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==Architecture==
==Architecture==
Prior to the construction of the Museum and its opening in [[1881]], the former site of the [[Yushima Seido|Yushima Seidô]] Confucian academy was used to house exhibitions beginning in [[1872]]; though not explicitly referred to as a "museum" (let alone a "Tokyo" "National" "Museum"), the exhibitions held at the Yushima Seidô are sometimes described as marking the beginnings of the TNM.<ref>Matsushima Masato, "Japan's Dream of Modern Art," ''Remaking Tradition: Modern Art of Japan from the Tokyo National Museum''. Cleveland Museum of Art (2014), 15-17.</ref>
The Hyôkeikan, today the Archaeological Wing of TNM, is a two-story Neo-Baroque stone structure topped with a copper dome. It was completed in [[1909]], nominally as a gift from the people of [[Tokyo]] presented to the [[Imperial family]], in honor of the wedding of the Crown Prince (who would later go on to rule as [[Emperor Taisho|Emperor Taishô]]). In reality, this was not paid for by popular donation, or by tax revenues, but by a small coalition of political and corporate movers-and-shakers who wished to strengthen their ties with the Imperial institution. They included businessman [[Shibusawa Eiichi]], Tokyo prefectural Governor [[Senge Takatomi]], and Mayor [[Matsuda Hideo]], who headed Tokyo's "Association for the Celebration of the Crown Prince's Wedding," and who began the project as early as March [[1900]], commissioning [[Katayama Tokuma|Katayama Tôkuma]] to design the new building. Contributions were collected from 7,310 members of the association, and from 15,890 other individuals, to help fund the construction. In the end, construction was completed in about eight years, at a cost of just over 540,000 [[yen]].<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 212.</ref> The gift was intended to symbolize a growing public connection to the Crown Prince, and loyalty to him.<ref>Coaldrake, William. ''Architecture and Authority in Japan''. Routledge, 1996. pp213, 308n5.</ref>
The Hyôkeikan, today the Archaeological Wing of TNM, is a two-story Neo-Baroque stone structure topped with a copper dome. It was completed in [[1909]], nominally as a gift from the people of [[Tokyo]] presented to the [[Imperial family]], in honor of the wedding of the Crown Prince (who would later go on to rule as [[Emperor Taisho|Emperor Taishô]]). In reality, this was not paid for by popular donation, or by tax revenues, but by a small coalition of political and corporate movers-and-shakers who wished to strengthen their ties with the Imperial institution. They included businessman [[Shibusawa Eiichi]], Tokyo prefectural Governor [[Senge Takatomi]], and Mayor [[Matsuda Hideo]], who headed Tokyo's "Association for the Celebration of the Crown Prince's Wedding," and who began the project as early as March [[1900]], commissioning [[Katayama Tokuma|Katayama Tôkuma]] to design the new building. Contributions were collected from 7,310 members of the association, and from 15,890 other individuals, to help fund the construction. In the end, construction was completed in about eight years, at a cost of just over 540,000 [[yen]].<ref>Takashi Fujitani, ''Splendid Monarchy'', University of California Press (1996), 212.</ref> The gift was intended to symbolize a growing public connection to the Crown Prince, and loyalty to him.<ref>Coaldrake, William. ''Architecture and Authority in Japan''. Routledge, 1996. pp213, 308n5.</ref>
