The Museum of the Imperial Collections is located on the grounds of the East Garden of

Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...

. It showcases a changing exhibition of a part of the imperial household treasures.

History

The Museum of the Imperial Collections was conceived during the change from the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

(1926 – 1989) to the

Heisei period The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

(1989 – 2019) . The Imperial family donated 6,000 pieces of art to the Japanese government in 1989. Many pieces were created by

Imperial Household Artist An was an artist who was officially appointed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan to create works of art for the Tokyo Imperial Palace and other imperial residences. History The system came into being during the Meiji period in 1890 and ...

s. The museum was opened in 1993 for the study and preservation of the art collection. The collection was further enlarged by the donation of the art collection of

Prince Chichibu , was the second son of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako), a younger brother of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of severa ...

(1902 – 1953) in 1996, the collection of

Kikuko, Princess Takamatsu , born , was a member of the Japanese Imperial Family. The Princess was married to Prince Takamatsu, the third son of Emperor Taishō and Empress Teimei. She was, therefore, a sister-in-law of Emperor Shōwa and an aunt-in-law of the following e ...

(1911 – 2004) in 2005, and the collection of

Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in ...

family in 2014. The number of items in the collection is 9,800 at present, but the exhibition room is a small room of 160 square meters and the storage room is small. Therefore, the existing museum will be rebuilt and the exhibition room will be expanded to 1,300 square meters. The construction is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

Selected artists

Although the museum houses many masterpieces, none of them are designated as

National Treasure The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...

or Important Cultural Property because cultural properties owned by the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...

or the

Imperial Household Agency The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

(Cultural properties donated to the nation by the Imperial family) are not subject to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties of Japan.宮内庁三の丸尚蔵館の今後の保存・公開の在り方に関する提言. p.7
Imperial Household Agency In 2018, in order to show the importance of cultural properties to many people in a way that is easy to understand, the Imperial Household Agency proposed that cultural properties under its management should also be designated as National Treasure or Important Cultural Property. In July 2021, the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...

, in response to a proposal made by the Imperial Household Agency, decided to designate five cultural properties as National Treasures in the first stage of the designation, including ''

Mōko Shūrai Ekotoba is a set of two Japanese illustrated handscrolls ('' emaki'') commissioned by the samurai Takezaki Suenaga (1246–1314) as a record of his wartime deeds and valor during the Mongol invasions of Japan. The first scroll describes Suenaga's acti ...

'', an ''

emakimono or is an illustrated horizontal narration system of painted handscrolls that dates back to Nara-period (710–794 CE) Japan. Initially copying their much older Chinese counterparts in style, during the succeeding Heian (794–1185) and Kamak ...

'' depicting the

Mongol invasion of Japan Major military efforts were taken by Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty in 1274 and 1281 to conquer the Japanese archipelago after the submission of the Korean kingdom of Goryeo to vassaldom. Ultimately a failure, the invasion attempts are of macr ...

, ''Karajishi-zu Byōbu'', a ''

byōbu are Japanese folding screens made from several joined panels, bearing decorative painting and calligraphy, used to separate interiors and enclose private spaces, among other uses. History are thought to have originated in Han dynasty C ...

'' by

Kano Eitoku Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

, and ''Dōshoku sai-e'', a painting by

Ito Jakuchu Ito may refer to: Places * Ito Island, an island of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea * Ito Airport, an airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Ito District, Wakayama, a district located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Itō, Shizuo ...

.蒙古襲来絵詞など国宝に宮内庁保管で初―文化審議会.
Jiji.com. July 16, 2021

Nihonga

Kaihō Yūshō ; real name: Kaiho Shōeki, " brush name": Yusho (alternative names: ''Josetsusai'', ''Yūkeisai'', ''Yūtoku''), was a Japanese painter of the Azuchi–Momoyama period. He was born in Ōmi province, the fifth son of Kaihō Tsunachika, who was a ...

(1533–1615) *

Kanō Eitoku was a Japanese painter who lived during the Azuchi–Momoyama period of Japanese history and one of the most prominent patriarchs of the Kanō school of Japanese painting. Life and works Born in Kyoto, Eitoku was the grandson of Kanō Moto ...

(1543–1590) *

Iwasa Matabei Iwasa Matabei ( ja, 岩佐又兵衛, translit=Iwasa Matabē; original name Araki Katsumochi 1578 – July 20, 1650) was a Japanese artist of the early Tokugawa period, who specialized in genre scenes of historical events and illustrations ...

(1578–1650) *

Kanō Tan'yū was a Japanese painter of the Kanō school. One of the foremost Kanō painters, many of the best known Kanō works today are by Tan'yū. Biography His original given name was Morinobu; he was the eldest son of Kanō Takanobu and grandson ...

(1602–1674) *

Kanō Tsunenobu (1636–1713) was a Japanese painting, Japanese painter of the Kanō school. He first studied under his father, Kanō Naonobu, and then his uncle, Kanō Tan'yū, after his father's death. He became a master painter and succeed his uncle Tan'y� ...

(1636–1713) *

Tawaraya Sōtatsu was a Japanese furniture designer and painter of the Rinpa school. Sōtatsu is best known for his decorations of calligraphic works by his partner Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558–1637), and his spectacular and highly influential ''byōbu'' folding s ...

