Yamatane Museum of Art’s 60th Anniversary “The Best of the Yamatane Collection”: Part I Through December 6; Four New Works in Part II

At the Yamatane Museum of Art in Hiroo, Tokyo, the 60th anniversary special exhibition “The Best of the Yamatane Collection I: From Taikan Yokoyama and Takeuchi Seiho to Shoen Uemura and Gyoshu Hayami” is on view until Sunday, December 6, 2026 (it opened on October 10). It features about 40 works of modern Nihonga, including Takeuchi Seiho’s “Tabby Cat” and Kagaku Murakami’s “Nude,” both Important Cultural Properties, all from the museum’s collection. From Saturday, December 12, the follow-up “Part II” (until Sunday, March 7, 2027) begins, showing postwar to contemporary masterpieces and, for the first time, four new works painted for the 60th anniversary.

Why now? Sixty years of a museum specializing in Nihonga

The Yamatane Museum of Art opened on July 7, 1966 in Kabutocho, Nihonbashi, Tokyo. The museum describes itself as “Japan’s first museum specializing in Nihonga.” Its founder was Taneji Yamazaki (1893–1983), founder of Yamatane Securities (now SMBC Nikko Securities), and the collection he assembled personally became the foundation of the museum. In 1998 it moved temporarily to Sanbancho, Chiyoda-ku, because its facilities had aged, and in October 2009 it moved to its current location in Hiroo.

The collection numbers about 1,800 works, including six Important Cultural Properties and 14 Important Art Objects. It is also known for its holdings of 120 works by Gyoshu Hayami, 71 by Gyokudo Kawai and 135 by Togyu Okumura. According to the museum, Taneji collected works while interacting directly with contemporary painters such as Takeuchi Seiho and Taikan Yokoyama, and he believed that the value of a painting owed much to the painter’s character. Following exhibitions on Gyokudo Kawai and Togyu Okumura, Part I is the third and Part II the fourth of the 60th anniversary special exhibitions.

Highlights of Part I: What works can be seen?

Part I is organized in two chapters. According to the museum, it is the first time in 10 years that works by the major artists of modern Nihonga have been brought together. Chapter 1, “The Best of the Yamatane Collection,” includes Takeuchi Seiho’s “Tabby Cat” (1924, Important Cultural Property), Kagaku Murakami’s “Nude” (1920, Important Cultural Property), Shoen Uemura’s “Fireflies” (1913) and “Fulling Cloth” (1938), Shunso Hishida’s “Four Studies of the Moon,” Bakusen Tsuchida’s “Women of Ohara” (1915) and Heihachiro Fukuda’s “Bamboo Shoots” (1947). Three works by Gyoshu Hayami are shown: “Peach Blossoms” (1923), “Two Studies of Insects: A Demon’s Hand in the Shade of Leaves; Adorned Moths at Play” (1926) and “Red Plum, White Plum” (1929).

Suiun Komuro’s “Viewing the Tidal Bore at Haining” (1922) was restored in 2025 with a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project, and this exhibition is its first showing since the restoration.

Chapter 2, “Taneji Yamazaki and the Nihonga Painters,” conveys the founder’s relationships with painters. The museum explains that Taikan Yokoyama’s “Shinshin” (1952) is a work Taneji was specially allowed to purchase when he decided to found the museum. Four scenes from Kokei Kobayashi’s “Kiyohime” (1930) and Ryushi Kawabata’s “Naruto” (1929) are also shown. From November 10, the pages of Shibata Zeshin’s album “Bokurin Hikka” will be turned, and Taikan Yokoyama’s “Scroll of the Chu River” and Eikyu Matsuoka’s “An Inn at Yamashina” will be unrolled to different sections.

Highlights of Part II: four new works and postwar and contemporary works

Part II, “The Best of the Yamatane Collection II: From Kaii Higashiyama and Ikuo Hirayama to Hiroshi Senju and Akira Yamaguchi,” presents about 40 works by Nihonga painters from the postwar period to the present. It also features works collected by successive directors through their relationships with contemporary painters, as well as prize-winning works from the “Yamatane Museum of Art Prize” and the “Seed Yamatane Museum of Art Nihonga Award.”

On display are Kaii Higashiyama’s “Four Seasons in Kyoto” series, Hiroshi Senju’s “Waterfall,” Ikuo Hirayama’s “Royal Castle of Babylon,” Kayo Yamaguchi’s “Life,” Meiji Hashimoto’s “Cherry Blossoms in the Morning Sun,” Genso Okuda’s “Genmei,” Koichi Takeuchi’s “Vessel” and Akira Yamaguchi’s “Tokyo-zu 1·0·4 Wa no Dan,” among others. New works painted for the 60th anniversary by four artists, Masaaki Miyasako, Rieko Morita, Miran Fukuda and Akira Yamaguchi, are also shown for the first time, with Miyasako’s “Spotted Conch,” Morita’s “Chrysanthemum Banquet” and Fukuda’s “Tabby Cat” among the works planned. Fine early works by contemporary Nihonga painters, such as Toshio Tabuchi’s “Village Within a Ring Levee,” Shunei Nishida’s “Keman” and Narumi Yasuhara’s “Ugo no Hoho,” are also on view.

