BRITISH MUSEUM TO SET UP JAPANESE EXHIBIT

The British Museum has launched a $7.1-million appeal aimed at making the museum a major European center for the exhibition and study of Japanese culture.

The national museum, one of the world’s oldest, has about 20,000 Japanese items but no permanent gallery to display the paintings, prints, ceramics, lacquer and swords in the collection.

The trustees hope that the plan to convert space into an exhibition, study and storage area for the collection will be financed largely by Japanese donations, especially from Japanese industry.

A fund-raising office has been set up in Tokyo with a supporting committee that includes three former Japanese ambassadors to Britain.

The trustees also said they wanted to set up an endowment fund to employ Japanese specialists to do preservation work on the collection and send museum trainees to Japan.

“This project affords a unique opportunity to expose the culture of Japan to the many millions of visitors from all parts of the world who come to the British Museum every year,” museum Director David Wilson said.