“Through the Eyes of Collector Taro Fukutomi” Opens December 15 at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum; Bijinga by Kiyokata, Tsunetomi and Others, and Oil Paintings from the Meiji Era On

The special exhibition “Through the Eyes of Collector Taro Fukutomi: Paintings Loved by the Showa-Era Cabaret King” opens at the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum (Naka Ward, Hiroshima) on Tuesday, December 15. It runs until Sunday, February 7, 2027. The exhibition presents works collected by Taro Fukutomi (1931–2018), known as the Showa-era “cabaret king.” It centers on bijinga, pictures of beautiful women, by Kiyokata Kaburaki, Tsunetomi Kitano and others, and on oil paintings reflecting the times from the Meiji era onward by Saburosuke Okada and others. It is supervised by art historian Yuji Yamashita (professor at Meiji Gakuin University). Advance tickets went on sale on October 15.

Who was Taro Fukutomi? Working at a Ginza cabaret from age 16

According to the museum, Taro Fukutomi, whose real family name was Nakamura, was born in Shinagawa Ward, Tokyo. He began working at a cabaret in Ginza at the age of 16. During Japan’s postwar period of rapid economic growth, he championed “wholesome entertainment” and built a chain of 44 cabarets nationwide, earning the name “cabaret king.”

As an art collector, he gathered a wide range of works, from ukiyo-e to Japanese-style paintings by Kawanabe Kyosai, Kiyokata Kaburaki and others, and Western-style paintings. He chose works with his own discerning eye and promoted the appeal of art through contributions to art magazines, lectures and television appearances. The museum describes Fukutomi as “one of the foremost collectors of modern Japanese painting.”

The starting point of his collecting was Kiyokata Kaburaki. According to press materials from the Shiga Museum of Art, which held an exhibition of the same name this summer, Fukutomi became passionate about collecting Kiyokata’s works after losing a Kiyokata hanging scroll in an air raid in 1945. He also collected works on the theme of war, and about 100 war paintings among them were donated to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo after his death.

What can visitors see? Bijinga and oil paintings that reflect their times

The exhibition page lists the following six works as exhibits. All are in the collection of the Taro Fukutomi Collection Archive.

• Tsunetomi Kitano, “Michiyuki (Lovers’ Journey)” (c. 1913)

• Shoen Uemura, “Yosohoi (Dressing Up)” (1902)

• Maisetsu Matsuura, “Dance” (c. 1931)

• Takahashi Yuichi, “Portrait of Obata Jikyu” (1872)

• Kokushiro Mitsutani, “A Soldier’s Wife” (1904)

• Saburosuke Okada, “Woman with a Diamond” (1908)

As of October 20, the list of works was said to be in preparation, and the number of works and structure at the Hiroshima venue had not yet been given. For reference, the Shiga venue (July 3 – August 30, 2026) was organized in three parts: “The Beginning of the Collection: Encounter with Kiyokata Kaburaki,” “A Gaze on Images of Women” and “Paintings That Reflect Their Times.” According to the Shiga Museum of Art, 68 of the 80 works on display were images of women or works featuring women.

Highlights: related events where visitors talk with a collector’s eye

On Sunday, December 20, from 13:30 to 15:00, supervisor Yuji Yamashita will give a commemorative lecture, “Taro Fukutomi, the Greatest Postwar Collector, and Me,” in the basement auditorium. Admission is free, but advance registration by phone (082-221-6246) is required.

On Saturday, January 16, 2027, viewing sessions in which participants imagine themselves as collectors and talk about the appeal of the works will be held twice, at 11:00 and 15:00. Each session is limited to 6 people and requires an admission ticket and advance registration by phone. Curators’ gallery talks take place in the 3rd-floor galleries at 11:00 on Friday, December 18, Friday, January 15 and Friday, January 29 (admission ticket required; no registration needed).

