Kyoto National Museum

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One of three main national museums in Japan, the Kyoto National Museum is an important, world-class resource for East Asian Art. It was founded in 1897, in what was then the capital of the country. It became a national institution in 1952. What we know as “Japanese”, is really the culture of Kyoto which spread to the rest of Japan. Today, “the Kyoto National Museum collects many artworks and cultural objects, holds exhibitions, and conducts fieldwork and research on East Asian art.”Visitors to the website can see beautiful images of paintings, metal work, ceramics, textiles, lacquerware, and calligraphy. Exhibitions include narrative scrolls, retrospectives of artists, religious art, and more. Click on the magnifying glass icon to zoom-in to see greater detail.

Take a virtual stroll through the museum’s gardens to see the works of art that are on display outside. Start the tour by clicking on one of the boxes and follow the red arrows to explore the historical stone objects, Buddhas, stupas, and pillars.

The Masterworks Collection houses archaeological artifacts, ceramics, sculptures, paintings, calligraphy, textiles, and decorative arts. Each object can be seen in a number of enlargements and includes a description and background information. The database is searchable as well and contains over 10,000 images of over 5,000 objects or sets of objects from the museum collection.The Museum Dictionary is a children’s guide to the Kyoto National Museum’s collections. Click on the dictionary and explore the works with descriptions that students will understand.