Tokyo National Museum

The Tokyo National Museum in the northern half of Ueno Park is Japan's oldest and largest museum, founded in 1872 as part of the Meiji-era push to build a national cultural infrastructure. The central Honkan building from 1938 lays out the canonical history of Japanese art from Jomon pottery to the nineteenth century, with samurai armor, Hokusai woodblocks and lacquerware. The neighboring Toyokan houses Asian art including Chinese bronzes and Gandhara sculptures, while the Gallery of Horyu-ji Treasures, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, presents over 300 seventh-century objects from the Horyu-ji temple in Nara inside a minimalist concrete box. The collection totals around 120.000 items, including more than 80 designated National Treasures, shown on rotation. On spring weekends the cherry corridor between Honkan and Heiseikan and the garden tea house draw the biggest crowds.