Nezu Museum, Art museum in Minami-Aoyama, Japan.
The Nezu Museum is an art museum in Minami-Aoyama, Japan, presenting paintings, calligraphy, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and archaeological finds from Japan and East Asia. The building from 2009 connects modern exhibition spaces with a traditional Japanese garden that belongs to the property.
After the death of businessman Kaichirō Nezu in 1940, the museum foundation opened public exhibitions in 1941. During World War II it succeeded in protecting the collection and making it accessible again after the war ended.
The museum takes its name from Kaichirō Nezu (1860–1940), a railway magnate and tea master whose collection of Japanese and East Asian art became its founding holding. His acquisition of Ogata Kōrin's Irises screen in 1914 was followed by exhibitions and tea ceremonies held for guests before the museum existed. The garden's irises are timed to the screen's annual spring showing.
The exhibition rooms are on the ground floor and upper level, the garden is accessible through a separate entrance. A walk through both areas takes about two hours, depending on how long you stay in each room.
The museum holds about 1,200 of the 3,000 Japanese sword fittings assembled by Meiji-era industrialist Mitsumura Toshimo (1877–1955), one of the largest such collections in Japan. The pieces are guards, hilts and small metal ornaments rather than blades themselves.
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