Tokyo National Museum

Before we got to the museum we came upon this display of the Flame of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  This flame has been kept going as a remembrance of those who died when the US forces dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in an attempt to end WWII.  You can read the whole story of how the flame came to be at Ueno Park on the link.

Here is the Tokyo National Museum.  We spent a few hours looking at artifacts of  Japanese history and checking out the national treasures of Japan.  Here are few photos Pam took from inside the museum.  

 Many of the statues were made of wood, and have been preserved for thousands of years.

 We saw a lot of scrolls.  These scrolls are written in Japanese and tell stories of the history of Japan.  Some of them had ornate pictures painted on them as well as the written records.

 Remember when we told you about the tea ceremonies that are held in the tea rooms?  Well, there was a section in the museum all about the tea ceremony through the ages.

 Here are a couple of tea pots.  The brown one is actually made of metal.

There was also a section about Japanese military history.  This "armor" is actually made of leather.  That is pretty amazing, isn't it?  There was also a large array of swords and weapons.  Near the end of our museum tour, we saw 40 of the 41 national treasures of Japan that were named in 2015.  Each year the nation chooses a set of national treasures that represent certain aspects of Japanese history.  We weren't allowed to take pictures in that part of the museum.  One of our favorite displays was of a very old saddle with ceremonial decorations.