The opened on October 16, 2005 in Dazaifu

Dazaifu, Fukuoka

is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nearby cities include Ōnojō and Chikushino. Although mostly urban, it does have arable land used for paddy fields and market gardening....

 near Fukuoka

Fukuoka, Fukuoka

is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

 -- the first new national museum in Japan in over 100 years, and the first to elevate the focus on history over art. The distinct modern impression created by the architectural facade is mirrored in the Museum's use of technological innovations which are put to good in making the museum's collections accessible to the public. For example, the museum's extremely high resolution video system, with the latest image processing and color management software, serves both in documenting the objects in the museum's collection and also in expanding access beyond the limits of a large, but finite exhibition space.

The striking wood and glass building in the hills, it hosts important collections of Japanese artifacts, particularly ceramics

Ceramics (art)

In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...

, related to the history of Kyūshū

Kyushu

is the third largest island of Japan and most southwesterly of its four main islands. Its alternate ancient names include , , and . The historical regional name is referred to Kyushu and its surrounding islands....

.

It hosts temporary exhibitions on the third floor, while the permanent collections are on the fourth floor. The collections cover the history of Kyūshū from prehistory

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

 to the Meiji era with particular emphasis on the rich history of cultural exchange between Kyūshū and neighboring China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

.

Unlike most museums in Japan, which contract out conservation work, the Kyushu National Museum has an extensive on-site suite of conservation labs and associated staff, serving as the major conservation center for all of western Japan.

History

The museum's special focus carries with it "a new perspective on Japanese cultural formation in the context of Asian history."

Timeline

The growth and development of today's museum has been an evolving process:

• 1994 -- Agency for Cultural Affairs
  Agency for Cultural Affairs
  The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education . It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. As of April 2007, it is led by the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, Tamotsu Aoki....
  
   (ACA) creates "Committee to Investigate the Establishment of a New Type of Museum."
• 1995 -- Dazaifu
  Dazaifu, Fukuoka
  is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Nearby cities include Ōnojō and Chikushino. Although mostly urban, it does have arable land used for paddy fields and market gardening....
  
   is named as site of new "Kyushu National Museum."
• 1997 -- "Basic Statement of Policy for the Kyushu National Museum" is completed.
• 1998 -- "Basic Plan for the Kyushu National Museum" is completed.
• 1999 -- "Basic Construction Design"　is completed.
• 1999 -- "Regular Exhibition Plan" is completed.
• 2000 -- "Design for Implementing Construction" is completed.
• 2000 -- "Basic Exhibition Design" is completed.
• 2001 -- "Construction Phase" is begun -- 1st part of a 3-year plan.
• 2002 -- "Implementation of Exhibition Design" is completed.
• 2003 -- "Construction Phase" is completed.
• 2003 -- "Exhibition Phase" is begun -- (1st part of a 2-year plan).
• 2004 -- Work on the building is completed.
• 2005 -- Museum is officially opened as the "Kyushu National Museum" of the "Independent Administrative Institution National Museum
  Independent Administrative Institution National Museum
  Independent Administrative Institution National Museum was the official name of the corporate entity created by the Japanese government in 2001 by merging three formerly independent national museums—the Tokyo National Museum, the Kyoto National Museum, and the Nara National Museum...
  
  " (IAI National Museum).
• 2007 -- IAI National Museum is merged into Independent Administrative Institution National Institutes for Cultural Heritage (NICH), combining the four national museums with the former National Institutes for Cultural Preservation at Tokyo and Nara

See also

• List of Independent Administrative Institutions (Japan)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (writings)
• List of National Treasures of Japan (crafts-swords)

External links

• Brochure of the Kyushu National Museum