Kyoto HBS Museum

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Visitors can learn about the Buddhist ideas that underpin history, arts and culture in Japan

Meet Buddhism that thrives in the city of Kyoto, a 1,000-year-old capital

Opened in July 2012 as a small Buddhist museum in the Kitano area of Kyoto, this museum is constantly staging planned exhibitions on a variety of themes, including history, culture and contemporary problems, while also offering visitors an opportunity to view how Buddhism has existed for the lives people lead now.
Also, aiming to be a 21st century version of the Edo period temple school (terakoya), the museum holds “terakoya scholar” workshops as a support program for life. In addition, on the 25th of each month, the museum holds the lively “Honmon-san Art Market”, full of handmade arts and crafts.
The museum is run by the Honmon Butsu-ryu-shu, a Buddhist sect founded by Seifu Nagamatsu, a Buddhist monk active in Kyoto during the restoration in the middle of the 19th century. And, just as Seifu faced unrest some 150 years ago, the museum believes that the upheavals of today need to be faced in the same way through the experiences available from Buddhism, which offer old but new, simple joys as a set of values. Thus, even as people lose sight of Buddhism in their modern lives, at this museum, visitors can learn about Buddhism that is not caught up in tourism.