The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka

As the name suggests, the collection of The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka focuses on the ceramics of East Asia. The museum also serves as a research center. Located on Nakanoshima Island in the heart of Osaka City, the museum has a renowned collection of some 6,000 pieces of ceramics, centering on Korean works from the Goryeo dynasty and the Joseon dynasty and Chinese works, including two national treasures and thirteen important cultural properties.

The Ataka Collection accumulated by the former Ataka & Co., Ltd. is the core of the museum’s collection. Founded in 1904, Ataka was one of the ten leading general trading companies during World War II and in the post-war period, but ran into financial difficulties in 1975 and was absorbed by ITOCHU Corporation in 1977.

At that time, the fate of Ataka & Co.’s collection of 965 pieces of oriental ceramics attracted great attention. Since the superlative collection—including 144 Chinese works of the period from the Eastern Han dynasty to the Ming dynasty and 793 Korean works of the period from the Goryeo dynasty to the Joseon dynasty—was of such exceptional cultural value, it would have been a tragedy if it had been broken up at auction, dispersed and lost. The fate of the collection was even discussed in the Japanese Diet.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs made an unprecedented request to The Sumitomo Bank, which was the trustee, to prevent dispersal or outflow overseas of the Ataka Collection. In January 1980, 21 companies in the Sumitomo Group decided to donate all the oriental ceramics of the Ataka Collection to Osaka City, contributing funds for that purpose. In response, Osaka City announced a plan to construct a museum expressly to retain the collection and exhibit it as widely as possible. In November 1982, the museum, one of a handful in the world specializing in oriental ceramics, was established and the integrity of the Ataka Collection was ensured for future generations.

In the aftermath of World War II, the integrity of Japan’s artistic heritage was in jeopardy. Several notable collections established in the pre-war era were dispersed and lost, resulting in a significant cultural loss. It is noteworthy that in these circumstances the generosity of the Sumitomo Group protected cultural assets.

A distinctive feature of The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka is the use of natural light enabling visitors to appreciate ceramics in all their original aesthetic glory. The natural light from the skylight is introduced via light ducts to the display cases indirectly. Illumination of the gallery is minimized so that only the display cases are clearly visible. This epoch-making system, the first of its type in the world, attracted great interest when the museum opened.

For the display of works of art, how to make it possible to appreciate the original tone of the color and texture of the works is an enduring issue. In particular, the color and texture of ceramics change greatly in appearance depending on the property of the light. Thus, a method enabling display with natural light has long been sought. Whereas display in natural light is not practical for paintings because of the impact of ultraviolet rays, it is possible for ceramics. Osaka City and Nikken Sekkei, which was responsible for the design, collaborated to create the museum’s natural light display system.

The natural light gallery usually displays celadon. Among ceramics, the color tone of the glaze of celadon is particularly susceptible to change depending on the attributes of the light. Indeed, tradition has it that celadon is best viewed at around 10 o’clock in the morning on a fine day in the autumn in a room facing north with sunlight through a shoji screen. The display cases are bathed in soft light just like the light through a window facing north and visitors can enjoy the changing tone of celadon as the relative positions of the Earth and the Sun change as the day progresses.