is a museum in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Japan. The museum opened in

Toranomon is a business district of Minato, Tokyo. History Literally meaning "Tiger's Gate," Toranomon was the name of the southernmost gate of Edo Castle. The gate existed until the 1870s when it was demolished to make way for modern developments. ...

, Tokyo in 1917 to house the collection of pre-modern

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and East-Asian Art amassed since the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

by industrialist

Ōkura Kihachirō was a Japanese people, Japanese entrepreneur who founded the ''Ōkura-gumi'' ''zaibatsu'', which later became the Taisei Corporation, and the ''Ōkura Shōgyō Gakkō'' ("Okura Commerce School") which later became Tokyo Keizai University, Tokyo ...

. The museum collection includes some 2,500 works, among which are three National Treasures and twelve Important Cultural Properties. The museum is located within the grounds of the

Hotel Okura Tokyo is a luxury hotel opened in 1962 in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is operated by Okura Hotels and was a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. The historic main wing was demolished in 2015, with a modern replacement on the site opened in 2019, ...

. Closed for renovation since April 1, 2014, the museum reopened alongside the rebuilt hotel in 2019.

History

The Okura Museum of Art was the first private

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

in Japan. The museum and all the exhibits on display were destroyed in the

1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...

although works then in storage survived. The exhibition hall was rebuilt in 1927 by leading architect and architectural historian

Itō Chūta was a Japanese architect, architectural historian, and critic. He is recognized as the leading architect and architectural theorist of early 20th-century Imperial Japan. Biography Second son of a doctor in Yonezawa, present-day Yamagata Prefect ...

and is a Registered Cultural Property. The museum collection was subsequently augmented by the founder's son, Ōkura Kishichirō.

Collection

The three National Treasures in the collection are a

Heian-period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

wooden statue of

Samantabhadra Samantabhadra (Lit. "All Good", or "Always Auspicious") may refer to: * Samantabhadra (Bodhisattva), a bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism associated with practice and meditation * ''Samantabhadra'' (Tibetan: ''Kuntu Zangpo''), the name of a Buddha, ...

(''Fugen Bosatsu'' in Japanese) riding on an elephant; a scroll painting '' Imperial Guard Cavalry'' ( in Japanese) dating to 1247; and a copy of the preface to the Kokinshū attributed to

Minamoto no Shunrai was an important and innovative Japanese poet, who compiled the ''Gosen Wakashū''. He was the son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016–1097); holder of the second rank in court and of the position of Grand Counsellor). Shunrai was favored by Empero ...

. Losses in the 1923 earthquake include one of the dry lacquer statue group of the Ten Great Disciples of which six survive at

Kōfuku-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is the national headquarters of the Hossō school. History Kōfuku-ji has its origin as a temple that was established in 669 b ...

(National Treasures).

References

External links

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{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Tokyo Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo Art museums established in 1917 1917 establishments in Japan

History

Collection

See also

References

External links