特别展・企划展

Special Exhibition
Treasures inherited from the House of Negishi
Term：Feb. 17 - Apr. 14, 2024 10:00 - 18:00 Last admission 17:30 Closed day: Every Monday (except for Public holidays)

We have English explanation part in this exhibition. 

Negishi Yuzan, the 11th head of the distinguished Negishi family in Kitamusashi Kabutoyama Village (present-day Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture), and his son Takeka have been known as prominent antiquarians. Yuzan succeeded his family estate when he was 16 years old and became the village headman responsible for village affairs opening a swordsmanship training hall and a private school "Sanyodo" in the premises of his residence. During the early Meiji era, while devoting himself to the education of the younger members of the family, he established friendships with antiquarians such as Ninagawa Noritane, Kashiwagi Kaichiro, and Matsuura Takeshiro. Takeka was also active as an antiquarian while working as a member of the prefectural assembly and the House of Peers, and he excavated the Kuroiwa Burial Caves in 1877. The progress of the excavation immediately attracted wide attention when it was publicized in a newspaper and many scholars such as H.V. Siebold and E.S. Morse visited him. Takeka's interest was not only limited to archaeological artifacts (such as haniwa, clay figurines, swords and mirrors), but spanned a wide range of things including seals, maps, and ancient documents, and his insatiable pursuit continued until the beginning of the 1900s. In addition, in 1896, he gained the trust of the antiquarian world as the first chairman of the non-government academy "Shukokai (antiquities collectors association)." The archaeological artifacts he collected were displayed in the corridor-style antiquities display room called “Kokibutsu-chinretsu-jo (antiquities collection room)”  which was open to visitors. This may be considered one of the earliest private museum facility in Japan. Although the existence of the illustrated book of Negishi Takeka's collection had been previously introduced, the book had gone missing around the years between 1955-1965. However, this important illustrated book has recently been rediscovered, and thanks to the achievement of the Grantsin-Aid for Scientific Research, it is displayed for the first time in this exhibition. The treasure trove of antiquities recorded here are a culmination of Takeka's collection, and the exhibition introduces a part of his vast collection by comparing them with the actual items that remain in the house and other locations.

　This exhibition features new findings achieved through the research project "Museological Research in the History of the Formation of Humanities: Research and Publication of Materials from the Former Collection of Negishi Yuzan and Takeka" (Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research of the Japan Society for the Promotion
of Science of Japan (2021-2023) Project No. 21K01002 Research Director Takashi Uchikawa).