National Museum of Western Art Audio Guide

National Museum of Western Art: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to National Museum of Western Art

   Welcome to the National Museum of Western Art, known in Japanese as Kokuritsu Seiyō Bijutsukan. You are in Ueno Park, in Taito Ward, in the heart of Tokyo. This is the national museum devoted to Western art, and it is the only national museum in Japan that covers Western art in its full sweep. Its collection holds about 6,000 works made between the fourteenth century and the middle of the twentieth. You will find drawings, paintings, prints, manuscripts, sculpture and decorative arts, with names like Renoir and Picasso among them. The museum opened in April 1959, and the story of how it came to exist is as dramatic as anything hanging on its walls. In the next few stops we will follow that story. First comes the shipbuilder who collected art across Europe. Then the French architect who designed the original building. Finally, the later additions, the garden and the courtyard that surround it. Keep in mind that the building itself is one of the museum's great artworks.

2. 02

   The Matsukata Collection: A Shipbuilder's Dream

   Every museum starts with something, and here it started with one man's appetite for art. Matsukata Kojiro was the first president of the Kawasaki shipyards and also served as a member of the House of Representatives. Beginning in 1916 and for about 10 years, he gathered works in Europe, above all French art. His collection centered on Impressionist paintings and on sculptures by Auguste Rodin. Then history intervened. After the Second World War, the French government seized the collection as enemy property. Eventually it agreed to give the works back to Japan, on one condition: Japan had to build a new museum to house them. That is why this museum exists. The returned works, known as the Matsukata Collection, became the foundation of its holdings. So when you stand in front of a Rodin sculpture here, remember that it sits at the end of a long journey. It crossed the world, was held in wartime limbo, and came home through an agreement that made a new museum necessary. The museum was established in April 1959.

3. 03

   Le Corbusier's Tokyo Masterpiece

   The original main building was designed by Le Corbusier, one of the great architects of the twentieth century. It was completed in March 1959 and stands as a symbol of the restored relationship between Japan and France after the war. The timeline is surprisingly tight. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on the site in March 1955. In November that year Le Corbusier came to Japan to inspect the plot, after which he visited Kyoto and Nara. It was an eight-day trip, his first and his last visit to Japan. He then sent his basic design in July 1956 and his execution design in March 1957. In June of that year he sent the accompanying specifications and original drawings. His Japanese disciples, including Maekawa Kunio and Sakakura Junzo, took these plans and brought them to reality on the ground. Look for his idea of proportion. His system, the Modulor, was based on the size and proportions of the human body. He compared it to a musical scale that brings order to the infinite possible pitches. It is a way of fitting architecture to the human spirit. Walk through the building with that in mind, and notice how the spaces feel built to a human measure.

4. 04

   A World Heritage Site and Its Green Courtyard

   The museum's main building and its grounds have been recognized at the highest levels. In 2007 the main building was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Then, on the seventeenth of July 2016, at the fortieth session of the World Heritage Committee in Istanbul, the main building and its grounds were inscribed on the World Heritage List. They are part of a group called The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement. That group has 17 components spread across seven countries: France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Argentina, India and Japan. It was the first time a serial listing spanning three continents had been inscribed in a single decision. The building has grown over time. A new building was completed in 1979, for the museum's twentieth anniversary, designed to work together with Le Corbusier's main building. Its outer walls are open-joint precast panels with dark green stoneware tile set into them. It is arranged to wrap around zelkova and ginkgo trees, which creates a deeply green courtyard. An exhibition building followed in 1997. The front garden was renewed in April 2022, so you can once again experience it much as it looked when the museum was first created. From the hall, you can see the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan to the south.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you explore further, try letting the museum's two stories run side by side. One is the story of the art itself, travelling from the fourteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. The other is the story of the building, shaped by an architect's ideas about the human body and then extended by later hands around the trees of the courtyard. Notice how the stoneware tiles of the newer building meet the green of the zelkova and ginkgo. Look for where the older main building and the later additions speak to one another. Consider also how a collection gathered by one shipbuilder, a wartime seizure, and a promise to build a museum all combined to create what stands here today. The museum is normally closed on Mondays, with exceptions around public holidays, and over the year end. Hours can change, so check the museum's official page before you visit. Whatever day you come, there is always another corner of this place to look at with fresh eyes.