The collection exhibition Modern Japanese Art from the Museum Collection is held at the collection gallery with an area of about 2,600 square meters. Presenting about 200 pieces from the museum collection comprising about 10,800 works including paintings, sculptures, watercolors, drawings, prints and photographs, the show provides an overview on the history of modern Japanese art from the early 20th century to the present. One hour is enough to go through the entire show. Please enjoy some time meeting our collection.

Many of the exhibits are changed four or five times a year. Some exhibits, mainly Japanese-style and war paintings, are changed during some exhibition periods.

The Topical section on the fourth floor, and the Photograph and Print, Watercolor and Drawing sections on the third floor change their focus every period.

Highlights

Part two of the urgent project Thinking About Tohoku at the Photography Section

Part two of the urgent project Thinking About Tohoku will be held at the Photography Section as the feature program Toward the North―Kitai Kazuo, Suda Issei and Moriyama Daido presenting photos taken in the Tohoku Region to explore what the photographers gazed into in the area. For more information, please see the commentary below on the Photography Section.

Highlights in the respective sections

Marvelous Scenes - Let's Browse With Topical Focus

The Japanese word kikei means an extraordinary, wonderful sight. The series Let’s Browse With Topical Focus this time explores meaning and charm of kikei in mainly Japanese-style paintings including those shown by courtesy of Fuse Museum and the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. The pieces are shown in a sporadic manner at the galleries. Enjoy a “fanciful journey” looking for the yellow-colored captions and panels.

Kambara Tai - Topics in Focus on the fourth floor

One of the leading figures of the new artistic movements of the Taisho period (1912–1926), Kambara Tai (1898–1997) not only introduced Western trends such as Futurism and Cubism in Japan, but also actively produced paintings and poems. This program focuses mainly on Kambara’s abstract paintings to explore the core of his diverse expressive activities.

Prints Section: Max Pechstein, The Lord's Prayer

Max Pechstein (1881–1955) was an active member of die Brücke, a group of German Expressionists. This program presents The Lord’s Prayer, a collection of woodprints showing dramatic scenes through the contrast between black and white.

Photography Section: Toward the North - Kitai Kazuo, Suda Issei and Moriyama Daido

Japan’s photography world in the 1970s saw the emergence of an unforgettable group of photographs with the motif of traveling in the provinces. Above all, the Tohoku Region provided the stage for many excellent works. To explore what was changing, and what was not changing, that the photographers gazed into in the region, this program presents three series: Kitai Kazuo’s Toward the Village, Suda Issei’s Style and the Flower, and Moriyama Daido’s The Legends of Tono.