KF뉴스레터-The Tokyo National Museum

The Tokyo National Museum

The Tokyo National Museum was originally founded in 1872 as the Museum of the Ministry of Education, and with a history of 128 years it is the oldest and largest museum in Japan. The museum moved to its present location in Ueno Park in Tokyo in 1882 and went through several name changes, including the Imperial Museum in 1886 and the Tokyo Imperial Household Museum in 1900, until it was given its present title in 1900.

The museum has a collection of some 90,000 pieces of art, handicrafts, and archaeological artifacts from Japan and other Asian countries. The museum comprises the Main Hall for Japanese Art, the East Asian Art and Antiquities Gallery, the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, the Japanese Archeological Gallery, and the Outdoor Display, as well as a reference library of photos and books.

The East Asian Art and Antiquities Gallery exhibits artworks and archeological artifacts from Asian countries other than Japan, and is one of the finest galleries of its kind in the world. The range of artifacts is vast, including pieces from Egypt, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, China, and Korea.
The Tokyo National Museum has been collecting Korean art, handicrafts, and antiquities since its opening, and currently has some 4,800 items in its Korean collection. The majority of these are antiquities, numbering some 2,000 items, while the remainder of the collection is made up of paintings, calligraphy works, sculptures, metalwork pieces, ceramics, textiles, and folk items. The Korean collection consists largely of findings from excavation sites, such as the Gyeongju Ibsili site and the Yangsan tomb site, as well as Goryeo celadon, Joseon white porcelain, and small gilt bronze Buddhas from the Three Kingdoms period. These Korean items have formed a cornerstone of the Oriental art display since the opening of the Oriental Gallery in 1968.

Currently, the museum's Korean artifacts are on display in the ninth and tenth exhibition halls of the East Asian Art and Antiquities Gallery. Antiquities, metalwork pieces, ceramics, and sculptures form part of the permanent display, while paintings, calligraphy works, and textile works are only on display for set periods in order to protect the works. Every Tuesday, the museum offers lectures on museum exhibits for the general public. In 1999, two lectures were held on Korean artifacts, "Ancient Korean Horse Gear" and "A회ncient Roof Tiles from the Korean Peninsula," drawing the attention of many Japanese art lovers.

Interest in Korean culture is growing steadily in Japan these days, and as a result many exhibitions offering comparisons between Japanese and Korean culture are being held. The Tokyo National Museum loaned pieces from its collection to two such exhibitions last year titled "Japan and Gaya: Across the Ancient Seas" organized by the Nagoya Prefectural Museum and "The Ancient Tombs of Kanonyama and the Asian World held at the Gunma History Museum. The works displayed in these shows came from the museum's own collection, while the exhibition was noteworthy for its comparison of Japanese and Korean culture.

In addition to exhibiting works from its own collection, the museum has also borrowed rare works from Korea for special exhibitions. Examples of past exhibitions include "5,000 Years of Korean Art, held in 1976; "1,000 Years of the Beauty of Silla: Ancient Korean Culture," held in 1983; and the "Gaya Culture Exhibition," held in 1992. These shows were all quite popular and provided momentum for increasing interest in Korean art among art specialists and general visitors alike.

The museum has also cooperated in opening exhibitions in Korea, including the "Great Koryo Exhibition," held in 1995; "Cultural Treasures from Early Joseon," held in 1996 and 1997; and "Cultural Treasures from Late Choson," held in 1998-all of which were held at the Ho-Am Art Gallery in Seoul. The museum has also lent out pieces of its collection of artifacts, including 49 items for "Special Exhibition: BaekJe," held in 1999 and this year at the National Museum in Seoul, the Gyeongju National Museum, and the Daegu National Museum.

The museum's cooperation with Korean museums does not stop at borrowing and lending pieces of art and artifacts; it also carries out active research through exchanges of research personnel every year. In 1999, it initiated a joint research project into cultural exchanges between ancient Japan and Korea involving joint study of artifacts and joint ownership of research results.

The museum has placed two experts in ancient Korean art in its Asian and Northeast Asian exhibition halls to take care of the preservation, exhibition, and research of its Korean art and artifacts collection, while researchers in other departments also cooperate in the research and exhibition of Korean works. The results of such research are reflected in the exhibitions and are published in the Tokyo National Museum Journal and the magazine Museum.

The largest number of tourists to Korea come from Japan, and vice versa. At the Tokyo National Museum, all information is provided in Japanese, English, French, German, Chinese, and Korean, and there are even more Korean guides than English ones. This shows there are more Korean visitors to the museum than English-speaking ones, and indeed these days a noticeably large number of Korean visitors regularly come to the museum.

In the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, digital archives of the treasures have been made available for public use since last year. The records can be viewed in Korean, and audio explanations about the treasures can be heard in the Korean language. Koreans make up the largest foreign community in Japan, and the museum plays an important role in bringing these Korean-Japanese in contact with their native culture. The preservation, exhibition, and research of Korean artifacts at the museum is an important part of cultural exchange between Japan and Korea. In the future, the museum will continue to improve its current activities in regard to its Korean collection while actively pursuing more diverse exchange projects in cooperation with Korean museums. It is anticipated that such projects will result in more active research and special exhibitions for art lovers and scholars in both countries.

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The Tokyo National Museum

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The Tokyo National Museum

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