Japan in the historical collections of the Natural History Museum in Milan

Abstract

In 2016, Italy and Japan were preparing to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the ‘Treaty of Friendship and Trade’, signed in 1866, with a series of events.
As Japan is my family's country of origin, my interest in this celebration was immediately aroused, both personally and professionally, hoping to find initiatives at the Milan Museum of Natural History (MSNM) that could be included in the official calendar of events, coordinated by the Japanese Embassy in Rome.
The presentation of Amerigo Hofmann's series of Japanese wood samples would undoubtedly be one of the examples of the presence of material from Japan in our museum collections. Other topics proposed by the Botany Section, to underline the interest in Japanese culture, could easily have been found in ikebana and the tea ceremony, themes and practical demonstrations that many associations present and active throughout Italy for many years, particularly in Milan, would have developed with due professionalism. [Continue]