Selected Masterpieces from the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan

Price:: 3,000 yen (JPY)

Edited by:: The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan

Language(s):: text in Japanese and English; work titles in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean

Size:: 250 × 180 × 20.2 mm, 710 g

Pages:: 240

Binding:: softcover PUR binding

Release date:: 20261101

ISBN:: 978-4-86831-072-3 C0070

Japanese

Marking Sannomaru Shozokan’s November 2026 grand reopening: an official catalogue of selected imperial treasures handed down over the ages.

The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan—nestled inside the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in Tokyo—houses cultural treasures formerly belonging to the imperial family. From works of calligraphy, painting, sculpture, and craft to archaeological artifacts, vintage photographs, and historical materials, this volume showcases a select one hundred of those holdings, including all National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties. Commentary by museum curators provide detailed insight into each item.

Pages shown are subject to change.

Works featured
National Treasures
Tracing Copy of Letters, Known as Sangluantie (copied from calligraphy by Wang Xizhi)
Draft of Poems for Folding Screen (Ono no Michikaze)
Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing, Detcho Version (attributed to Fujiwara no Yukinari)
Illustrated Account of the Mongol Invasions
Chinese Lions (Kano Eitoku and Kano Tsunenobu)
Colorful Realm of Living Beings (Ito Jakuchu)
Important Cultural Properties
Bersagliere Sentry (Matsuoka Hisashi)
Cabinet with Chrysanthemums in Maki-e Lacquer and Mother-of-Pearl Inlay (Kawanobe Itcho and others)
Vase with Birds and Flowers of the Four Seasons (Namikawa Yasuyuki)
Bugaku Dancer in the Role of the Warrior Ranryo’o (Unno Shomin)
Albums of Portrait Photographs, Commissioned by Emperor Meiji (Ministry of Finance Printing Bureau and others)

The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan, located in the Imperial Palace East Gardens, houses works of art and craft formerly owned by the imperial family. Since its opening in 1993, it has exhibited calligraphy, paintings, craft works, and a wide range of other treasures to the public; it closed for construction in 2025 and is set to reopen in a new building in November 2026.