Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art

The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto is a museum in Okazaki Park, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, with a collection of about 13,000 modern artworks from Japan and abroad. It is one of the four national/public museums and art museums in Kyoto City that make up the “Kyoto Museums For.” Access is about a 10-minute walk from Higashiyama Station (Kyoto Municipal Subway), or right by the “Okazaki Koen / Museum & Heian Jingu-mae” bus stop via Kyoto City Bus routes 5 and 100 from JR Kyoto Station. With Kyoto as its base, the museum emphasizes collecting and presenting art activities centered in western Japan, and holds a broad range: nihonga (Japanese-style painting), oil and watercolor paintings, drawings, prints, photography, sculpture, and also crafts such as ceramics, dyeing & weaving, metalwork, bamboo/wood crafts, and jewelry. In addition to special exhibitions, the museum also holds collection exhibitions about five times a year to match themes, with works rotating almost seasonally—making repeated visits rewarding. Its glass-walled café facing the Lake Biwa Canal is especially popular during cherry-blossom season, when visitors can enjoy views of the canal-side sakura.