Koryo Museum of Art

Highlight

This hakuji (white porcelain) pot from the latter half of the 17th century started Chong’s collection

History and culture that tells the tale of Korean art

This is the only museum in Japan specializing in artworks from the Korean peninsula.
Founded by Chomun Chong, a Korean business entrepreneur living in Japan, the museum houses his personal collection built up over 40 years, with some 1,700 pieces, of which integral artworks belong to the Koryo dynasty in Korea. What makes this wonderful eclectic collection – featuring ceramics, paintings, woodcrafts, Buddhist regalia, archaeological materials and folk crafts – all the more interesting is that every piece was found by Chong in Japan.
In particular, the collection includes stunning pieces of craft ware like famed white porcelain dating back centuries and Koryo celadon porcelain as well as eminent examples of Korean craft ware, such as furnishings incorporating vibrantly colored silk yarns, which have to be seen to be believed. Furthermore, there are art forms here uniquely indigenous to Korea, such as kakaku, involving the slicing and polishing of ox horn into thin translucent plaques that are painted and bonded onto furniture as decoration. In addition, a reconstruction of an ancient noble’s room also captures the imagination.
Exhibits are rotated twice a year.