Information for the next exhibition, Unveiling Tutankhamen: The Pharaoh’s Timeless Adolescence, at the grand gallery of the Kadokawa Musashino Museum.
Kadokawa Musashino Museum is also known as Kadokawa Culture Museum or Kadcul for short. The grand gallery is on the 1st (ground) floor of the Kadokawa Culture Museum in Tokorozawa Sakura Town, Japan’s hippest entertainment town! To date two 360-degree installations in a row, Ukiyo-e Theater from Paris and Immersive Van Gogh, have proved the most popular exhibitions. But this summer an interactive Tutankhamen exhibition, using the latest technology and detailed reproductions to recreate the boy king’s life, is bound to make it on to “the best” of Kadokawa exhibition’s list!
Kadokawa Culture Museum Grand Gallery
Kadokawa Musashino Museum is just one of the many offerings at Saitama’s trendiest entertainment town: Tokorozawa Sakura Town. It is part of the Cool Japan Forest Project, an initiative between Kadokawa Corporation and Tokorozawa city. Kadokawa Corporation are one of the largest publishing companies in Japan. They are known for their manga magazines in particular. Manga features greatly in the new complex.
But there is more to the Kadokawa museum than manga, with several other facilities including the grand gallery on the first floor. There are several other exhibition areas in the museum. For example, on the third floor you can find the EJ Anime Museum, where there is currently (June / July 2023) an Baki the Grappler exhibition. Until July 16th you can enjoy a Boys’ Love exhibition at the Edit and Art Gallery on the fourth floor of the museum. From the 23rd they too will have an exhibition related to the Tutankhamen display, on the mysterious mystery of ancient Egyptian.
You can find a floor by floor guide to the Kadokawa Museum here. Apart from the Kadokawa Culture / Musashino museum there is the Cool Japan shrine, restaurants, shops, event space and in the neighboring park there is also a TeamLab “Acorn Forest” permanent outdoor exhibition. THere was an ‘EJ Anime Hotel’ too, but unfortunately it closed earlier this year.
Unveiling Tutankhamen: The Pharaoh’s Timeless Adolescence
Last year, 2022, was the 100 year anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb by British archaeologist Howard Carter. This exhibition was created in commemoration of the anniversary of this significant find. In Japanese the exhibition is called 体感型古代エジプト展 ツタンカーメンの青春 which translates to something like Experience Ancient Egypt exhibition; the Youth of Tutankhamen. But the official English for the event is “Unveiling Tutankhamen: The Pharaoh’s Timeless Adolescence”.
The exhibition explores how Tutankhamen, the world’s most famous Pharaoh, might have lived. From the perspective that when he ruled, over 3000 years ago, he was only in his youth. He was only a boy when he succeeded his father. It is estimated that he was only about 8 or 9 years old. He ruled from then, through his teenage years, until he died at just 19 years old. The exhibition will look at the story of his youth within the “history”. In addition, the exhibition aims to allows visitors to experience ancient Egyptian civilization from a completely new perspective.
Experts from various fields contributed to the production of this incredible exhibition. The supervisor is Mr. Yukinori Kawae, an Egyptian archaeologist and an associate professor at the Nagoya University Institute for Advanced Study. The spatial design is handled by art director Anri Kamijo, a Japan Academy Award winner for Best Art Direction. In addition, the music director is Kenji Kawai, who composed the music for the theatrical versions of “Mobile Police Patlabor” and “Ghost in the Shell”. Furthermore, the theme song for the exhibition “Tutankhamun’s Theme” is an original theme composed especially for this exhibition.
The use of Detailed Replicas and the Latest Technology
The exhibition uses detailed replicas, i.e. there is no original / genuine artefacts or works of art. They are exquisite replicas reputed to be among the best in the world. With the aide of the latest technology you can ‘experience’ ancient Egypt. There is also an interactive area with where you relive the discovery of Howard Carter and experience the life of Tutankhamen.
Diplays include:
- Replica of some of the most famous items from the tomb, such as the golden mask, golden throne and a chariot
- In addition, there are elaborate replicas of about 130 more funerary items
- Experience ancient Egypt
- Tutankhamen’s daily life
- Hieroglyphics
Kadokawa Museum Grand Gallery Information
Exhibition: Unveiling Tutankhamen: The Pharaoh’s Timeless Adolescence 体感型古代エジプト展 ツタンカーメンの青春
Exhibition Dates
From Saturday July 1st to Public Holiday Monday November 20th, except some Tuesdays (see below)
Hours
The museum is closed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesdays of the month. Exhibition hours are from 10 am to 6 pm from Sunday to Thursday. On Fridays and Saturdays the museum is open until 9 pm. (Last entry is 30 minutes before closing time everyday).
Cost
Tickets cost 2,400 yen for adults, 1800 yen for teenagers and 1000 yen for elementary aged school children. There is no charge for preschoolers. It is highly recommended to purchase tickets in advance online.
Phone number: 0570-017-396. They man the phone from 2 pm to 5 pm on weekdays only.
All images, unless stated otherwise, are from the official website.
Access
The Kadokawa Musashino Museum Grand Gallery is a ten minute walk from Higashi Tokorozawa station. The museum is about 3.6 kilometers from the Tokorozawa Interchange of the Kanetsu expressway. Parking is available – it costs 200 yen for 30 minutes, but capped at 600 yen on weekdays and 1800 yen on weekends.
Previous displays at the Grand Gallery
- Kengo Kuma exhibition, which was the very first exhibition in the Grand Gallery of the Kadokawa Museum
- Yokai Pandemonium exhibition
- Ukiyo-e theater from Paris, the Spirit of Japan from October 2021 to Golden week 2022
- Van Gogh, This is How I see the world from Saturday June 18th to Monday January 9th 2023 (Extended due to popularity from Sunday November 27th).
- TAGUKORE: Dunno A Thing About Art (But I like it) タグコレ 現代アートはわからんね From Saturday February 4th to Sunday May 7th 2023
These are just the exhibitions that previously featured on this blog. As these exhibitions are no longer live, they were removed from the blog.
looks very cool indeed the style works in the ones youve shown us Lynda