Yokohama Museum of Art

Overview:
Yokohama Museum of Art opened to the public on November 3, 1989. It is one of the largest art institutions in Japan. With its iconic architecture, featuring the expansive space of the Grand Gallery, the museum is made up of a total of seven gallery spaces, as well as an Art Information and Media Center that holds over 100,000 art-related books, ateliers hosting a wide range of workshops for children and adults, and many other facilities.
Located in the international seaport city of Yokohama, the museum focuses on collecting and showing modern and contemporary art created since the late 19th century, when the port of Yokohama opened, alongside many special exhibitions. 

Website: 
http://yokohama.art.museum/eng/index.html

Location:
3-4-1, Minatomirai, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 220-0012, Japan

Established:
1989

Collection:
A  collection of art from the late 19 th century through to the present day, including Dali, Magritte, Cézanne, Picasso, as well as works by artists who have been associated with Yokohama since the end of Edo period and through the Meiji period.

【Exhibition】
NAKAJIMA Kiyoshi Retrospective: 
Exploring the Kaleidoscopic World of an Innovative Nihonga Painter

Nakajima Kiyoshi was born in Kyoto in 1899. At age 16, he moved to Yokohama, where he worked in a bank while studying painting at MATSUMOTO Fuko’s "Angado" painting school.
Except for three years during World War II when he relocated to Nagano prefecture, Kiyoshi lived in Yokohama all his life and contributed to the local art scene. Now Yokohama Museum of Art owns a lot of his works.

This exhibition follows Kiyoshi’s entire career from youth to old age, exploring his changing interests in motifs and methods. It introduces studies and sketches in addition to finished works to provide a better understanding of his unique way of developing pictorial compositions. The stylistic shifts in Kiyoshi’s paintings reflect the times in which he lived, which saw dramatic transformations in people’s lives and values.

Reference Data
Date November 20th, 2015

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Kyoto National Museum

Overview:
In 1888 the Japanese government investigated cultural heritages and the Fine Arts at temples and shrines, and they found most of them in Kyoto and Nara. Therefore, it was necessary to build a museum for aesthetic treasures in order to protect. The main building of the museum was built with French Renaissance style and opened in 1897. The museum was first named the Imperial Museum of Kyoto, but in 1947 changed into the Kyoto National Museum. In the Fine Arts collections alone, there are more than 230 pieces that have been designated as either National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.

Website: 
http://www.kyohaku.go.jp/eng/index.html

Location:
527 Chaya-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, 605-0931, Japan 

Established:
1897

Collection:
Three parts: Fine Arts, including sculptures, paintings and works of calligraphy; Handicrafts, including pottery, fabrics, lacquerwares and metal works; and Archaeology

【Special Exhibition】
RINPA: The Aesthetics of the Capital

2015 marks the 400th anniversary of the origins of Rinpa and nearly 300 years since the death of its eponymous artist Ogata Kōrin. Among the various anniversary celebrations taking place in Japan this year, the Kyoto National Museum's commemorative special exhibition is perhaps the ultimate presentation of this subject, tracing the transmission of the Rinpa aesthetic from its inception through the Edo period (1615–1868). Significantly, it is also the first major show of its kind to be held in the birthplace of Rinpa—the ancient capital of Kyoto.

Reference Data
Links
Date October 14th, 2015.

Reference Data
Date August 9th, 2015

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The Miho Museum

Overview:
The Miho Museum opened in November 1997.
It was designed by the world renowned architect I.M. Pei, whose other work includes the glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris of France.  Out of respect for nature, the architect built 80% of the museum below ground. While the silhouette of the roof has its origins in traditional Japanese architecture, which harmonizes beautifully with the surrounding landscape, the building’s contemporary glass structure allows a light-filled interior space.

Website: 
http://www.miho.or.jp/english/index.htm

Location:
300, Tashiro Momodani, Shigaraki, Shiga 529-1814 Japan

Established:
1997

Collection:
Tea utensil(tea things), Buddhist art, ceramics and Japanese lacquer ornaments

【Special Exhibition】
Itō Jakuchū and Yosa Buson

Ogata Kōrin, a Japanese painter of the Rinpa school, died in 1716 when both Itō Jakuchū and Yosa Buson were born. It was the year when the genius painters were the same age, changing paintings in Kyoto with their style, and this exhibition displays their masterpieces in commemoration of the three-hundredth year since their births. You would not only taste the masterpieces but also their related works reflecting how Kyoto was active as a center of culture.

Reference Data
Date August 9th, 2015

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Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art

Overview:
Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art was established on November, 1933 and it was the second largest public museum after Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum because of Enthronement of the Japanese Emperor in 1928. After the Second World War the museum was held by SCAP which returned it to the city with the name as known Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art. 

Website: 
https://www.city.kyoto.jp/bunshi/kmma/en/index.html

Location:
Okazaki Park, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8344, Japan

Established:
1933

Collection:
Art works in modern times

【Special Exhibition】
Traveling Exhibition of René Magritte

René Magritte was one of outstanding artists in the 20th century, and he painted unique objects beyond what and how we think and take an action. This is the exhibition with his 130 works together in Kyoto where the last one held 44 years ago, and Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and Fondation Magritte help us have the exhibition of his early and late works. Visitors could track him through those works to know his creation and thoughts.

