Rissho University: Museum (博物館)

About Rissho University Museum:

The Rissho University Museum was opened on April 1, 2002 in the Kumagaya campus to comemorate the university's 130 year anniversary.  The predecessors of the museum was Kōkogaku hyōhonshitsu (考古学標本室, later renamed Kōkogaku shiryōshitsu 考古学資料室), opened in 1932, and Kōkogaku chinreshitsu (考古学陳列室), opened in 1978.  The  Museum was established in order to collect, store and present various (historical) materials, which were held separately throughout the university, to the public.  In March 2004, it was approved as a museum from Saitama Prefecture.

Today, the museum collects and preserves the scholarly materials related to the history, art, folklore, industry and natural science field and exhibits these collections as well as contributes to the development of education and research of the university

In addition, the museum holds special exhibitions twice a year, trains a student curator, and addresses issues for various publication materials.

Focus: Archeology, Religion (Buddhism), History, Art, Ethnic Studies, Natural Sciences

Notable Collection(s):

• Archeology Laboratory Excavated Materials (考古学研究室発掘資料): Collected by Rissho University Faculty of Letters archeology lab. The highlight of the collection is excavated materials from the archaeological study of ancient ceramic of engineering, which was conducted nationwide under a grant of the Ministry of Education (now the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) in between1958 and1980. 

• Busekian Collection (撫石庵コレクション): The collection consists of Buddhist bells (梵音具 Bonongu ) donated by Mr. Manabe Takashi (眞鍋孝志, Chairman of 日本古鐘研究会 Nihon kosho kenkyukai) and Buddhist statues. These bells are not just from Japan but also from across Asia, such as the Korean Peninsula, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.  In addition, the collection includes (a) bronze drum(s) (銅鼓 Dōko) from Thailand, (a) gold drum(s) (金鼓 Konku) from the Korean Peninsula,  a standing statue of the Buddha with the inscription of the seventh emperor of Wu of China from 549 A.D.  The most prominent material in the collection is 伝橿原市出土鐘 - a Buddhist bell from the early Heian period, which was excavated at Kashihara City, Nara Prefecture. The bell was restored in 2006.

• Kumagaya Campus Ruins Excavated Materials (熊谷校地内遺跡出土資料): The collection consists of excavated materials from ruins located inside of Rissho University Kumagaya campus: earthenware materials for the Jomon period (6,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago), remains of the late Kofun period (古墳時代後期, about 1,500 years ago and Heian period (平安時代, about 1,1100 years ago) settlements and ruins from the Edo period.

• Yoshida Itaru Collection (吉田格コレクション): The collection consists of materials from the Paleolithic and Jomon (縄文) period donated by Mr. Yoshida Itaru, a Rissho University graduate and well-known scholar of the Jomon culture research.  In addition, there are the late Paleolithic materials from  Kumanogoh (熊ノ郷), Tongayato (殿ヶ谷戸) and Nishinodai (西之台) B ruins in the Kanto region.  Furthermore, there are stoneware materials collected by Ito Keisuke (伊藤圭介), a herbalist and the first Doctor of Science in Japan.  Finally, there are stoneware in a collection box dated 1952.

• Nepal Tilaura Kot Ruins Excavated Materials (ネパールティラウラコット遺跡出土資料): The collection consists of bronze and earthenware materials, such as glass products, documents and excavation tools and photos of the excavation landscape from India-Nepal Buddhist ruins expeditions organized by Risshio University, which were conducted eight times from 1977 and 1967.   

• Sakhalin Excavated Materials (サハリン出土資料): The collection consists of Sakhalin excavated materials donated by Mr. Kubo Tsuneharu (久保常晴), a former University Professor.  The collection was from Mr. Kubo's Sakhalin excavations in 1930s.

Vsiting the Museum

Admission: Open to the Pubic

Floor Maps: Please refer to "館内紹介".

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