The museum is located in Ueno Park, a spacious park in Taito, Tokyo, which is also home to several other museums. This view from one small part of the park takes in the rear of the museum's Japanese Gallery in the background.

The museum comprises several collections in five main buildings. The Honkan, seen here, houses the Japanese Gallery.

Standing Sho Kannon Bosatsu (Avalokitesvara). Gilt bronze. This is a 20th-century copy of the original, now in Yakushiji, Nara, from the 7th–8th century and the Asuka-Nara period.

Folding screen detail. Ink on paper

Folding screen detail

Orchids, by Gyokuen Bonpo (1348–1420?). Ink on paper. The artist was a Zen monk.

Standing Amida Nyorai (Amitabha), Wood with gold pigment, cut gold leaf, and inlaid crystal eyes. Kamakura period, 13th–14th century

Detail of calligraphic inscription from the Heian period, 11th–12th century. Ink on paper

Detail of a folding screen

Seated Amida Nyorai (Amitabha). Wood with gold leaf. Heian period, dated 1147

Folding screen detail

Folding screen detail

Kabuki Theater and Other Amusements. Detail of a folding screen. Edo period, 17th century

Standing Ten' no (Deva King). Wood with polychromy. Heian period, 10th–11th century

Comparisons of True Courage: Kiyohime, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861). Edo period, dated 1856

Two Heavenly Kings. Wood with polychromy. Heian period, dated 1147

Double-flowered Cherry, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)

Famous Places of Edo: Sumida River in Cherry-blossom Season, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858). Edo period, 19th century

Famous Places of Edo: Toeizan in Ueno, by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858). Edo period, 19th century

Attendant Bodhisattva on a Cloud. Wood with polychromy. Heian period, dated 1053

Women Viewing Cherry Blossoms, by Kawamata Tsunemasa (dates unknown). Edo period, 18th century

Cherry Blossom Viewing (detail of a folding screen), by Sumiyoshi Gukei (1631–1705). Edo period, 17th century. A prince at his villa, with attendants, enjoying composing poetry among cherry blossoms in a scene from The Tales of Ise

Standing Shiten' no, Heavenly Kings. Wood with inlaid crystal eyes. Kamakura period, 14th century. They are seen with the Seated Thousand-armed Kannon Bosatsu (see below). Armor-clad deities guard the four cardinal directions. They are modeled after the four guardian sculptures at the Great Buddha Hall of Todai-ji Temple in Nara.

Seated Thousand-armed Kannon Bosatsu (Sahasrabhuja). Wood with gold pigment, cut gold leaf, and inlaid crystal eyes. Nanbokucho period, 14th century. The compassionate deity Sahasrabhuja uses his thousand arms to save those in need.

A veranda at the back of the Japanese Gallery looks out onto this view.

Before leaving the museum grounds, a quick stop at the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, designed by architect Yoshio Taniguchi, among whose other projects has been the redesign of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, completed in 2004. Of the building seen here, Taniguchi has written, "Out of a desire to respect both the sublime works to be displayed and the natural setting, I made it my goal . . . to create on the site an environment of a kind that has become all too rare in present-day Tokyo, that is, an environment characterized by tranquility, order and dignity."

Man-made pond in front of the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures

Leaving the Tokyo National Museum's grounds, looking toward the mall in Ueno Park