Reference Data
Date July 17th, 2015

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Shōkokuji Jōtenkaku Museum

Overview:
The Shokoku-ji Temple (Official name: Mannenzan Shokoku Joten Zenji), founded in 1392 by Muso Soseki, is the head temple of the Shokoku-ji branch of Rinzai Zen Buddhism which was established by Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate. Throughout its 600-year history, the Shokokuji has handed down a lot of cultural assets including calligraphy, paintings and tea utensils.

Website: 
NA (available only in Japanese)

Location:
3-1-1 Marunochi , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Established:
1392

Collection:
Calligraphy, paintings and tea utensils

【Exhibition】
The World of Itō Jakuchū and Rimpa

The year 2015 is the 300th anniversary of Itō Jakuchū 's birth.
It has been for 400 years, as a celebration, since Honami Kōetsu, the founder of Rimpa school, established Art Village in Rakuhoku Takamine, Shōkokuji Jōtenkaku Museum has a special exhibition of masterpieces of Itō Jakuchū and Rimpa.

Reference Data
Date June 15th, 2015

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Idemitsu Museum of Arts

Overview:
Idemitsu Museum of Arts was established in 1966 with the collection by Sazō Idemitsu who was the founder of the petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan.
The museum is located in Marunochi of Tokyo where visitors can enjoy tasting Eastern Art; paintings, calligraphy, ceramics and others. The museum has some works by Georges Rouault and Edvard Munch as special collection.

Website: 
NA (available only in Japanese)

Location:
3-1-1 Marunochi , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Established:
1966

Collection:
Japanese Art, Eastern Art

【Exhibition】
Kosugi Hoan―<LOVE> to East

Kosugi Hoan (1881-1964) is famous for nihon-ga (Japanese style paintings), and the museum held an exhibition with ninety of his works as commemorating the 50th year of his death.

Born in Nikko, Hoan first studied Western style paintings under Ioki Bunsai, a disciple of Takahashi Yuichi as he came to Tokyo at the age of eighteen. After that he left for Europe to study painting, emulating Puvis de Chavannes, a French mural painter. After returning from Europe, he gradually devoted himself to Japanese style painting, using Hoan as his pseudonym.

Reference Data
Date March 22nd, 2015

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The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

Overview:
The National Museum of Western Art was established in April 1959 and was based on the Matsukata Collection that the French government stored and returned to Japan after the second world war.
The museum has purchased art work every year since its establishment in its efforts to build and develop its permanent collection.

Website: 
www.nmwa.go.jp/

Location:
7-7Ueno-koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007, JAPAN

Established:
1959

Collection:
Western Art, Matsukata Collection

【Exhibition】
GUERCINO

Guercino (1591-1666) was one of the major painters of the Italian Baroque period who further developed the Baroque aesthetics with academic painting methods begun by painters Caravaggio and Carracci. Once his name has numbered amongst the most famous painters in the history of Italian art.

The NMWA collection includes one oil painting by Guercino, and this exhibition will provide an overview of his entire oeuvre through the display of approximately 40 oil paintings. This is the first Guercino exhibition to be held in Japan.

Reference Data
Date March 23rd, 2015

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MOA MUSEUM OF ART

Overview:
Okada Mokichi (1882-1955), the founder had a philosophy: art works are supposed be displayed to all in order to enrich their life, and established Tomei Art Preservation in 1952. The organization became MOA MUSEUM OF ART in 1982 after renaming Atami Museum. MOA stands for Mokichi Okada Association named after the founder.

Website: 
http://www.moaart.or.jp/en/

Location:
26-2 Momoyama Atami Shizuoka, Japan

Established:
1952(1982)


Collection:
Japanese Art, Eastern Art

【Exhibition】
Special Exhibition Commemorating the 300th Anniversary of Ogata Korin’s Death

The special exhibition presented the two masterpieces by Ogata Korin, which have been designated as national treasure: ‘IRISES’ of Nezu Museum and ‘RED AND WHITE PLUM BLOSSOMS’ of MOA MUSEUM OF ART. The two works were displayed together after 56 years.


There were works by modern artists in Japan, who got inspired by Rimpa. Their works took over the Rimpa essence instead of emulating old style as inheritance. 

Reference Data
Date March 1st, 2015

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Index

• MOA MUSEUM OF ART

• The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo

• Idemitsu Museum of Arts

• Shōkokuji Jōtenkaku Museum

• Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art

• The Miho Museum

• Kyoto National Museum

• Yokohama Museum of Art

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Overview

The Site is informative to those who are interested in visiting museums in Japan and U.K..

You will love it if you are art lovers, enthusiasts of Japanese Art or British Art. The Site provides you basic information of artists and museums in both cultures, distinguishing the Site in which the reporter actually visited and experienced from other museum blogs without real visits. There are two languages available in order to comprehend.

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