Tokugawa Art Museum

Tokugawa Art Museum, Nagoya

The private Tokugawa Art Museum ( Japanese 徳川美術館 , Tokugawa Bijutsukan ) in Nagoya preserves the art treasures of the Owari-Tokugawa and makes them accessible to the public.

Overview

At the endeavors of the 14th head of the Owari line of the Tokugawa, Tokugawa Yoshichika (1886-1976), the Reimeikai Foundation was established in 1931, which opened the museum in 1935 as one of the first private art museums in Japan. The collection, starting with heirlooms from Tokugawa Ieyasu , includes more than 10,000 objects (screens, picture scrolls, calligraphy, clay pots, tea bowls, cutlery for the tea ceremony, lacquer bowls and boxes, toys, musical instruments, Nō masks and robes, armor, weapons and other) in high artistic quality. The museum owns

10 national treasures (N)
59 Important cultural assets (W)
64 Important works of art

All pieces are in excellent condition and are very well documented.

The museum, located outside the city center, survived World War II without any losses. You enter the area through a gate from the Edo period, the one-story main building contains larger and smaller exhibition rooms as well as a lecture hall. After the 50th anniversary celebrations in 1985, a complete renovation took place, which was completed in 1987.

Permanent exhibition and temporary exhibitions

Room 1: Symbols of knighthood - armor, swords, rifles, small cannons
Room 2: Cultivated culture - tea bowls and devices for the tea ceremony
Room 3: For ceremonies - replica of a reception room with tokonoma
Room 4: Sophisticated pleasure - Nō masks and costumes
Room 5: Daimyō -Eleganz - lacquer bowls and other feeding devices
Room 6: Imperial Treasure - The Genji Monogatari

Around ten temporary exhibitions are held in rooms 7, 8 and 9 each year. Most of the time, individual areas are particularly highlighted; at the beginning and end of the year, the exhibitions also deal with cross-sectional topics.