Five reasons to visit the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

MOMAT is one of Japan’s largest art museums. It already had a grand scale when it opened at its present location in 1969, but subsequent renovations have seen the museum expanded to comprise some 4,500 square metres of exhibition space. Galleries dedicated to MOMAT’s comprehensive permanent collection span the second to fourth storeys, while the first floor is home to special exhibition galleries totalling 1,300 square metres. Don’t miss ‘A Room With A View’, the lounge space on the top floor of the main building, which offers vistas out over some splendid surroundings, including the greenery of the Imperial Palace and the skyscrapers of Otemachi. The museum also encompasses a gift shop, a restaurant that specialises in French and Italian flavours, and a spacious front yard.

This vast scale is matched by the immensity and scope of MOMAT’s permanent collection, again one of Japan’s largest, which enables the museum to vividly tell the full story of modern and contemporary Japanese art from the beginning of the 20th century through to the present day. From over 13,000 works, 200 of the most significant are displayed in collection galleries that span MOMAT’s second to fourth floors. Ranging in medium from Nihonga and Japanese- and Western-style oil painting through to video, the permanent collection also encompasses prints, watercolours, sculptures, drawings and photographs.

The Western influence that Japanese art came to experience in the past century is detailed in a section containing masterpieces by foreign artists including Paul Klee, Henri Rousseau and Paul Cézanne. Noteworthy features of the permanent collection are portraits by early Japanese modernist Ryusei Kishida and wartime paintings, as well as works by contemporary artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama. The MOMAT’s Crafts Gallery, which focuses on modern and contemporary crafts and design, will be reopening in Kanazawa in summer 2020.

MOMAT’s striking main building is a masterpiece of modernist architecture. The prolific work of architect Yoshiro Taniguchi (1904-1979) paralleled the nation’s shift from traditionalism to Western-influenced modernity. Taniguchi’s now-iconic earlier projects include Tokyo’s Hotel Okura (1962), and by the time MOMAT’s stark, angular facade was unveiled in 1969 Taniguchi was revered as a statesman of modern Japanese architecture. Expansion and renovation work has been carried out while maintaining Taniguchi’s original, still wholly contemporary-looking vision, which can be appreciated in more detail in a room dedicated to the building itself. This exhibition space, called ‘Room to Consider the Building’, is on the third floor. The family connection with art museums continues into the 21st century: Taniguchi’s son Yoshio designed the 2004 extension of New York’s MoMA.

The expansive special exhibition galleries on MOMAT’s first floor host themed shows three to four times each year, with these consistently being among the highlights of the Tokyo art calendar. Programming is diverse but always in tune with the museum’s mission of heightening public interest in modern art, and brings in more international artists than MOMAT’s permanent collection.

Giving a taste of what to expect, recent highlights have included a look at imaginative treatment of the window in the art of Henri Matisse, Marcel Duchamp and other masters; a retrospective on pioneering Japanese animator Isao Takahata; and an exploration of contemporary Scottish figurative painter Peter Doig's work.

Way more than your average museum tour, MOMAT’s weekly ‘Let’s Talk Art!’ events invite you to share your thoughts on, and learn more about, the artworks displayed in the museum. It doesn’t matter if you have no prior knowledge in art – a facilitator will help get the conversation started by deciding on a theme and choosing three works from the museum’s vast collection. Moving in a small group, participants get to discover new perspectives on the art by interacting with each other. It’s personal, educational and engaging, so do sign up for a tour if you’re at all interested.

‘Let’s Talk Art!’ runs in English every Friday from 6.30pm to 7.30pm. Tours are limited to six persons per session and participation requires prior reservation online. The price is ¥1,500 per person, which includes the museum admission fee. Sign up here.