Image: Nagano Prefectural Art Museum
Nagano Prefectural Art Museum will host 'Ancient Egypt from the Brooklyn Museum' from June 27 to September 27, 2026, bringing around 150 objects from the Brooklyn Museum’s Egyptian holdings to Japan. The special exhibition is presented as a major touring stop and is described by the museum as the final venue on the domestic circuit. The display will occupy Exhibition Rooms 1, 2 and 3, and is organized with support from a broad network that includes the Brooklyn Museum, Nagano Prefecture, the museum itself, and local media partners.
The exhibition centers on artifacts that range from sculptures, coffins and jewelry to pottery, papyrus, and mummies of humans and cats. According to the museum’s announcement, the selection offers a close look at the culture of ancient Egypt through objects of high quality from the Brooklyn Museum’s collection, which it describes as one of the largest such collections in the United States. The show also emphasizes themes that have long drawn public interest, including how pyramids were built, what ancient Egyptians wrote and spoke, and how beliefs about the afterlife were expressed in funerary forms.
Archaeologist Yukino Kawae serves as curator and guide for the exhibition. The museum’s materials identify Kawae as a leading figure in contemporary Egyptian archaeology and highlight his involvement in recent research on pyramids. The exhibition will incorporate video and audio elements alongside the objects, including what the museum describes as the latest findings from pyramid studies and a sound presentation that recreates ancient Egyptian spells. The presentation is designed to combine scholarship with a broadly accessible visitor experience.
Among the highlighted works are a cartonnage and mummy of the priest Hor, a relief of a nobleman, a statue of a hippopotamus, canopic jars and lids shaped like a falcon, a vessel shaped like the face of the god Bes, the right eye from a human-shaped coffin, a ring inscribed with the name of Khufu, an amulet depicting the ba as a human-headed bird, a cat coffin and mummy, and a small figure of Pepi I kneeling. The museum also points to two human mummies and animal mummies as a major draw, along with live display elements that deepen the exhibition’s focus on ancient mortuary practice.
Visitor services and related programming are built into the presentation. Two audio-guide versions will be available, including a special edition narrated by Fuma Kikuchi and a standard version narrated by Gido Tsujio of Nippon TV, both running about 30 minutes. The museum also mentions themed merchandise and an exhibition shop, with a PEANUTS collaboration among the items offered. Related events listed on the museum site include a premium talk by Yukino Kawae on June 27, a special viewing day for visitors with disabilities on July 1, and a children’s art workshop on July 11.
The exhibition runs during summer 2026 and is presented in connection with Nagano Prefectural Art Museum’s 150th anniversary of Nagano Prefecture and the museum’s fifth anniversary since reopening. Opening hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with special night openings on August 14 and 15 until 8 p.m. The museum advises that crowds may lead to waiting times, especially on weekends and holidays.
