Egyptian Collections in Japan

From Ancient Egypt to Coptic Textiles

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Tokyo & Kanto Region

Ancient Orient Museum

古代オリエント博物館 (Ikebukuro)

Highlights: Funerary stela for Padikhonsu (Ptolemaic) and Ancient Near Eastern artifacts.
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Tokyo National Museum

東京国立博物館 (Ueno)

Highlights: Cartonnage coffin & mummy of Pasherienptah (22nd Dyn), Sekhmet statue (Amenhotep III).
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Tokai University Museum

東海大学文明研究所 (Kanagawa)

Highlights: Hachishi Suzuki collection including Demotic and Hieratic papyri.

Ancient Egyptian Museum

古代エジプト美術館 (Shibuya)

Specialty: Tadashi Kikugawa collection. Japan's only museum dedicated exclusively to Ancient Egypt.
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Matsuoka Museum of Art

松岡美術館 (Shirokanedai)

Collection: Coffin of a priest of Min from Akhmim (ca. 4th c. BCE), Sekhmet statue, and polychrome reliefs.
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Middle Eastern Culture Center

中近東文化センター (Mitaka)

Specialty: Includes relief of Thutmose III and a wooden ship model.
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Artizon Museum

アーティゾン美術館 (Kyobashi)

Highlights: Ancient Egyptian antiquities (including Sekhmet statue) alongside modern art.
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Intermediatheque (IMT)

インターメディアテク (Marunouchi)

Highlights: Triple-nested coffin and mummy (donated 1888) from University of Tokyo collection.
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Chubu & Kansai Region

The Kyoto University Museum

京都大学総合博物館 (Kyoto)

Highlights: ~1500 items donated by Flinders Petrie to Kosaku Hamada. Excavated artifacts from Naucratis, Thebes, etc.
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MIHO MUSEUM

ミホ・ミュージアム (Shiga)

Highlights: Silver Falcon God statue, Ptolemaic queen statue (Arsinoe II), and glass king head.
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Tenri University Sankokan

天理大学附属天理参考館 (Nara)

Highlights: Wooden anthropoid coffin from the Ptolemaic period and New Kingdom stelae.
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Northern Culture Museum

北方文化博物館 (Niigata)

Highlights: Dedicated archaeology hall with Egyptian artifacts.
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Chugoku Region

Ohara Museum of Art

大原美術館 (Kurashiki, Okayama)

Highlights: Collection of Torajiro Kojima including a large faience vessel of Sheshonq I (22nd Dyn).
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Nariwa Museum

高梁市成羽美術館 (Takahashi, Okayama)

Highlights: Torajiro Kojima collection including a shabti of Pinedjem II from the Royal Cache (DB320).
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Okayama Orient Museum

岡山市立オリエント美術館 (Okayama)

Highlights: Shinjiro Yasuhara donation. Includes shabtis from the Royal Cache (Neskhons, Isetemkheb).
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Shimonoseki City Art Museum

下関市立美術館 (Yamaguchi)

Highlights: Kinpei Takeuchi collection gathered in London during the late Meiji period.
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Coptic Textile Collections in Japan

Japan houses several exquisite collections of Coptic textiles.

Toyama Memorial Museum of Art

遠山記念館 (Saitama)

Specialty: Old Kingdom king statue, New Kingdom stela, and Coptic textiles.
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Other Collections

Significant Coptic textiles can also be found at:

  • Ancient Orient Museum (Tokyo)
  • Okayama Orient Museum (Okayama)
  • Tenri University Sankokan Museum (Nara)
  • Kanegafuchi Foundation (Collection often exhibited at major museums)

These institutions rotate their textile displays for conservation purposes. Please check current exhibitions before visiting.

Reference

The descriptions of museum collections on this page are based on the following article:

Fujii, Nobuyuki (藤井信之).

"The Egyptian Collections in Japan" (日本国内のエジプト・コレクション).

Journal of the Center for the Global Study of Cultural Heritage and Culture (JCHC), Vol. 4 (2016): 177–187.