Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka

The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka is a Japanese art museum located in Kita-ku, Osaka, within Nakanoshima Park. Inaugurated on November 7, 1982, it is regarded as one of the premier ceramic collections in the world. The institution collects, studies, conserves, exhibits, and interprets East Asian ceramics, with a primary focus on ancient Chinese and Korean works. Its global reputation rests on two major acquisitions: the world-famous Ataka Collection and the Rhee Byung-Chang Collection, which together provide the public with an exceptional aesthetic and scholarly experience.

The museum was established to house the significant ceramic collection of entrepreneur and art lover Eiichi Ataka. The Ataka Collection was donated to the city of Osaka by 21 companies of the Sumitomo Group, facilitating the museum's opening in 1982. In 1999, a side wing was opened to expand the display capacity, specifically to accommodate additional Japanese ceramics and the Korean ceramic collection of I Byeongchang, also known as Rhee Byung-Chang.

The museum's holdings encompass approximately 4000 items, of which about 2700 are Chinese, Korean, and Japanese ceramics. The collection typically displays around 320 objects between the main building and the side wing, alongside two annual special exhibitions. The galleries are organized thematically and geographically, featuring Korean Goryeo and Joseon ceramics, Korean porcelain, the Rhee Byung-Chang collection, Japanese ceramics, and Chinese ceramics spanning the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. The Song dynasty gallery notably features display cases utilizing natural light. Due to the frequent earthquakes in Japan, the museum has developed specialized presentation techniques to absorb seismic shocks and limit damage to the objects.

The museum's collection includes two National Treasures of Japan and 13 Important Cultural Properties. The National Treasures are a Yuan dynasty celadon vase with iron brown spots and a Southern Song tenmoku glaze bowl with silvery spots. Important Cultural Properties include a Northern Song stoneware with sgraffito decoration of peony under green glaze, a Goryeo celadon vase with phoenix handles, a Goryeo celadon with carved peony scrolls design, a Southern Song tenmoku glaze bowl with leaf design, a Yuan blue-and-white vessel with fish and water plants design, a Ming cloisonne-style vessel with bird and flower design, and various other porcelain and blue-and-white works.

The museum is situated on Nakanoshima island within Nakanoshima Park in central Osaka. The facility consists of the original main building, which opened in 1982, and a side wing added in 1999 to house the expanded Japanese and Korean collections. The architecture incorporates specialized seismic isolation technology in its display cases to protect the fragile ceramics from earthquake damage, a critical adaptation for cultural institutions in Japan.

The Museum of Oriental Ceramics, Osaka is located in Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan, and can be accessed via Nakanoshima Park. It operates as a municipal institution for the city of Osaka. In addition to its permanent displays, the museum hosts two special exhibitions annually and maintains an active publications program, releasing scholarly books on its collection and exhibitions, such as titles focusing on tenmoku glaze ware, Song ceramics, and the Ataka Collection.