Creating a Dialogue with the Past,
Transmitting Culture to the Future

Kyoto was the cultural and political center of Japan from the beginning of the Heian period in 794 to the end of the Edo period in 1868. The Kyoto National Museum primarily houses cultural properties related to this "capital of a thousand years," Kyoto.

Many of the works housed in the Kyoto National Museum are priceless objects that have been passed down in Buddhist temples or Shinto shrines, or within families over multiple generations. Some of the more well-known works regularly appear in textbooks. It is not uncommon, however, for visitors encountering an actual object in person for the first time to exclaim, "It's so much larger and more impressive than I'd imagined," or, "It's surprisingly small, and the details are so intricate!" These impressions and realizations upon seeing objects with our own eyes are all the more precious in light of our daily exposure to increasingly digitized and virtual media.

Standing in front of a work of art, one might even feel a sort of direct communication with the people who created it, cherished it, and passed it on to future generations. The Kyoto National Museum is a place for experiencing a Kyoto that transcends past and present. It is a place that facilitates dialogue with people of the past whose traces can be found in objects from the collection.

The Kyoto National Museum engages in various efforts related to cultural properties, including acquisition, storage, research, and exhibition. No matter how valuable or important those works of art or research results are, however, they are meaningless if they are kept out of view. It is therefore incumbent upon us as an institution to ensure that visitors of all ages are engaged by the museum and feel the joy of learning through its many different exhibitions and activities.

It is not necessary to experience the exhibits in any particular order when walking through the museum. You can pass through quickly, stop for a closer look if something catches your eye, or go back to a previous gallery for a second look. If you find that an object speaks to you and evokes a sense of joy or curiosity, that is proof that the stories revealed to us through works of art and cultural heritage have touched you.
Finally, if your encounters with objects in our museum make you realize that you have yourself become a part of their unique histories connecting past and future, then we will have fulfilled our mandate.