Outline

Purpose & Collection

The Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments is the first municipal museum of musical instruments in Japan. It was established as part of the Hamamatsu City“Creation of a City of Music” beginning in 1981, and is registered museum facility under the law of museums.

The mission of the museum is to collect and preserve a representative selection of musical instruments and related materials from around the world, to research them, to exhibit them with an equal and unbiased perspective, and to cultivate a vast knowledge and understanding of music, musical instruments, and cultures through a variety of activities.

We hope the museum will become a center for all musical instruments and their cultures, and a place where people will meet together to discover this wonderful world.

The exhibition rooms are in the 1st floor and the basement. The 1st floor is for the musical instruments from Asia and Japan, early Japanese-made western ones, and for hands-on room, whereas the basement is for the instruments from Africa, Oceania, America, and Europe. 1,300 out of 3,300 collections of musical instruments are for permanent exhibition.

With the motto, “See, hear, and touch,” the permanent exhibition rooms exhibit by 5 continents of Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe, and America, whereas Japanese instruments and Japanese-made western ones are exhibited separately. You can enjoy playing the musical instruments and the sound instruments in the hands-on room.

The exhibition for Europe is classified by Sachs=Hornbostel classification method that classifies musical instruments by the principle of sound production. The classification goes further by style, date, form, and usage. Since most musical instruments are displayed without cases, you can see the texture closely. Headphones and monitors are equipped so that you can enjoy 100 different sounds and 30 different videos. A personal earphone guide system gives you the explanation and sounds of 80 different instruments. Since the exhibition renewal in March 2006, our concept, “To exhibit the world musical instruments from unbiased and equal perspective,” has appeared more clearly.

History

1995
  • AprOpening
    Special exhibition, “Bamboo and Gourd Musical Instruments”
1996
  • SepOpening of the exhibition room for Asian and African instruments
  • Nov200,000 visitors
1997
  • AprStarting the guided tour for exhibition rooms
1998
  • Mar300,000 visitors
1999
  • DecStarting the museum of musical instruments on PC, and Internet website
2000
  • MayStarting the visiting museum for the elementary schools in the city
  • JulThe special exhibition for the 5th anniversary, “The birth of musical instruments!”
  • Aug500,000 visitors
2001
  • SepThe 1st practical workshop with Javanese gamelan
2002
  • AprStarting the Members’ Club of the museum
  • DecRedesigning the website
2003
  • MarThe 11th special exhibition, “Musical 1nstruments and the 20th Century”
  • Jun700,000 visitors
2004
  • Aug800,000 visitors
2005
  • JunStarting a renewal and expanding construction of the exhibition
2006
  • MarRenewal opening
  • JulSpecial exhibition,“The fine string instruments of Osaka College of Music Suntory Collection”
2007
  • Jan1,000,000 visitors
  • DecThe lecture concert commemorating Hamamatsu City’s transition to the government- ordinance-designated city “Harpsichord music of the French Versailles school in the 18th century”
2008
  • SepStarting the evening salon concert
2009
  • Feb1,200,000 visitors
2010
  • JulSpecial exhibition “Grand Exhibition of Banjo”
  • Aug15th anniversary special event “Thumb Piano Festival”
2011
  • AugSpecial event “Bagpipe Gathering”
    Special exhibition “ Symphony of the Dolls”
2012
  • AugSpecial exhibition “Archeology of Musical Instruments, Sound-Journey to Ancient Era”
  • SepInternational meetings of Laon-laon in Taipei
    1,500,000 visitors
  • NovSpecial exhibition “Design of the Musical Instruments”
2013
  • JanGrand Prize in the Category Records , National Art Festival 2012 in Japan, for the collection series CD No.38 “English Sonata on Broadwood Piano”
  • AugSpecial exhibition in Tokyo “Wonderful Pianos of Old, Old Times”
  • Nov1,600,000 visitors
2014
  • MarStarting of Gallery Talk
  • AprSpecial exhibition “Musical Instruments on the Postal Stamps”
  • AugSpecial exhibition “Bagpipes”
  • DecThe 26th Koizumi Fumio Prize for the Contribution to ethnomusicology
2015
  • Jan1,700,000 visitors