Japanese Ukiyo-e Museum

About

The Sakai family's collection, gathered by generations of Matsumoto merchants, traces back to Yoshitaka Sakai (1810–1869), a paper wholesaler and patron of the arts. To share what the family had accumulated over the generations, Tokichi Sakai founded the Japan Ukiyo-e Museum in 1982. Home to more than 100,000 woodblock prints, it is considered the largest collection of its kind in the world, spanning historic works — including Katsushika Hokusai's series A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces — to contemporary prints by Japanese artists. Designed by architect Kazuo Shinohara and extended in 1995 by Kuniharu Haba, the building stands beside the Matsumoto Open-Air Architectural Museum, where visitors can take in the exhibits alongside a film on the history of ukiyo-e. Awarded two stars in the Michelin Green Guide, the collection has traveled to Europe, North America, the Middle East, South America, and elsewhere in East Asia.