Events
33 result(s)
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Limited timeSwords Until 31 August 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 18 June 2025, 9:30AM - 31 August 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 13
Room 13 features selected swords and sword–fittings from the Heian to Edo periods, including Blade for a Long Sword ("Tachi"), Named "Daihannya Nagamitsu", By Nagamitsu.
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Limited timeAncient Coins Until 7 September 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 18 June 2025, 9:30AM - 7 September 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Archaeology and Special Exhibition (Heiseikan) Japanese Archaeology Gallery
Coins known as wado kaichin, which were minted in 708 (Wado 1), represent the first serious effort in Japan to mint coins for circulation. Subsequently, twelve kinds of coins were minted in the Nara (710–794) and Heian (794–1192) periods. However, the minting of coins ceased by the latter half of the 10th century as the use of bronze coins imported from China became prevalent.
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Limited timeThe Advent of Chinese Civilization Until 3 November 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 18 June 2025, 9:30AM - 3 November 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 4
This section of the gallery traces the development of Chinese civilization through ancient pottery, jade objects, texts, and bronzes. The collection includes Neolithic pottery from the Loess Plateau, a range of stone tools from Northern China, jade objects and oracle-bone inscriptions from the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–ca. 1100 BC), and roof tiles from each era.
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Limited timeThe Rise and Fall of Kings in Korea Until 21 September 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 18 June 2025, 9:30AM - 21 September 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 10
This gallery presents artifacts from Korea’s Three Kingdoms period (57 BC–668 AD), an era when powerful rulers vied for control of the Korean Peninsula. The three kingdoms were comprised of Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast. A fourth state, known as the Gaya confederacy, also existed in the south before being annexed by Silla.
Each region made full use of the materials of the time–namely, gold, silver, bronze, iron, glass, and jade–to create distinct ornaments and other objects including, armor, horse tack, clay tiles, and pottery.
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Limited timeKhmer Sculpture Until 19 April 2026
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 18 June 2025, 9:30AM - 19 April 2026, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 11
Cambodia’s Angkor period (ca. 9th century–15th century) saw the development of a unique Khmer culture, as epitomized by Angkor Wat, a huge temple complex built from the end of the 11th century to the 12th century during the golden age of the Khmer Empire. This section introduces Khmer sculpture, with a focus on Buddhist and Hindu statues and reliefs from Angkor’s temples. These were acquired in 1944 through an exchange project with the French research institute the French School of the Far East.
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Limited timeCostumes of Bugaku Performances Until 22 June 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 8 May 2025, 9:30AM - 22 June 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 9
A style of dance called bugaku was introduced from continental Asia to Japan in the late 700s. It evolved in Japanese imperial court and temples as a unique style of performance, so its costumes largely reflect the culture of the imperial court. There are various types of Bugaku performances, such as Dance of the Left, which originated in China and usually feature red costumes. In contrast, Dance of the Right, originated in Korea and typically feature blue costumes. This exhibition focuses on costumes with round motifs from Dance of the Left and Dance of the Right, featuring elegant colors and designs influenced by court culture.
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Limited timeThe Art of Fashion | 17th–19th century Until 22 June 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 8 May 2025, 9:30AM - 22 June 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 10
Japan's traditional clothing, kimono, are based on kosode — the outer wear of the Edo period (1603–1868). At first, the court nobility and samurai wore kosode under other clothing. But from about the 15th century, the samurai began using them as daily outer wear. In the 17th century, kosode became the most common clothing for men and women of all classes.
Wealthy women placed orders for custom-made kosode at luxury clothing stores. They often chose the patterns from clothing design books that were published and widely circulated. Together with these kosode, they wore hairpins and combs to accent their elaborate hairstyles.
In contrast, men wore kosode with understated patterns like stripes or checks.
Their usual fashion accessories were a small case (inrō) and a toggle (netsuke) for securing the case to the sash. This gallery features kosode and accessories, together with prints and paintings (ukiyo-e) showing how people wore them and how fashions changed over time.
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Limited timeArt of the Modern Era| Late 19th–first half of 20th century Until 27 July 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 8 May 2025, 9:30AM - 27 July 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 18
Drastic changes in the late 19th century created new challenges for artists. The samurai government that had strictly regulated contact with the outside world collapsed in a civil war. Japan's new leaders announced the start of the Meiji era (1868–1912), engaging with the world and reforming their nation to be more like “the West” (mainly Europe and the United States).
These leaders soon realized that works produced in Japan were not seen as “fine art” in the West. Artisans often mounted paintings on sliding doors and folding screens, but this practice made them look like furniture to Europeans and Americans. Japan's ceramics, lacquerware, metalwork, and textiles were also labeled as “decorative art” rather than “fine art.”
In response, artistic traditions were changed to meet Western standards. Japan's leaders established schools of fine art, organized national exhibitions, and urged artists to participate in world fairs. They intended to show the world that Japan was a “modern” nation with sophisticated arts and culture. The works on display reflect how Japanese artists met these challenges.
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Limited timeDevelopment of Figural (Haniwa) Tomb Figurines Until 28 September 2025
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 8 May 2025, 9:30AM - 28 September 2025, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Japanese Archaeology and Special Exhibition (Heiseikan) Japanese Archaeology Gallery
Haniwa are terracotta figurines that were stood up on ancient burial mounds called kofun. Around the 3rd century at the end of the Yayoi period, pedestal-shaped terracotta objects that were placed on burial mounds began to change form. By the time keyhole-shaped burial mounds were first created in the latter half of the 3rd century, these objects had developed into cylindrical and pot-shaped haniwa.
The earliest representational haniwa, which depicted houses, were created in the mid-4th century, followed by those portraying armor, shields, quivers, and parasols, as well as ships and fowl. Despite increasing variety and changes in the way haniwa were positioned on burial mounds, house-shaped ones were always placed in the center, therefore playing a unique and important role. From the mid-5th century, new haniwa in the shapes of various people and animals were also created. These included shrine maidens, horses, warriors, boars, water fowl, and dogs. They were positioned around the perimeters of burial mounds as though depicting stories. These various representational haniwa, which evolved from simple cylindrical ones, are believed to have played important roles in funerary rituals.
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Limited timeChinese Buddhist Sculpture Until 19 April 2026
View Event Description & Conditions- Dates 8 May 2025, 9:30AM - 19 April 2026, 5:00PM
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Event Details
Asian Gallery (Toyokan) Room 1
Buddhism began to spread in China around the turn of the first millennium, about 500 years after its founding in India. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the number of Chinese Buddhists rapidly increased and numerous temples were established. This gallery presents Buddhist statues created from the 5th to 9th century, a golden age in the history of Chinese sculpture.