Featuring approximately 18,300 objects, PEM's collection of Japanese art began with the museum's inception in 1799. Its collections of work from the Edo Period and Meiji Period are particularly robust, featuring armor, sculpture, painted scrolls, furniture, and more. Much of the collection has its origins in the travels of Edward S. Morse, the third director of the museum, who acquired many pieces over the course of three trips to Japan. Morse also helped raise interest in Japanese art in Massachusetts and New England: as Midori Oka states, Morse was "instrumental in influencing the area intellectuals and connoisseurs to turn their interests to Japanese art."