Greetings from the Director

Greetings from the Director

Japanese culture is home to many long traditions. We call the immaterial spirit of these traditions the kokoro or “heart,” and the Kokugakuin University Museum aims to share the heart of these traditions with as many visitors as we can through displays of representative material culture.

In line with this goal, the museum is displaying materials from the Kokugakuin Collection and along with the results of our research in an exhibition divided into three sections. 1.) Archaeology: Material and Spiritual Culture through Artifacts. 2.) Shinto: Material and Spiritual Culture in Shrine Rites. 3.) The History of Kokugakuin University: Material and Spiritual Culture in the Scholarly Tradition of Kokugakuin.

These three concepts symbolize the result of more than 130 years of scholarship conducted at this institution, and this exhibition also outlines the history of research into Japanese traditional culture.

At present, there have long been calls for the necessity of globalization, but I believe that it is more necessary now than ever for the Japanese to understand the spiritual and cultural legacy developed on these islands by our ancestors. It is my hope that those who visit our exhibition will have the opportunity to think about the history of the spiritual and material culture of Japan and also that this exhibition can contribute to the understanding of the place of Japanese culture in a global age.

　　　Director & Professor of the Kokugakuin University Museum　 Saso Mamoru