The , also known as the , is the largest

ethnographic museum Ethnographic museums, also known as ethnological museums, conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include: List by country or region Albania * Ethnog ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. It is Japan's largest research institute in the academic disciplines of humanities and social sciences. It is located within the

Expo Commemoration Park or Expo '70 Commemorative Park is a park in Suita, Japan, to the north of Osaka (about from Umeda). The park is the former site of Expo '70, a World's Fair held between March 15 and September 13, 1970. It is about of lawn and forest, and has ...

, which is on the former grounds of

Expo '70 The or Expo '70 was a world's fair held in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, between 15 March and 13 September 1970. Its theme was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese, Expo '70 is often referred to as . It was the first world's fair ...

, in

Suita is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 381,238 in 182,636 households, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a p ...

, Osaka Prefecture.

History

The museum was established in 1974 and opened to the public in 1977. Its first director was Umesao Tadao (1920–2010), who served as the museum's director from 1974 to 1993.

Collection and exhibitions

The museum's founding collection is known as the Attic Collection. Created by

Keizo Shibusawa Viscount was a Japanese businessman, central banker, philanthropist and folklorist. He was the 16th governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ). Early life Shibusawa was born in Tokyo. He was the grandson of Shibusawa Eiichi.Tamaki, Norio. (1995). ...

, the collection is an early 20th-century

ethnological Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropology, so ...

collection of mainly Japanese materials, including some early finds of Jōmon archaeological artifacts (in the Morse Collection). Further collections were brought together for the opening in 1977 and collecting activities have continued since. The main focus of collection has been film, still images, sound recordings, and objects representing diverse aspects of everyday life, from farming to food, urban life, folk crafts, and religion. Permanent galleries for all large regions of the world display only part of the full collection. The galleries are ordered by geographical region and have a decentralized layout. The museum hosts two special exhibitions yearly in spring and autumn, with each lasting three months. It also hosts smaller temporary exhibitions on special themes.

Research and education

The museum has a staff of approximately 70 researchers, and actively supports visits by scholars around Japan and abroad. The museum library is one of the largest academic, multiple-language reference libraries in Japan, with books and journals in Japanese, English, Chinese, Spanish, French, and various other languages. The library is linked to a national network of public university libraries. The museum offers PhD courses in association with Japan's Inter-University of Advanced Graduate Studies ( Sōkendai), an inter-institutional organization that provides administration for students placed in public research institutes and laboratories all over Japan. The National Museum of Ethnology is also a founding member of the (NIHU), Japan.

Publications

Research journals and series published by the National Museum of Ethnology include: ;Journals *''Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology'' () *''TRAJECTORIA'' ;Series *Senri Ethnological Studies (SES) *Senri Ethnological Reports (SER) ;Magazines and newsletters *''Minpaku Monthly'' () *''Minpaku Tsushin'' () *''Minpaku Anthropology Newsletter''

References

External links

National Museum of Ethnology website
{{Authority control National museums of Japan Ethnographic museums in Japan Museums in Osaka Prefecture Archaeological museums in Japan Suita Museums established in 1977 1977 establishments in Japan