Arms and armor occupy a special place in the Nezu Museum collection. The museum’s founder, Nezu Kaichirō, Sr., said “I do not understand swords.” He was thus not particularly interested in collecting them. In 1909, however, he decided to purchase a group of more than 3,000 pieces of arms and armor from the entrepreneur Mitsumura Toshimo (1877–1955), a decision motivated by concern over the possible loss of these superb works overseas, to prevent their dispersal and preserve the integrity of Mitsumura’s systematically assembled collection. Although the number of objects in the collection has decreased to roughly half of what they once were, the museum’s arms and armor holdings are still largely from the original Mitsumura Collection and continue to embody its distinctive character.

This exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to enjoy a carefully selected set of these refined and outstanding formworks from our collection of arms and armor.