(early 17th century) *

Maruyama Ōkyo , born Maruyama Masataka, was a Japanese artist active in the late 18th century. He moved to Kyoto, during which he studied artworks from Chinese, Japanese and Western sources. A personal style of Western naturalism mixed with Eastern deco ...

(1733–1795) *

Itō Jakuchū was a Japanese painter of the mid-Edo period when Japan had closed its doors to the outside world. Many of his paintings concern traditionally Japanese subjects, particularly chickens and other birds. Many of his otherwise traditional works dis ...

(1716–1800) *

Sakai Hōitsu Sakai Hōitsu ( ja, 酒井抱一; August 1, 1761 – January 4, 1829) was a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school. He is known for having revived the style and popularity of Ogata Kōrin, and for having created a number of reproductions of ...

(1761–1828) *

Hokusai , known simply as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'', which includes the ...

(1760–1849)

Calligraphy

Wang Xizhi Wang Xizhi (; ; 303 AD361 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, general and writer during the Jin Dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty. He was best known for his mastery of Chinese calligraphy. Wang is sometimes regarded as the greatest Chinese ...

(303 – 361) *

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...

(774 – 835) *

Ono no Michikaze was a Japanese calligrapher who was a prominent ''Shodōka'' (Japanese calligrapher) during the Heian period (794–1185). One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡 (Three Brush Traces), along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari, Michi ...

(894 – 966) *

Fujiwara no Sukemasa was a Japanese noble, statesman, and renowned calligrapher of the middle Heian period. Grandson and adopted son of the ''daijō-daijin'' Fujiwara no Saneyori and son of major general of the imperial guard , he is honored as one of the Sanseki, ...

(944 – 998) *

Fujiwara no Kintō , also known as Shijō-dainagon, was a Japanese poet, admired by his contemporaries "... Fujiwara no Kinto (966–1008), the most admired poet of the day." pg 283 of Donald Keene's ''Seeds in the Heart''. and a court bureaucrat of the Heian pe ...

(966 – 1041) *

Fujiwara no Yukinari , also known as Fujiwara no Kōzei, was a Japanese people, Japanese calligrapher (''shodoka'') during the Heian period, Heian period. He was memorialized for his prowess in his chosen art by being remembered as one of the outstanding Three Brush ...

(972 – 1027) *

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 ...

(1055–1129) *

Fujiwara no Teika , better-known as Fujiwara no Teika"Sadaie" and "Teika" are both possible readings of ; "...there is the further problem, the rendition of the name in romanized form. Teika probably referred to himself as Sadaie, and his father probably called ...

(1162–1241)

Modern Nihonga

Yokoyama Taikan was the art-name of a major figure in pre-World War II Japanese painting. He is notable for helping create the Japanese painting technique of ''Nihonga''. Early life Yokoyama was born in Mito city, Ibaraki Prefecture, as the eldest son of S ...

(1868–1958) * Kanzan Shimomura (1873–1930) *

Tomioka Tessai was the pseudonym for a painter and calligrapher in imperial Japan. He is regarded as the last major artist in the '' Bunjinga'' tradition and one of the first major artists of the '' Nihonga'' style. His real name was Yusuke, which he later c ...

(1837–1924) *

Takeuchi Seihō (December 20, 1864 – August 23, 1942) was a Japanese painter of the ''Nihonga'' genre, active from the Meiji through the early Shōwa period. One of the founders of ''nihonga'', his works spanned half a century and he was regarded as master o ...

(1864–1942) *

Kawai Gyokudō was the pseudonym of a Japanese painter in the nihonga school, active from Meiji through Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Kawai Yoshisaburō. Biography Gyokudō was born in what is now Ichinomiya city, Aichi Prefecture, as the eldest ...

(1873–1957) *

Uemura Shōen was the pseudonym of an artist in Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa period Japanese painting. Her real name was Uemura Tsune. Shōen was known primarily for her ''bijin-ga,'' or paintings of beautiful women, in the ''nihonga'' style, although sh ...

(1875–1949)

Sculptures and crafts

* Kawanobe Itcho (1831–1910) * Miyagawa Kōzan (1842-1916) * Asahi Gyokuzan (1843–1923) * Unnno Shomin (1844–1915) *

Namikawa Yasuyuki Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845–1927) — original family name Takaoka — was a Japanese ''cloisonné'' artist. His work was highly sought after in his own lifetime and is held in several collections today. He and Namikawa Sōsuke (no relation)Despite ...

(1845–1927) *

Namikawa Sōsuke Namikawa Sōsuke (1847–1910) was a Japanese ''cloisonné'' artist, known for innovations that developed ''cloisonné'' enamel into an artistic medium sharing many features with paintings. He and Namikawa Yasuyuki (no relation)Despite their ident ...

(1847–1910) * Ishikawa Komei (1852–1913) *

Takamura Kōun was a Japanese sculptor who exerted himself for the modernization of wood carving and a professor of Tokyo School of Fine Arts, who dedicated himself to the education of the future generations. Born in Tokyo as Nakajima Kōzō, he created the ...

(1852–1934)

References

External links

Imperial Household Agency , The Museum of the Imperial Collections
Imperial Household Agency Art museums and galleries in Tokyo Art museums established in 1993

Museum of the Imperial Collections The Museum of the Imperial Collections is located on the grounds of the East Garden of Tokyo Imperial Palace. It showcases a changing exhibition of a part of the imperial household treasures. History The Museum of the Imperial Collections was con ...

{{Japan-museum-stub