National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo facts for kids
| Tōkyō Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan | |
Main Hall
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| Established | 1952 |
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| Location | 3-1 Kitanomaru Koen, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
| Type | Art museum |
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (東京国立近代美術館, Tōkyō Kokuritsu Kindai Bijutsukan), often called MOMAT, is Japan's most important museum for modern Japanese art. It's located in Tokyo and is famous for its collection of 20th-century art. This includes both Western-style art and traditional Japanese-style paintings called Nihonga. MOMAT also has a special branch called the National Crafts Museum in Kanazawa.
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A Look Back at MOMAT's History
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, was the very first national art museum in Japan. It opened in 1952 and was managed by the Ministry of Education. The original building was designed by a famous architect named Kunio Maekawa.
Over time, the museum grew bigger. They bought nearby land and expanded the building twice. The most recent design for MOMAT was created by Yoshirō Taniguchi. His son, Yoshio Taniguchi, also designed an extension for the MOMA museum in New York.
Exploring MOMAT's Art Collections
The museum's collection features many important Japanese artists from the Meiji period onwards. It also includes some modern Western prints.
In the early 1900s, a person named Matsukata Kojiro gathered many Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints. These prints had been spread out all over the world. An exhibition of his collected prints in 1925 was the first of its kind in Japan. Today, MOMAT is home to about 8,000 ukiyo-e prints from the Matsukata collection.
The Crafts Gallery
In 1977, MOMAT opened a special part called the Kōgeikan Crafts Gallery. This gallery collects and displays Japanese crafts like textiles, ceramics, and lacquer. It also shows crafts and designs from around the world, from the late 1800s to today. The gallery especially focuses on the work of "Japanese Living National Treasures". These are people recognized for their amazing traditional skills.
In 2020, the Crafts Gallery moved to Kanazawa. This move was part of a plan by the Japanese government to help local areas grow. It is now known as the National Crafts Museum. Its official name is still the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo Craft Gallery.
The National Film Archive
Until April 2018, the National Museum of Modern Art also included the National Film Center (NFC). This was Japan's only public place dedicated to movies. In April 2018, the NFC became its own independent national museum. It is now called the National Film Archive of Japan.
Finding Art: The Union Catalog
The "Union Catalog of the Collections of the National Art Museums, Japan" is like a big online list. It helps you find out what art is held by MOMAT and three other national art museums in Japan. These include the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto (MOMAK), the National Museum of Art, Osaka (NMAO), and the National Museum of Western Art (NMWA). This online catalog is still being built, so only some artworks are available to see right now.
See also
- List of Independent Administrative Institutes in Japan
- Visage Painting and the Human Face in 20th Century Art
