Hidden Treasures of Horyuji Temple at the Tokyo National Museum
One of the must-visit attractions in Tokyo: Tokyo National Museum
Originally planned to mainly visit the Oriental Art Gallery, but upon arrival, Horyuji Temple is a must-see. Many people are taking photos at the Hello Kitty 50th Anniversary Exhibition at the entrance, and Horyuji Temple is located behind, with almost no one.
❗️Main attractions
👉Horyuji Temple: The entrance features the three main treasures, mainly displaying Buddha statues, utensils, and paintings from the Asuka period. Be sure to see the gilded silver-copper dragon-head bottle and the magpie-tail furnace. The second floor features the "Sea Beast Grape Mirror."
👉Main Gallery: Mainly displays Japanese art, unearthed artifacts, and handicrafts, including sculptures, dyeing, metalwork, weapons, swords, architecture, and paintings, reflecting the cultural art and life scenes of various periods in Japan.
👉Oriental Art Gallery: Displays art and archaeological artifacts from Asia, Egypt, and other regions. Chinese art occupies 5 exhibition halls.
🌟Recommended Chinese artifacts in the Oriental Art Gallery
❤️Bronzeware: The Oriental Art Gallery has a large collection of bronzeware from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, such as the Taotie pattern vase, which is a bronzeware from the Shang dynasty. The Taotie pattern on it symbolizes the awe of the ancient Chinese people for the gods. There is also a money tree from the Eastern Han Dynasty. This artifact is very rare and showcases the casting technology of ancient China.
❤️Ceramics: From the Northern Song Dynasty's celadon plate to the Ming Dynasty's five-color gold-painted teapot, there are ceramics from all periods. For example, the Ming Dynasty's purple-red glaze three-legged washbasin, the glaze color is bright, and the shape is unique.
❤️Paintings: There are also famous works such as "Dongshan Crossing Water" by Ma Yuan and "Li Bai Xingyin" by Liang Kai. These paintings showcase the superb skills of ancient Chinese painting.
❤️Buddha statues: The Oriental Art Gallery has a large collection of Buddha statues from the Sui and Tang dynasties, such as the stone Buddha statue of Baoqing Temple. These Buddha statues have different postures and exquisite carvings.
📍Address: North end of Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
🚗Transportation: Take the subway to Ueno Station, exit and walk through Ueno Park to reach the museum.
🎫Tickets: Adults 1,000 yen, free for people aged 70 and over and people with disabilities.
📅Booking: Book online at the Tokyo National Museum website or buy tickets on-site.
👉Guided tour: Book a guided tour in advance, it's great.
So many exhibitions! Interesting to learn about the historical Japanese paintings, armours, and fabric design. Best to reserve at least 2-3 hours in order not to rush through the exhibitions.
The buildings and the architecture were amazing! The history behind every item and art in the museum was so exciting. I recommend this place if you have an interest in history and you have a lot of time for exploration. I bought a university student ticket at the entry for 500 yen. I had to show my student id card. I recommend you do the same if you are a university student.
Great opportunity for those interested in Japanese history and art. The museum has an impressive collection of art works and exhibits going down to the Jomon period.
In this museum, we have a systematic understanding of Japanese bushido, Samurai knives, kimonos, tea art, painting and calligraphy screens, kabuki, Ukiyoshi painting, theology and Buddhism in Japan. There is a pavilion dedicated to introducing Chinese, Korean, Indian and Southeast Asian cultures and expressing Japanese Asian ideas. At least, there is no exhibition in China that systematically introduces the relationship between Confucian civilization and Asian civilization, which shows that China, as a big Asian country, needs more efforts to organize and promote Asian culture. In addition, many of the Chinese cultural relics displayed can be used as treasures of domestic museums. These national treasure-grade cultural relics lie quietly in a corner of the museum and give visitors to visit them. Perhaps most of the Chinese people do not yet understand the subtleties of Chinese civilization. In the process of visiting, I feel that we should understand the life style of Chinese literati from the perspective of Japanese, and the achievements of ancient China are also interesting. Among them, they described the loss of Dunhuang literature as an exploratory journey between Japanese and British legal persons. They called it a journey of cultural blending and compared it with the Silk Road of China. It is difficult to describe the taste of this description. Perhaps they did not steal Dunhuang antiquities, and the treasures of Dunhuang could not escape the destruction of war and revolution. This loss is indeed a great harm to the self-esteem of the Chinese people. Perhaps there is some element of happiness in the protection of cultural relics themselves.
