The Belfast Museum and Art Gallery opened in 1929 and the collections today include Fine and Applied Art, Archaeology and Ethnography, Treasures from the Armada, Local History, Numismatics, Industrial Archaeology, Botany, Zoology and Geology.
The Japanese collections fall between the Department Archaeology and Ethnography, the Department of Fine and Applied Art and the Departments of Geology and Zoology. The Ethnography collection has some sixty-eight Japanese objects which include carved ivories, arms and armour, textiles and costume, lacquerware and metalwork. The collection has a full-sized palanquin with the mon of the daimyo of southern Hokkaido. There is also an Edo-period replica of a bronze lantern from Shittenoji in Osaka with an original date equivalent to 1274. The lantern is on permanent display outside the museum building.
The Fine and Applied Art Department has around fifty Japanese objects including textiles and costume (including contemporary fashion by Miyake and Kenzo), late nineteenth century jewellery, ceramics, cloisonne and an embroidered silk screen as well as prints and contemporary glass. Japanese objects can generally be seen in themed displays, although a few pieces such as the lantern and crystal ball are on permanent display.
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