Almost like a story, the exhibit begins with the relationship between Trieste and the Orient, which started in the eighteenth century and expanded in the nineteenth century, with the Austrian Lloyd ships that set sail from Trieste and travelled through the Suez Canal to the distant coasts of India, China and Japan.

Thanks to this trade, we can now admire beautiful collections of embroidered silk clothing and fabrics from the late Qing Dynasty (nineteenth century), porcelain from the Song Dynasty (eleventh to thirteenth century) to the Late Qing Dynasty (nineteenth century), sculpture and objects from China associated with Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, as well as porcelain, kimonos and masks from Japanese kabuki folk theatre.

The true highlights of the museum, however, are undoubtedly the collection of prints by the great masters of Japanese Art, such as Hiroshige and Hokusai, including the world-famous Great Wave, which greatly influenced Western graphic art, and a rich collection of arms and armour with its incredible Samurai armour and extremely sharp and lethal katana and wakizashi swords.