Day 21 in Tokyo

Laura has decided to join Sarah & Daniel. We were planning to go to Kamakura for the day but the weather is wet and cold so we decide to spend the day indoors by visiting Tokyo National Museum. There is never a problem coming up with a plan B in Tokyo!

A (seated) train ride to Ueno then a short walk to the museum. Coffee time and then time in the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures.










This gallery houses a stunning collection of buddhist art treasures originally donated to the Imperial family by the Horyuji temple in Nara.










Next was a special exhibition, 'Lineage of Culture - The Hosokawa family'. This family became the lords of the Kumamoto domain in Higo by the time of the Meiji Restoration (1868). The exhibition allows the public to view the family treasures
































Next was lunch in one of the excellent restaurants in the gallery grounds.











We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Honkan.

This a Japanese Gallery that provides a general view of Japanese art, containing 24 exhibition rooms on two floors. It consists of exhibitions from 10,000 B.C. up to the late 19th century, exhibitions of different types of art such as ceramics, sculpture, swords, and others.



































After this day of exposure to the amazing range of Japanese artworks, we decided to head back to Shinjuku. We spent some quality time exploring the Keio department store then headed home.






It was getting late and the rain had returned so we settled for a repeat visit to Jonathans for a nice dinner.