This museum is a hybrid that exhibits several collections in various combinations, revolving around the work of Taisho Period artist Takahisa Yumeji. If you love Jazz Age art and fashion—the period when age-old Japanese traditions were shook up by contact with Western ideas—you’ll love the Yayoi-Yumeji Museum. It’s two museums in one—the Yayoi collection of Jazz Age kimonos and accessories, and the collection of artist Takehisa Yumeji’s belongings and paintings.
What links the two is that the outfits in the Yayoi Museum were featured in the paintings by Yumeji.
Four times a year they mount exhibits that display a painting with the actual clothing the model wore, like this ensemble with a grape motif.
The Yayoi Museum has a vault full of magnificent Taisho, Meiji and Showa Era kimonos…
including a number of gorgeous Meissen silk pieces, made by dyeing the thread before it’s woven to give it a uniquely energetic vibe.
After Japan opened to the West in 1868, the fashion world began to challenge traditional seasonal colors and motifs
and produce clothing inspired by foreign lands as far away as Africa…
Some even featured Western motifs that injected a bit of humor into the serious business of haute couture.
In between the main kimono exhibits, the museum hosts other shows, which range from original manga artwork to vintage records. Check the Yayoi-Yumeji Museum website for information about current and future exhibitions.
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Yayoi-Yumeji Museum
Open: Every day except closed Mondays and while exhibitions are being prepared
Check the museum website before going
Hours: 10:00 – 17:00
Admission: Adults, ¥1000
Check the Yayoi-Yumeji Museum website to see current and future exhibitions
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And here are the other places I take my friends when they come to town
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Jonelle Patrick writes novels set in Japan, produces the monthly e-magazine Japanagram, and blogs at Only In Japan and The Tokyo Guide I Wish I’d Had
Jonelle Patrick writes about Japan 