About the place
The museum houses the private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940). The museum foundation was established on the death of the founder Nezu in 1940 and exhibitions were first opened to the public in 1941. The museum collection was stored away from central Tokyo during the second world war and escaped the destruction suffered by the estate property in the bombing of May 1945. Exhibitions were restarted after the war in 1946.