From 17:00 on Friday, December 18, there is a lobby concert, “Showa Modern Music Night,” in the 1st-floor lobby (free, no registration needed), performed by Takayuki Kawamura (trumpet), Keiko Hirata (piano) and Yuki Makioka (wood bass). From 17:00 on Tuesday, December 22, a live broadcast from the galleries is planned on the museum’s official Instagram.

Tickets and prices

Admission is 1,500 yen for adults, 1,000 yen for high school and university students and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Advance tickets are sold until December 14, and advance tickets and groups of 20 or more get 200 yen off the same-day price. Advance tickets are available at the museum, Seven Ticket (Seven Code: 116-909), major ticket outlets in Hiroshima and Kure, You Me Town Hiroshima and elsewhere. Student tickets require a student ID.

Holders of a physical disability certificate, rehabilitation certificate, mental disability certificate or war-wounded certificate, and up to one caregiver, pay half price. An exhibition ticket also covers the collection exhibition during the run. With “One-Coin Shukkeien,” showing an admission ticket (stub accepted) lets you enter the adjacent scenic Shukkeien Garden for 100 yen.

Showing a ticket (stub accepted) for the special exhibitions now on at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art or the Hiroshima Museum of Art gets 100 yen off the same-day price. It is valid for one person per ticket and cannot be combined with other discounts.

Opening hours and access

Opening hours are 9:00–17:00, and until 19:00 on Fridays (last entry 30 minutes before closing). On the opening day, December 15, it opens at 10:00. The closed days listed on the exhibition page are the New Year holidays, December 25 – January 1.

The address is 2-22 Kaminobori-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima. Take a bus from the Shinkansen Exit of JR Hiroshima Station and get off at “Kenritsu Bijutsukan-mae (Shukkeien-mae).” By streetcar, go from the South Exit of Hiroshima Station to “Hatchobori,” change to the Hakushima Line and get off at “Shukkeien-mae”; the museum is right there. The underground parking lot has only 45 spaces (400 yen for the first hour, then 200 yen per 30 minutes), so the museum asks visitors to use public transportation.

Editor’s perspective

The Shiga Museum of Art cited as a highlight of the exhibition Fukutomi’s discerning eye, which gathered works he found good regardless of whether the artists were famous. At the Hiroshima venue, there will be viewing sessions where visitors talk as if they were collectors. It is set up so that visitors can trace, with their own eyes, the selective eye of the man who assembled the collection.

The first half of the run overlaps with “Artists Who Gathered at the ‘Café’” at the Hiroshima Museum of Art (until January 11, 2027). That exhibition traces the artists who gathered in the cafés and cabarets that sprang up one after another in Paris from the mid-19th century, and the two museums offer reciprocal discounts. Visitors can see the cabaret culture of Paris and the collection of the Showa-era cabaret king one after the other.

Overview

Name: Through the Eyes of Collector Taro Fukutomi: Paintings Loved by the Showa-Era Cabaret King
Dates: Tuesday, December 15, 2026 – Sunday, February 7, 2027
Hours: 9:00–17:00 (until 19:00 on Fridays; last entry 30 minutes before closing; opens at 10:00 on December 15)
Closed: December 25 – January 1
Venue: 3F Special Exhibition Gallery, Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum
Address: 2-22 Kaminobori-cho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima
Admission: Adults 1,500 yen, high school and university students 1,000 yen, elementary and junior high school students 700 yen (advance tickets and groups of 20 or more: 200 yen off the same-day price)
Organizers: Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Izumi Techno, The Chugoku Shimbun, RCC Broadcasting
Special cooperation: Taro Fukutomi Collection Archive
Supervision: Yuji Yamashita (art historian, professor at Meiji Gakuin University)
Planning cooperation: Art One
Official website: https://www.hpam.jp/museum/exhibitions/fukutomi/
*Information as of October 20, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

Winter night events and museum exhibitions in Hiroshima are covered in our Hiroshima art guide.

*Top image: The Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum seen from Shukkeien Garden (photo: Soramimi, CC BY-SA 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on information on the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum official website (as of October 20, 2026) and press materials from the Shiga Museum of Art (May 15, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team