Speaking of Ueno, I believe that many people come here purely to step on the park, and there is no time to visit the museum. This Tokyo tour finally came to the museum for a good visit by staying on the edge of Ueno Park for three days. To be honest, if you want to take a serious look, you must reserve a full daytime here. The museum is divided into three parts: the Museum of Japanese culture, the East Asia Pavilion and the Western Pavilion. Among them, the museum is the most domineering one. Its architectural style is a combination of East and West. There are a lot of national treasures in it. The key is that besides private donations, all national treasures can be taken freely. However, it is not recommended to borrow a guide machine. The introduction in Chinese is too soy sauce. The Japanese version is very detailed and interesting. Take a look. The introduction of the exhibits is also the same. The introduction in Chinese is far less detailed than that in Japanese and English. This Museum introduces Japan from history to life. Its layout is reasonable, its space is large and its environment is comfortable. It happened to be cherry blossom when we went. The back yard was very open. The wind blew through the cherry blossoms and snow was very beautiful. The East Asia Pavilion is mainly made of Chinese goods, but compared with some people who said it was stolen or disapproved, the Chinese goods mainly came from the Northwest Valley Exploration Team and the excavation of the colonial Shandong Period, which are similar to those of the Mogao Grottoes. However, the Japanese pay more attention to Buddhist culture, so most of them are collections in this area. But here, as far as Jin Dynasty, all the Buddha statues and stone tablets have no glass, and there are no limited photographs. This feeling of shock can not be experienced in any museums in China. Pingcheng Pavilion, or the Western Pavilion, was not visited at last. It was said that the contents were not very attractive and could not be evaluated. At the same time, there was a memorial hall of the Falong Temple. After looking at the collection of Buddha statues of different sizes, it was very sincere. But soon I will feel bored, and the Buddha statue in the exhibition hall is very boring. All in all, this is a place to prepare for a whole day or even to come many times, because the national treasure is not a one-time exhibition, but a special exhibition separated by time. There are different opinions on this point. Additionally, the restaurants in the museum are excellent, absolutely high-quality, and recommend a good time with a time plan. In terms of price, tickets for more than 700 Japanese yen are also inexpensive. They are well worth the money.
The Yan Zhenqing calligraphy exhibition has a lot of common knowledge about calligraphy, and it is a masterpiece of the Tang Dynasty. The authentic works are not only Yan Zhenqing, but also Chu Suiliang and Huaisu. The Taipei National Palace Museum has not exhibited or loaned them for 17 years. I was a little surprised by the Japanese's enthusiasm and love for calligraphy. Therefore, there are so many visitors! Therefore, I want to tell my compatriots who want to visit the exhibition a shortcut. Buy the ticket of the main museum, and then walk from the first floor of the main museum to the ticket check inside the Heisei Museum, so you don't have to queue outside for an hour. But it can't be too late, after 12 o'clock, there will be a queue inside the museum.
The Tokyo National Museum was founded in 1872 and is the oldest museum in Japan. It houses cultural relics from Japan, Asia and even other countries around the world. There are always about 3,000 pieces on display all year round. They are well protected and are worth a visit. The transportation is very convenient. Get off at Ueno on the subway and it takes 10 to 15 minutes to reach Ueno Park. Closed on Mondays. The ticket price is 620 yen for adults and 520 yen for groups of 20 or more.
Located in Ueno Park, it takes about 10 minutes to walk from Ueno Station. The ticket price is not expensive. It is worth spending more than two hours to appreciate the historical treasures. Unfortunately, some exhibits can not be photographed. There is a restaurant next to our restaurant. Because it is raining soon after the meal, we choose to eat in this restaurant nearby. Unexpectedly, the taste is good and the price is fair.