Seikadō Bunko Art Museum (静嘉堂文庫) is a museum of East Asian art in Setagaya, Tokyo.[1]
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The core collection of the museum was created by Yanosuke Iwasaki (1851-1908), the second president of Mitsubishi in its earliest form. "Seikado" was the studio-name of this corporate leader.[2]
In the 1890s, Yanosuke began collecting artworks and manuscripts. The process of collecting was continued by his son, Koyata Iwasaki (1879-1945), Mitsubishi's fourth president.[2]
In 1940, Koyata established The Seikado Foundation and opened the Seikado Bunko Library which was composed of books from his personal collection (80,000 Japanese volumes and 120,000 Chinese volumes.[2]
In 1992, in commemoration of hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Seikado collection, this museum galleries were opened to the public.[2]
The Seikadō Bunko Art Museum houses 6,500 books, artworks, and other cultural treasures.[3]
The museum has a large permanent collection; and only part of it is exhibited at any one time.