Museums

The Seikado Bunko Art Museum was established by the combined efforts of two generations of the Iwasaki family: Iwasaki Yanosuke (1851-1908), the younger brother of Mitsubishi's founder, lwasaki Yataro, and the company's second president, and his son, Iwasaki Koyata (1879-1945), the fourth president. Its collection encompasses around 200,000 classical texts (120,000 in Chinese and 80,000 in Japanese) and 6,500 pieces of Oriental art, including seven National Treasures and 84 Important Cultural Properties, and features one of the only three remaining complete pieces of the rare and valuable Yohen Tenmoku bowl, known as "Inaba Tenmoku."
For nearly 50 years, The Seikado Bunko Art Museum exhibited its collection in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward, but in 2022, in occasion of its 130th anniversary, it relocated to the Meiji Seimei Kan in the central Marunouchi district.
Completed in 1934, the Meiji Seimei Kan stands near the Imperial Palace moat. This iconic historic building was the first Showa-era structure to be designated as an Important Cultural Property and exemplifies the peak of classical-style office architecture.

Located adjacent to the Imperial Palace, a popular destination for many international visitors, the Seikado Bunko Art Museum regularly displays some of the finest works of Japanese art through thematic exhibitions. The website is available in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean, and exhibition tickets can be purchased online in English. The exhibits' explanations and captions are provided in both Japanese and English, and English and Chinese leaflets are also available upon request (selected works only).

Main works

Teabowl, Yōhen Tenmoku known as 'Inaba Tenmoku' Jian ware
Southern Song dynasty, 12th-13th century

Regarded as the most precious among Tenmoku (black glazed) type tea bowls, Yō hen (iridescent spotted) Tenmoku are a kind of black glazed tea bowls with its inside surface covered with many spots surrounded by deep blue radiance. There are only three tea bowls of this kind that are known to exist. This piece has the most vivid luster and a finely chiseled foot. Recently (2009) fragments of yōhen tenmoku were excavated for the first time in China, from the site of Imperial guesthouse in Linʼan (Hangzhou), the capital of the Southern song dynasty, and drew peopleʼs attention. This tea bowl, as indicated by its alias “Inaba Tenmoku”, was preserved for many generations by the Inaba family, who later ruled Yodo fief (part of Kyoto city), during the Edo period. It came into the possession of the Iwasaki family in 1934, but Iwasaki Koyata never used it, saying “The treasure of the country must not be used privately”. Yōhen tenmoku are all in Japan and designated by the government as national treasures. The other two pieces are owned by Ryōkoin, a subtemple of Daitokuji in Kyoto and Fujita Museum of Art in Osaka.
*The museum does not have a permanent exhibition.

Scenes from Sekiya (The Barrier Gate) and Miotsukushi (Channel Markers) chapters of The Tale of Genji by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, Edo period, 1631

Tawaraya Sōtatsu (dates unknown) was an early Edo period painter in Kyoto, who created a style which was inherited later by Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu and others who are collectively known today as the Rinpa school. The Scenes from the Sekiya and Miotsukushi chapters of the Tale of Genji is one of the three works produced by Sōtatsu which are registered as national treasures.
This work is recognized as one of his representative works showing the bold composition properly using straight and curved lines, clever use of green, white and other colors, borrowing of motifs form ancient paintings which are the unique charms of Sōtasuʼs paintings. This work is thought to have been donated to Daigoji, an old and distinguished Buddhist temple, in 1631. In 1896 the temple presented it to the Iwasaki family as a token of gratitude for the donation Iwasaki Yanosuke made.
*The museum does not have a permanent exhibition.