LONDON.- The British Library announced that Harry Potter: A History of Magic will open in Japan at Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art from 5 September – 8 November 2020, and Tokyo Station Gallery from 21 November 2020 – 7 February 2021. The exhibitions will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Japanese edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and follow on from the “UK in JAPAN 2019-20” initiative by the British Council and the British Embassy Tokyo to highlight the breadth of the UK relationship with Japan. UK in JAPAN 2019-20 spans from the Rugby World Cup and continues until the end of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in September 2020.

This marks the next chapter for the British Library’s most successful exhibition, which attracted 170,000 visitors between October 2017 and February 2018, breaking new ground for the Library’s public programmes, with many visitors coming to the Library for the first time. Harry Potter: A History of Magic was then hosted by the New-York Historical Society in 2018, the first major British Library exhibition to be staged in America.

Travelling on to Japan, the exhibition showcases rare books, manuscripts and magical objects from the British Library’s collection, as well as from J.K. Rowling’s personal archive, capturing the traditions of folklore and magic at the heart of the Harry Potter stories.

Jamie Andrews, Head of Culture and Learning at the British Library, said: “Harry Potter: A History of Magic has delighted audiences both in London and New York and we are thrilled to be working with Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Tokyo Station Gallery and The Yomiuri Shimbun to share the excitement of this magical exhibition in Japan next year. As the British Library’s most successful exhibition, we hope audiences enjoy this incredible selection of magical objects from our collection.”