If you go upstairs from the first floor to the fourth floor, you will encounter a pair of “Ivory Sculpture of Lions,” ivory sculptures made during the Qing dynasty. You will first see many ivory art crafts resembling plants and animals, such as “Ivory Sculpture of lion” and “Ivory Sculpture of eagle.” In this plant and animal zone, you will appreciate a number of famous

articles, including “Ivory Sculpture of Carps” completed by Japanese ivory sculptor Koshu Kobari who took two years with assistance from apprentices to complete, and “Ivory Sculpture of Han Xue Ma (Ferghana Horse)” known as the legendary famous horse made by a Chinese court sculptor.

After the plant and animal zone, you enter the Buddhist temple zone where you will see “Ivory Sculpture of Urn of Emperor Qian-long” made of an ivory of the ultimate quality by a Chinese court sculptor, “Ivory Sculpture of a Multi-Story Building” with elegant fretworks covering all the surfaces combined with a dragon and a phoenix sculpted on the roof, and a number of “Ivory Sculpture of Towers” made of fine ivories. Exhibited here are many magnificent pieces yet with careful and detailed works that are fascinating.

After the Buddhist temple zone, you enter the permanent exhibition zone. It starts with one huge intact ivory that has a strong presence, and you can see the “Ivory Sculpture of Ivory Bridge” with elaborate sculptures on a huge single ivory of 2,400mm in total length and 55kg in weight, the “Ivory Sculpture of Landscape Ivory Bridge,” and at last the celestial “Ivory Statue of the Goddess of Kannon, Resembled to Yang Guifei,” before entering another special zone.

After the permanent exhibition zone, there is a special zone divided by a curtain. Throughout the year, this area is dedicated to the “Exhibition: The One and Only Blessed Virgin Mary” You will see many works of Japanese ivory sculptor, Master Shinsho Shimizu, using ivories of the highest quality and his sophisticated techniques, and all the facial expressions of Virgin Mary are graceful and filled with love. (Please see here for the pieces currently exhibited in the “Exhibition: The One and Only Blessed Virgin Mary”)

After a series of Virgin Mary sculptures, you will appreciate “Ivory Statue of the Virgin Mary of Lourdes” and “Ivory Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” and then proceed to the last exhibition room on the fourth floor, “Special Exhibition Room.” In the “Special Exhibition Room,” you will see a selection of “Special Works” from Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM) lit up and highlighted in a dim space for a limited period. (Please see here for the pieces currently exhibited in the “Special Exhibition Room.”)

If you go down from the exhibition room on the fourth floor to the third floor, you will encounter “The inlay carving lacquered ‘Pine tree and Crane’ 3-panel folding screen” marked with the use of vivid vermeil, and you can also see other Chinese art crafts including a variety of ink slabs and porcelains.

Further ahead, a significant number of natural stones (power stones) are displayed, including a rare stone that appears like a twinkling star by light reflection, and you will be amazed by the splendors of nature’s creations. Main features of this zone include “Canadian Jade Cranes,” made of precious Canadian nephrite jade, and a tusk of narwhal, which is a protected species living in the North Sea.

After this zone, you will find a masterpiece collection of Jingdezhen porcelains. Above all, the “Blue and White Porcelain Jar with a Lid Resembled to a General’s Cap” is one of the most precious pieces of art from the Qing era. Also you can see “The Good Fortune of Chengqian” made specially by the order of Chinese President Hu Jintao in 2011 as a gift to US President Barack Obama for the former’s visit to the US, for the purposes of symbolizing expansion of the long term friendship and exchanges between China and the US and introducing the Chinese pottery culture.

When you go down from the third floor to the second floor, you will see the nine “incense burners” made of genuine ivories. It is truly rare to see a total of nine “ivory sculpture of incense burners” displayed in one place eight made of genuine ivories and another made of mammoth ivory.
Proceeding the area, you will be astounded to find a great number of cameras displayed. Above all, we have many twin-lens reflex cameras from Rollei, established in Germany in 1920. Additionally, the “Wooden Camera”, produced in 1936 by Deardorff & Sons, Inc. in the US, is evaluated and revered as one of the best wooden large cameras.

After the camera zone, we display a number of religious artifacts. Many of them have historical values, and you can personally feel the ancient times. Subsequently, many rare and precious “writings” are displayed, written by heroes of the Japanese history, including “Yukichi Fukuzawa,” “Hirobumi Ito,” “Toshimichi Ohkubo,” “Takamori Saigo,” and “Kaishu Katsu.” After admiring those “writings,” you can see many clocks that ticked for a long period of time. You may even forget time if you observe the mechanical beauty of toothed gears seen through the dial face of the “Church Clock” made in Switzerland and used in Athens, Greece.

After the clock zone, you will see our collection of many “cannons” and “guns” actually used in the historical battle scenes. After cherishing the exhibition on the second floor, you can rest in the terrace with a full view of Kabutoyama’s great nature, before proceeding to the epilogue of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM). In the terrace on the second floor, there is the “Bell of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM),” and you can enjoy its resonance over the far mountains with the view of Kabutoyama’s great nature. It is placed in the terrace as we hope that many people would be happy to ring this bell. You may receive joyous energy from Kabutoyama’s nature and “The Bell of AOM” in the terrace of the second floor, before going down to the first floor to witness the epilogue of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM).

When you enter the exhibition room on the first floor from the entrance, you will find a giant ivory gate as the prologue of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM), followed by “Hills of Agape” located in the west of the main building, the great work sculpted in ivory by Japanese ivory sculptor, Master Shinsho Shimizu.
Use the elevator or stairs to go up to the exhibition room on the fourth floor.

After enjoying the fourth, third, and then second floors, you will see a number of enormous pieces in the exhibition room on the first floor, as the epilogue of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM). A series of grandiose ivory sculptures appearing one after another will amaze you, including “Ivory Sculpture of Danjiri (float, Nishinomiya-nagare)” from “Danjiri Festival,” which is one of the most popular festivals in the Kansai region, huge “Ivory Sculpture of Nine-Dragon Wall” with which you can lively feel the Chinese history, “Ivory Sculpture of Warship” and “Ivory Sculpture of Treasure Boat.”

“Himeji Castle (Largest in world ivory sculpture) (Width: 250cm, Length: 150cm, Height: 190cm, Weight: 155kg)” is the outstanding piece in the Museum, worked on exact details using a lucrative amount of high quality ivories to reproduce “The World’s Cultural Heritage Himeji Castle,” which won three stars as the sightseeing destination in Japan in Michelin Guide and is world renowned for its beauty. (Please read here for details of “Himeji Castle (Largest in world ivory sculpture)”). Many other art pieces welcome visitors, including “Partition” which is the Chinese intangible cultural heritage and “Ivory Sculpture of Nippon-maru.”

After appreciating the epilogue of Agape Ohtsuru Museum (AOM), please visit our “Museum Shop” to explore resonance of your inspirations. You will certainly find gifts for your family and friends which will allow you to share your inspirations with them.