Special Exhibition in Commemoration of a Donation Living with Glass: Masterpieces from the Glass Library Collection

【Exhibition Title】

Special Exhibition in Commemoration of a Donation

Living with Glass: Masterpieces from the Glass Library Collection

【Venue】

Kobe City Museum, 2nd Floor

Nanban Art Gallery and Special Exhibition Room 2

【Exhibition Period】

February 28 (Sat), 2026 – April 5 (Sun), 2026

【Opening Hours】

10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.

【Closed】

Mondays

Opening hours are 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (until 8:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).

【Admission】

Adults: ¥1,200 (¥1,000)

University Students: ¥600 (¥500)

High School Students and Younger: Free

Prices in parentheses apply to groups of 20 or more.

Kobe residents aged 65 and over receive half-price admission upon presenting valid ID at the ticket counter.

Visitors with disabilities are admitted free of charge upon presentation of appropriate certification.

University students and younger visitors are required to present a student ID.

This ticket also grants access to the special exhibition “Akioka Library: A Geographer’s Collection” and the Collection Galleries. Separate tickets are not available.

【Overview】

Kobe City Museum is pleased to present the special exhibition Living with Glass: Masterpieces from the Glass Library Collection, held in commemoration of a recent donation.

The museum has received the Glass Library Collection assembled by Professor Emeritus Junji Tanahashi of Kobe Shoin Women’s University (now Kobe Shoin University).

The Glass Library Collection consists of glassware, cloisonné objects collected since 2011, as well as literature related to glass transferred from the former Vidro Archives Collection (※).

The collection includes Japanese glassware from the Edo period, such as bidoro and giyaman, Western glassware introduced to Japan through Nagasaki trade, Chinese glass objects, and Japanese cloisonné ware. A distinctive feature of the collection is its rich assemblage of scientific glassware, including measuring cylinders and graduated glasses, which became increasingly widespread in Japan from the Meiji period onward.

This exhibition presents approximately 120 carefully selected works from the Glass Library Collection, many of which are on public display for the first time. Through these luminous and colorful objects, visitors are invited to rediscover the enduring appeal of glass—an indispensable material in our daily lives.

※Donated to Kobe City Museum in 2011 as the Vidro Archives Collection.