The Tobunken was founded in 1930 as the Art Research Institute with an endowment established by Kuroda Seiki, former president of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts(Japan Art Academy). In 1952, it was reorganized into the Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties with the establishment of departments of Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Conservation Sciences, and General Affairs. A department of Restoration Techniques was added in 1973 and an archive set up in 1977. The Division of International Cooperation for Conservation was established in 1993 and then converted into the Japan Center for International Exchange in Conservation in 1995, expanding the Institute to its present scale. Also in 1995, a graduate course was established in cooperation with Tokyo University of the Arts(東京芸術大学, "Tokyo Geijutsu Daigaku").