Japan Ukiyo-e Museum

The Japan Ukiyo-e Museum (日本浮世絵博物館, Nihon Ukiyo-e Hakubutsukan, or JUM) is a privately owned Japanese art museum in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Established in 1982, it holds over 100,000 Japanese woodblock prints, regarded as the world's largest collection of this form of art. The museum stands as a major institution for the preservation and public display of ukiyo-e, spanning from the late Edo period through modern times.

The museum was established in 1982 by Tokichi Sakai (1915-1993), a member of the Sakai merchant family, who had practiced business in Matsumoto for generations. The founding represented the culmination of a family collecting tradition that began with Yoshitaka Sakai (1810-1869), a paper wholesaler and art patron in the sixth generation of the family, who acquired the first items. After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Sakai Fujieihei (1844-1911) of the eighth generation opened the business Sakai kōkodō in Tokyo's Kanda district in 1870 and intensified the family's interest in ukiyo-e. Sakai Shokichi (1878-1942), the ninth generation, pursued scholarly study of ukiyo-e, published the magazine Ukiyo-e, and began exhibiting the collection abroad. Tokichi Sakai, the tenth generation, opened the museum specifically to make the family collection more accessible to the public. Over the years, the collection expanded beyond historical prints to include many contemporary works by Japanese artists. Items from the collection have been exhibited in Europe, North America, the Middle East, South America, and elsewhere in East Asia.

The collection encompasses the full breadth of ukiyo-e history, beginning with works from the late Edo period. It includes prints by all major artists of the genre, from Hishikawa Moronobu (1618-1694), considered the founder of ukiyo-e, through Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770), Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), Katsushika Hokusai (1780-1849), Keisai Eisen (1791-1841), Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), and Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861). The museum also holds significant modern works from the shin-hanga movement, including prints by Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950), Kawase Hasui (1883-1957), Yamamura Kōka (1886-1942), and Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (1899-1948). This dual focus on historical and contemporary printmaking makes the collection unusually comprehensive.

While specific individual masterpieces are not catalogued in the available sources, the sheer scale of the collection, numbering over 100,000 prints, constitutes its primary distinction. The holdings include representative works spanning the entire development of ukiyo-e from its origins through the shin-hanga era of the early twentieth century. The museum's collection of works by Hokusai, Hiroshige, Utamaro, and other canonical masters, combined with its extensive modern holdings, provides a nearly complete overview of Japanese woodblock print production.

The museum's main building was designed by the architect Shinohara Kazuo (1925-2006), a significant figure in modern Japanese architecture. It was extended in 1995 by the architect Haba Kuniharu. The museum is located next to the Matsumoto Open Air Architectural Museum, creating a notable cultural cluster in the area. The building houses curated exhibition spaces, a movie theatre showing a film on the history of ukiyo-e, and a gift shop.

The Japan Ukiyo-e Museum is located in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, in the Shimadachi area. It is privately owned, continuing under the stewardship of the Sakai family. The museum maintains a website at http://www.japan-ukiyoe-museum.com/. Visitors can access curated exhibitions, view the historical film on ukiyo-e, and browse the museum shop. Its proximity to the Matsumoto Open Air Architectural Museum allows for combined cultural visits.