Inaugurated in 1897, the Imperial Museum was created to preserve Kyoto's cultural treasures, which were under threat from the Emperor's own modernisation plans for the city. Now the National Museum, the old Baroque-style building is given over to exceptional temporary exhibitions, while a more recent annexe (1966) displays pieces (12 000 in total, presented in rotation) which brilliantly sum up Japan's artistic history, in whichever field it may be: archaeology, ceramics, sculpture, calligraphy, textiles, lacquerware etc.