Tickets, prices and access

Admission for Part I is 1,500 yen for adults (1,300 yen in advance), 1,200 yen for university and high school students (1,100 yen in advance), and free for junior high school students and younger (who must be accompanied by a guardian). Holders of a disability certificate or an atomic bomb survivor’s health handbook and one caregiver pay 1,300 yen (adult), groups of 20 or more receive 200 yen off the adult price per person, and visitors in kimono or yukata receive 200 yen off the adult price. For Part II, adult admission is 1,500 yen, and university and high school students pay 500 yen with the “Winter Student Discount.”

There is also a reciprocal discount with the Ota Memorial Museum of Art and the Toguri Museum: showing a ticket from either museum when buying a ticket gives 100 yen off (not applicable to online tickets). At the Ota Memorial Museum of Art, an exhibition centered on Katsushika Oi’s “Night Scene in the Yoshiwara” is on view until December 6. Discounts and benefits cannot be combined. Online tickets for a specified date and time of entry are also available (no cancellations or changes after purchase).

Opening hours are 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30). The museum is closed on Mondays; during Part I, it is open on Monday, November 23 (national holiday) and closed the following day, Tuesday, the 24th. The address is 3-12-36 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. It is about a 10-minute walk from the West Exit of JR Ebisu Station and from Exit 2 of Ebisu Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line. From the West Exit of Ebisu Station, a Toei bus (Gaku 06) bound for the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center takes about 5 minutes to the “Hiroo Koko-mae” stop, a 1-minute walk from the museum. There is no parking for general visitors.

Editor’s perspective

Takeuchi Seiho’s Important Cultural Property “Tabby Cat” appears in Part I, and Part II premieres Miran Fukuda’s new work of the same title, “Tabby Cat,” painted for the 60th anniversary. The Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture, has announced four special exhibitions for fiscal 2027 drawn from its holdings of works by Taikan Yokoyama, Takeuchi Seiho and others (our article on the Adachi Museum of Art).

Gyoshu Hayami can be followed into spring 2027 as well. The museum plans its 60th Anniversary Special Exhibition 5, “Gyoshu Hayami: From Dancing in the Flames to Camellias Falling from a Famous Tree,” from March 20, 2027 (until May 16), and its announcement of the annual schedule states that the Important Cultural Properties “Dancing in the Flames” and “Camellias Falling from a Famous Tree” will be shown together for the first time in eight years. The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo will also hold a Gyoshu Hayami exhibition from March 19. The Idemitsu Museum of Arts, which also opened in 1966, likewise marks its 60th anniversary and will hold a commemorative exhibition at The University Art Museum, Tokyo University of the Arts, from March 27, 2027.

Overview

Name: 60th Anniversary Special Exhibition 3, “The Best of the Yamatane Collection I: From Taikan Yokoyama and Takeuchi Seiho to Shoen Uemura and Gyoshu Hayami”; 60th Anniversary Special Exhibition 4, “The Best of the Yamatane Collection II: From Kaii Higashiyama and Ikuo Hirayama to Hiroshi Senju and Akira Yamaguchi”
Dates: I: Saturday, October 10 – Sunday, December 6, 2026; II: Saturday, December 12, 2026 – Sunday, March 7, 2027
Hours: 10:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30)
Closed: Mondays (I: open on October 12 and November 23, closed on October 13 and November 24; II: open on January 4 and January 11, closed on January 12 and over the year-end and New Year holidays from December 28 to January 2)
Venue: Yamatane Museum of Art
Address: 3-12-36 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Admission: I: adults 1,500 yen (advance 1,300 yen), university and high school students 1,200 yen (advance 1,100 yen), junior high school students and younger free (must be accompanied by a guardian). II: adults 1,500 yen, university and high school students 500 yen (Winter Student Discount), junior high school students and younger free (must be accompanied by a guardian)
Organizers: Yamatane Museum of Art, The Asahi Shimbun
Sponsor: SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. (I)
Inquiries: 050-5541-8600 (Hello Dial)
Official website: https://www.yamatane-museum.jp/exhibitions/2026/yamatane-collection1.html (I), https://www.yamatane-museum.jp/exhibitions/2026/yamatane-collection2.html (II)
*Information as of October 19, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: Exterior of the Yamatane Museum of Art (photo: Tokyom1, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on press materials from the Yamatane Museum of Art (May 12 and August 8, 2026) and information on its official website.

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team