Kobe City Museum   By John Weinstock, Winter 2003 update

With its various displays concerning the cultural interchange between the East and West, the Kobe City Museum offers visitors a chance to develop some historical perspective before or after taking in other sights around town. Since the basic information printed on the identification cards for each work exhibited has been translated into English (along with some of the explanations), a reading knowledge of Japanese is not required. The permanent exhibitions are divided into six different themes covering the period from the Paleolithic to the Meiji. Of particular interest are the Sakuragaoka Dotaku (bronze bells) and Doka (halberds), ritual objects that were excavated in Kobe and later designated as National Treasures. Among the pieces currently on display personal favorites include; Yayoi period pottery whose simple, beautifully functional shapes appear to be the result of a long period of trial and error, and not mere artistic whim; Arita ware from the first half of the Meiji period depicting scenes of industrialization and modernization; and late Edo period Japanese watches which are based on mechanical principles different from those utilized for European timepieces. The piece de resistance, however, is a massive120cm high Bizen ware jar from the 16th century. Its mouth of undefined shape and sheer physical presence caused me to seriously reconsider any preconceptions I had entertained about the daintiness of Japanese art.
Given the fact that Nanban art, a wildly syncretic Momoyama period amalgam of European and Asian influences, forms the heart of the museum's collection, it is not surprising that curated exhibitions tend toward the eclectic rather than the purely aesthetic. The current show entitled Egakareta Ongaku(‘Depicted Music') features Japanese works that portray Western musical instruments. Along with unusual animals like elephants, violins and trumpets functioned as icons for the exotic in 19th century woodblock prints. Artists of the time felt no pressing need to remain faithful to reality as it actually appeared, resulting in fanciful scenes such as soldiers from England, France, Holland and the U.S.A. conducting military drills together. The tension between observations of people and objects on one hand and the various conventions used for depiction on the other (and the vivid colors employed) lend these works a distinctive charm. Upcoming exhibits include Daieihakubutsukan no Shihoten (‘Treasures from the British Museum') which will be held from January 17 until March 28, 2004 as part of the celebrations making the 250th anniversary of the founding of that august institution.
The Kobe City Museum can be reached in 10 minutes by walking southwest from any Sannomiya station or southeast from either Motomachi station. It is closed on Monday (except in the case of national holidays, when it is closed on the following Tuesday). Ticket prices for special exhibitions vary according to each exhibition.