The Museum of Kyoto (京都文化博物館)
Located in Nakagyo Ward in Kyoto City, the Museum of Kyoto was established in commemoration of the 1200th anniversary of Heian Sento (the relocation of the capital to found the Heian capital) to showcase the culture and history of Kyoto. The Kyoto Prefectural Government built the facility, and Kyoto Culture Foundation runs the museum. It opened on October 1, 1988. Its official name "Kyoto Prefecture Museum of Culture" is sometimes used.
It was formerly a private museum called Heian Museum established in 1968 as a facility of the Paleological Association of Japan, Inc. The building, the former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch (an Important Cultural Property), was donated to Kyoto Prefecture to establish the Museum of Kyoto. The building occupied by the former Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch is now the annex of the Museum of Kyoto. The main hall of the Museum of Kyoto is a building of ferroconcrete with seven stories above ground and a one-story basement newly built at the north side of this annex.
With the establishment of the Museum of Kyoto, the management of the materials stored in Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives was entrusted to Kyoto Culture Foundation (an organization that runs the Museum of Kyoto).
Therefore these materials are sometimes labeled 'Stored by Kyoto Prefectural Library and Archives, and managed by the Museum of Kyoto.'
The main hall:
Basement: library, storage, machinery room, and mechanical parking lot
First floor: "Roji Tenpo" (Edo Period style shops and restaurants in Kyoto) (tenant shops), Museum Shop, and offices (the project division)
Second floor: exhibition rooms pertaining to history
Culture, industry, and lifestyle in Kyoto from pre-Heiankyo times (before the ancient capital in Kyoto was established) to the Taisho period
Third floor: exhibition rooms for arts and crafts, and picture displays
Arts and crafts related to Kyoto are displayed, and movies owned by Kyoto Prefecture are played here as well
Fourth floor: special exhibition rooms
This floor is allocated for use for special exhibitions
Fifth and sixth floors: spaces for rent
Seventh floor: offices (the general administration division, and the curators division)
The Annex
The building, made of brick, was designed by Kingo TATSUNO and his pupil Uheiji NAGANO. It is so called Tatsuno style architecture. It was completed in 1906 as the Bank of Japan Kyoto Branch. It was designated as an Important Cultural Property in 1968.
It is used for various events as the annex of the Museum of Kyoto.
Basement: material sorting rooms, research rooms of the Paleological Association of Japan, Inc.
First floor: hall, tenant shops
Second floor: lecture rooms, office of the Paleological Association of Japan, Inc.
Separate building: coffee shop, artifacts storage
Location:
Kyoto Prefecture Museum of Culture: Northwest corner of Sanjo-Takakura Streets, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City 604-8183
Access:
Three minutes on foot from Karasuma Oike Station of the Kyoto City Subway
Seven minutes on foot from Karasuma Station of the Hankyu Railway Kyoto Line
15 minutes on foot from Sanjo Station (Kyoto Prefecture) on the Keihan Main Line
Information:
Closed: Mondays (if a Monday is a national holiday, then the next day)
Opening hours: permanent exhibitions: 10:00 - 19:30 (the entrance gate will be closed at 19:00)