Museums

Bridgestone Museum of Art

The Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation was opened in 1952 by Shojiro Ishibashi, the founder of the Bridgestone Corporation. The museum’s core collection features works by Impressionists, 20th century artists and modern Western-style paintings by Japanese artists. Its first exhibition for 2014 is “The Painters’ Eyes, The Sculptors’ Hands,” running January 18-April 13. The painter paints pictures, the sculptor creates sculptures, and some artists, such as Edgar Degas, find both sculpture and painting to be vital media for artistic expression. Viewing paintings and sculptures together makes the distinctive features of each stand out. One example is the 1889  “Monet-Rodin Exhibition at the Georges Petit Gallery,” where paintings by Claude Monet and sculptures by Auguste Rodin were exhibited side by side. Paintings and sculptures numbering 160 are the focus of this exhibition; all the works are from the collection of the Bridgestone Museum of Art.

Special Offer

• Bring this issue of Metropolis
• and get ¥100 off entry fee for up to three people.
• The Painters’ Eyes, the Sculptors’ Hand. January 18-April 13.
• ¥500 (HS & univ)/  ¥800 (gen)

Address: 1-10-1 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5777-8600
Hours: Tue-Thu, Sat-Sun 10am-6pm; Fri 10am-8pm; entry until 30 minutes before closing, closed Mon
Nearest station: Tokyo
URL: www.bridgestone-museum.gr.jp/en

Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo

The Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo is one of the city’s newest important cultural institutions. The museum opened in the spring of 2010, a five-minute walk from Tokyo station. It holds three major exhibitions per year, focusing on late 19th-century and early 20th-century contemporary art. Its first exhibition for 2014 is “Art for Art’s Sake: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900,” running January 30-May 6. In late 19th-century Britain, avant-garde artists founded Aestheticism in search of what they called “the new beauty,” and their efforts developed into a major movement. This exhibition is the first of Aesthetic art created especially for a museum in Japan. It includes around 140 works featuring oil paintings, furniture and crafts, many on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The exhibition presents the world of ingenious beauty and pleasure created by the the Aesthetic artists.

Special Offer

• Bring this issue of Metropolis and get ¥100 off entry fee for one person
• Art for Art’s Sake: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900.
• January 30-May 6
• ¥500 (elem & JHS)/ ¥1,000 (HS & univ)/ ¥1,600 (gen)

Address: 2-6-2 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku
Tel: 03-5405-8686
Hours: Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm; Fri 10am-8pm (10am-6pm if Friday is a hol), entry until 30 minutes before closing, closed Mon (open if Mon is a hol)
Nearest station: Tokyo
URL: http://mimt.jp/

Mitsui Memorial Museum

The Mitsui Memorial Museum has a close relationship with the Mitsui family, wealthy Edo period merchants and the Mitsui Group. In 2005, this museum opened at the Mitsui main building, an important cultural property. The Japanese and Oriental art has been collected for over 300 years—started by the Mitsui family during the Edo era—and contains many precious cultural objects of Japan’s heritage. The collection features tea utensils, paintings, calligraphy, swords, Noh masks, costumes and furniture. There are six items designated national treasures, 71 important cultural properties, four designated important art objects, 4,000 artworks and 130,000 stamps. The exhibition is not permanent—it’s only held five times a year, exhibiting items borrowed from other museums and private collectors as well as the museum’s own collection.

Special Offer

• Bring this issue of Metropolis and get ¥100 off entry fee for one person
• Hina Dolls of the Mitsui Family / An Elegant Setting: Dishes for Entertaining. February 7-April 6
• ¥500 (elem & univ)/¥1,000 (gen)

Address: Mitsui Main Building 7F, Nihonbashi Muromachi 2-1-1, Chuo-ku
Tel: 03-5777-8600
Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-5pm, entry until 30 minutes before closing, closed Mon except March 3
Nearest station: Mitsukoshimae
URL: www.mitsui-museum.jp/english/english.html