LONDON: An exhibition featuring artifacts related to Japan will be held at the Buckingham Palace in Britain next year, the Royal Collection Trust, which manages the British royal family's expansive art collection, said Monday.  

On display at the exhibition, set to run from June 12 to Nov. 8, 2020, will be items the British royal family accumulated during hundreds of years of its exchange with Japan's Imperial Family and with the Tokugawa shogunate in the Edo period, which lasted for more than 250 years from 1603 in the Asian nation. 

Featured pieces will include a samurai armor gifted to King James I of England by Tokugawa Hidetada, the second shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, in the first half of the 17th century, colorful Arita porcelain believed to have been collected by Queen Mary II in the second half of the 17th century and a cosmetics case sent by Japanese Emperor Hirohito, posthumously called Emperor Showa, to current Queen Elizabeth II upon her coronation in 1953.

It will be the first time for Japan-linked items held by the British royal family to go on display. The family is known as one of the largest private art collectors in the world.

"Japan's Imperial Family and Britain's royal family have built a wonderful relationship over a long time," Japan's Ambassador to Britain Koji Tsuruoka said.

Many of the items will be showcased for the first time, Rachel Peat, assistant curator at the Royal Collection Trust, said.

JIJI Press