Tokugawa Art Museum

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Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya

Scene from the Illustrated Handscroll of The Tale of Genji (12th century)

The Tokugawa Art Museum (徳川美術館, Tokugawa Bijutsukan^?), located in Nagoya, Japan, opened in 1935 and is supported by the Tokugawa Reimeikai Foundation of Tōkyō. The collection holds more than 12,000 pieces including: swords, armor, Nō costumes and masks, lacquer furniture, Chinese and Japanese ceramics, calligraphy, paintings from the Chinese Song and Yuan dynasties (960-1368).

The most important and valuable treasure is a Heian period scroll of The Tale of Genji, dating to the 1130's CE. Only sections from three of the scrolls handed down in the Owari branch of the Tokugawa clan are kept at the Tokugawa Art Museum, another part is kept at the Gotoh Museum. These scrolls are the earliest still extant painted and written versions of the epic tale and are designated a National Treasures of Japan. They are so fragile to air and light that they are kept sealed shut and never shown publicly, therefore only fascimiles exist.

Traditional Japanese and Chinese art objects on public view are often found in private collections that have become public. The Tokugawa Art Museum's collection originally was among the daimyô collection of Tokugawa Yoshichika (1886-1976), who was the 19th lord of Owari Province (now Aichi Prefecture). He was the descendant of the first lord of Owari, Tokugawa Yoshinao (1600-1650), the 9th son of the first Tokugawa shōgun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The main building of the museum was constructed in the 1930's in a classic Japanese style with western elements. The museum has a permanent exhibition as well as a temporary ones. A Japanese tea-house as well as a full-fledged Noh stage are also housed in the museum.

[edit] Literature

(1988) The Tokugawa Art Museum. Nagoya: The Tokugawa Art Museum. ASIN B000VQ5F9O.
(1985) The Shogun Age Exhibition From The Tokugawa Art Museum. Nagoya: Shogun Age Exhibition Committee. ASIN B000UDO9BS.