Tokyo National Museum occupies a campus of galleries in Ueno Park, with the Japanese Gallery known for its tiled roof and balanced façade. Its present Honkan opened in 1938 after an earlier museum building was damaged in the Great Kanto Earthquake.
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The broad, tiled roof of the Honkan gives the building a distinctly Japanese profile, but its design emerged from a modern museum project. The original main gallery was designed by British architect Josiah Conder and was damaged in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The museum’s first exhibition was held in 1872.
- The present Honkan opened in 1938.
- Watanabe Jin designed the current Honkan in the Emperor’s Crown style.
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