Prefecture
History museums in Japan
Natural history museums in Japan
Museums established in 1972
Naha