Kiyomizu Sannenzaka Museum

Highlight

Sophisticated and elegant works – like cloisonné by Yasuyuki Namikawa and metalwork by Katsuyoshi Shoami – are to be found in the permanent collection

Late Edo and Meiji artworks come to light in Kyoto

With the westernization of Japan, the popularity of Japanese craft wares spread across the globe. Such was their status that the term “Japonism” was coined. However, as a result, many of the artworks made at the end of the Edo period and during the Meiji period went overseas.
Here - in the first museum in Japan to have a permanent exhibition of numerous metalworks, cloisonné, makie lacquer wares and Kyoto Satsuma artworks - the collection of key Edo and Meiji art extends to 10,000 pieces. The hand-picked pieces in the permanent exhibition on the 1st floor have been made by art experts working on behalf of the Imperial Family, with many of them being purchased overseas to be bring them back to Japan. To show the entire collection each single year, the museum rotates exhibits regularly. In addition, samples of tools, processes, techniques and actual production stages are introduced too. The 2nd floor is used to stage planned exhibitions every three months.