Shiseido Corporate Museum and Shiseido Art Museum
On the second Friday of my Golden Week holiday, I took the train to Kakegawa and visited some museums. I have been to Kakegawa before to visit Kakegawa Castle and to visit Kakegawa Kachouen (a bird zoo), but this was the first time I visited the four museums.
The first two places I visited were side by side. There was no admission fee to either place and no photographs were allowed to be taken. Currently the Corporate Museum is only open on Fridays. I expected the Art Museum to be closed (because I read that online), but happy to find out it was open when I was there. Currently it is open Wednesday - Saturday, subject to change.
Shiseido is a famous Japanese multinational cosmetic company, founded in 1872. This year is the 150th anniversary of the founding. It is the largest cosmetic company in Japan and the fifth largest in the world. If you are interested, you can read more about the company at this Wikipedia link.
The two story Corporate Museum was very interesting, even for me - a person who isn't big on make up. It showcased a history of the company and its products. I was amazed to see all of the different (very old) products on display. There were also clothing worn by the sales clerks and advertising posters and booklets put out by the company.
Photos from website - - -
The Shiseido Art House was established in 1919 and has over 1600 paintings, sculptures, and craft items. A portion are on public display. The English website is here.
The museums are walking distance from the train station and I highly recommend visiting both!
7 comments:
Pamela: Amazing tour, I have bought Shiseido lip color from Kohl's in the past so creamy and worth the money plus their other products are worth the money.
Cathartine
The story of the Shiseido cosmetic company sounds very interesting. Pity you were not allowed to take photos.
Maybe it is because you and I do not use cosmetics ourselves that we think such a museum would be uninteresting. I guess it must have been an eye opener to visit and see the displays. Especially the time aspect, how trends, styles, products and packages have changed over time. Also geographic differences.
E.g. I have noticed a trend in Sweden to wear VERY red lips on a pale skin and almost no focus on the eyes. Does it reflect that women want to SPEAK and be HEARD? On the other hand in Japan the focus is on implanted, false eyelashes. Does that reflect that women are more AWARE of the world around them? That they are on the LOOK OUT?
I also guess the corporate museum is a showcase of national and international success. I know the Shiseido makes products of high quality, and is loved by Chinese tourists who buy a lot.
It is fascinating to me that a corporation has an art gallery, and that they have had it for over 100 years!
So many interesting places to go and visit in Japan.
Another interesting find! The corporate museum seems to be an interesting take on how society developed in the past 150 years, with the different items and advertisements!
I love how you make the most of your holidays -- and how easy it is in Japan to hop a train to go somewhere. It seems infinitely more complicated here!
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