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Nov. 1st, 2005
Japan: Day Nine
Nov. 1st, 2005 05:20 pmA fast approaching end to the trip forced me to put some efforts into my search for souvenirs. I had a list of things to buy and very vague idea of where to look for them. So, Thursday was set aside for a shopping excursion. However, to sweeten the deal a bit, first stop of the day was the Japanese Sword Museum.
The proclaimed mission of this museum is preservation and popularization of Nihon-to. The preservation part they got down pretty well, all the items on display seemed to be in excellent condition. Popularization part, however, needs some work.
For starters, the museum is out of the way of any but the most determined tourist, it is not advertised in any tourist guide books or pamphlets that I've seen, it has no English explanations to go with the display pieces, and no literature in English in the museum store. Basically, only somebody who already has a strong interest in Japanese swords would find himself at the exhibit. And that is sad because they did accumulate a beautiful collection of blades and sword fittings. It's not large, just one moderately sized room, but it's the largest collection I've ever seen in a museum. The blades seemed to cover the golden age of Japanese sword making. I say 'seemed' because there were no dates that I could read attached to the swords, which makes me think that they were designated by eras, in Japanese. Terribly useful. And by myself I can miss dating a blade correctly by a few hundred years.
Also, there was no photography allowed, which I find completely idiotic. I understand how flash photography can be damaging to, say, paintings. What possible harm can photography do to a steel blade? And if you are not letting people photograph, why not have a color brochure available with pictures of all the exhibits? In English. And some other languages, too, actually. Not here, though. It was completely infuriating not being able to take anything away from there except memories. And since I don't have a photographic one, in a few weeks all I will be able to remember will be the fact that I visited the museum and liked it a lot.
( Shopping )
The proclaimed mission of this museum is preservation and popularization of Nihon-to. The preservation part they got down pretty well, all the items on display seemed to be in excellent condition. Popularization part, however, needs some work.
For starters, the museum is out of the way of any but the most determined tourist, it is not advertised in any tourist guide books or pamphlets that I've seen, it has no English explanations to go with the display pieces, and no literature in English in the museum store. Basically, only somebody who already has a strong interest in Japanese swords would find himself at the exhibit. And that is sad because they did accumulate a beautiful collection of blades and sword fittings. It's not large, just one moderately sized room, but it's the largest collection I've ever seen in a museum. The blades seemed to cover the golden age of Japanese sword making. I say 'seemed' because there were no dates that I could read attached to the swords, which makes me think that they were designated by eras, in Japanese. Terribly useful. And by myself I can miss dating a blade correctly by a few hundred years.
Also, there was no photography allowed, which I find completely idiotic. I understand how flash photography can be damaging to, say, paintings. What possible harm can photography do to a steel blade? And if you are not letting people photograph, why not have a color brochure available with pictures of all the exhibits? In English. And some other languages, too, actually. Not here, though. It was completely infuriating not being able to take anything away from there except memories. And since I don't have a photographic one, in a few weeks all I will be able to remember will be the fact that I visited the museum and liked it a lot.
( Shopping )