{"id":92,"date":"2025-11-20T17:57:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T08:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/about"},"modified":"2026-11-03T16:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T07:46:08","slug":"about","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/about","title":{"rendered":"About the Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-h2 wp-block-heading\">Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-p\">The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan first opened its doors in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in November 1993. Its founding missions were to conserve works of art formerly owned by the Imperial Family, make them accessible to the public through exhibitions, and create new knowledge about them through research. The initial collection consisted of paintings, calligraphy, decorative arts, historical materials, and other works gifted to the nation by His Majesty the Emperor Emeritus and his mother Empress Kojun in 1989. The collection has continued to grow since then through generous donations from other Imperial Family Members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-p\">The Museum\u2019s name, Sannomaru Shozokan, means \u201cimperial storehouse in the third bailey.\u201d The word <em>sannomaru<\/em> (lit. \u201cthird circle\u201d) refers to former Edo Castle\u2019s third bailey, the site where the Museum now stands. The word <em>shozo<\/em> is sourced from an archaic term for the head keeper of imperial storehouses, and the suffix -<em>kan<\/em> means building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-p\">In 2019, construction began on a new facility with expanded storage and exhibition spaces. In 2023, responsibility for the Museum\u2019s management and operation was transferred from the Imperial Household Agency to the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH). The new facility partially opened in November of that same year, fully opening in November 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-p\">The Museum seeks to preserve and pass on the cultural properties inherited from the Imperial Family, while also showcasing the Imperial Household\u2019s cultural legacy, for the benefit of an ever-wider public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_east.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2454\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_east.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_east-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_east-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_east-768x512.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignfull size-full caption-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_south.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_south.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_south-300x180.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_south-1024x614.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/shozokan_exterior_south-768x461.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Museum Exterior<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-h2 wp-block-heading\">Administrative and Financial Information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-p\">Available on NICH\u2019s official website:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"is-ul wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nich.go.jp\/about\/nendo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NICH Annual Reports<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nich.go.jp\/about\/soshiki\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NICH Organization Chart<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview The Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan first opened its doors in the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace in November 1993. Its founding missions were to conserve works of art formerly owned by the Imperial Family, make them accessible to the public through exhibitions, and create new knowledge about them through research. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"unpublish_date":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-92","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2696,"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/92\/revisions\/2696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shozokan.nich.go.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}