Hakubutsukan (National Museum), c. 1910, as originally designed by Josiah Conder. The Hakubutsu-kan, built in 1877 at Ueno Park for the first Meiji Industrial Exposition, was Japan’s first museum. It was championed by Hachida Hisanari, the Director of Museums in the Ministry of Culture, who spent considerable personal wealth to collect and preserve traditional Japanese art and artworks. This original building was destroyed in the 1923 earthquake.

See also:
Ueno Park Museums, c. 1910

“The Hakubutsu-kwan was first opened at Ueno under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce. In 1886 the Museum was placed in the charge of the Imperial Household Department.

“In the Museum are kept on exhibit objects of History, Fine Arts, Industrial Arts, and Natural History. The Museum authorities are also responsible for the care of the Zoological Gardens and of the Ueno Park in general. The Tokyo Imperial Museum is one of the three museums maintained by the Imperial Household the other two being those at Kyoto and Nara. Of these three, the Tokyo Museum is especially rich in objects of raised lacquer work and ceramics, Kyoto Museum in paintings, and Nara Museum in sculptures.”

– An Official Guide to Eastern Asia, Published by Imperial Japanese Government Railways, 1914