The Shosoin is a log-storehouse built in 756 adjacent to Todai-ji to hold the treasures of Emperor Shomu. It contains over 9,000 objects from the Nara period, including textiles, lacquerware, glass, musical instruments, weapons, documents, and medicines — many in extraordinarily good condition for their age, preserved by the natural humidity-regulating properties of the log construction. Scholars consider it the world's oldest museum.
The Shosoin itself is not normally open to the public — access to the exterior is allowed, but the interior is only entered by specialist conservators. Each autumn, a selection of objects is displayed at the Nara National Museum in the special Shosoin Exhibition. Even seeing the exterior of the building, set behind Todai-ji in a quiet compound, gives some sense of the significance of what it holds.