If you've ever wanted to learn about Japanese swords, now's the time, as an unusually large number of top-quality blades are currently on view at two Tokyo museums. Either exhibition is well worth a visit but together they're dynamite.
"Perfect Guide to Japanese Sword" at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum offers a good introduction and overview, while "Eternal Treasures from Kasugataisha Shrine" at the Tokyo National Museum provides historical context. Both museums also provide information in English, making this a particularly good opportunity for those who don't read Japanese.
It's best to start at the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, a private museum in Setagaya Ward housed in a historic manor on beautiful wooded grounds. This museum preserves an important collection of Asian art and manuscripts assembled by the industrialist Baron Yanosuke Iwasaki (1851-1908), who was also an avid sword collector and a champion of efforts to preserve the art of sword-making.
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