Sannomaru Shozokan fully opens on the 3rd and is open to the press - Imperial Palace East Garden

The ``Imperial Palace Sannomaru Shozokan'' in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, which stores and exhibits arts and crafts handed down in the Imperial Palace, was opened to the press on the 2nd. The museum will be fully open from the 3rd, and a special commemorative exhibition will also be held.

Commemorative ceremony for Sannomaru Shozokan and major rest area to be fully opened on the 3rd of next month at the Imperial Palace - Imperial Household Agency

The special exhibition features items such as the ``Raden Shidan no Biwa'' from the Shosoin collection in Nara. It is said to be the first time that Shosoin treasures will be exhibited to the public at the Imperial Palace. Starting from February next year, 30 paintings by Ito Jakuchu, a painter from the mid-Edo period, will be exhibited all at once.

Director Hiroyuki Shimatani said at the opening ceremony on the 2nd, ``We would like to use the full opening as a new starting point to connect Japanese culture and art to the next generation and to the world.''

The museum opened in 1993 to store and display works of art donated to the government upon the death of Emperor Showa. Reconstruction work began in 2019, and a portion of the building was opened in advance in 2023. The exhibition area will be expanded to approximately 1,300 square meters, approximately eight times the previous size.

On the 3rd, the ``Ote Rest Area'' adjacent to the museum will also open. It will feature the Imperial Palace's first cafe and a corner introducing Japan's four seasons and the activities of the imperial family.