Do you know Kojima Torajiro?
When the Ohara Museum of Art in the Bikan Historical Area was preparing to open, this Western-style painter from Nariwa-cho, Takahashi City, traveled the world on foot, purchasing works by numerous “contemporary artists of the time,” including Monet and Matisse, as well as El Greco’s The Annunciation, while continuing to present his own works.
The Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery, which houses and exhibits not only works by Kojima—essential to telling the history of the Bikan Historical Area and of Japanese Western-style painting—but also works collected from around the world, grand-opened on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
We visited a new museum sharing Kurashiki’s history, located in the heart of the Bikan Historical Area at the foot of Achi Shrine, opposite Kurashiki Community Center.
The information presented was current when this article was published in April 2025. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery building
Works by Kojima Torajiro and pieces he collected were displayed in the main building and the Annex from the opening of the Ohara Museum of Art. From 1972 to 2017, they were exhibited at the “Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery” inside Kurashiki Ivy Square.
The facility at Kurashiki Ivy Square had deteriorated with age, making it difficult to maintain an environment suitable for preserving and exhibiting valuable cultural properties. It was therefore relocated and newly opened.
Following two phases of construction, the new Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery opened on Thursday, April 3, 2025.
- Phase 1 (construction began in July 2020): Building work
- Phase 2 (construction began in June 2024): Gallery work
Architecture of the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery
The Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery is a renovated facility in the former Kurashiki Honmachi Branch of the Chugoku Bank, designated a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property.
Like the Ohara Museum of Art Main Building, it was designed by Yakushiji Kazue.
Donated by Chugoku Bank to the Ohara Museum of Art in 2016, this building operated as a bank serving Kurashiki residents until that year.
Some of you may have used it to receive your salary or for other banking needs.
The exterior of the preserved brick and wooden buildings, designated National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, remains unchanged from that time, but a new reinforced-concrete building has been added. The complex covers 959 square meters in total and comprises three galleries, a lecture room, and other spaces.
The building retains its history, with Neo-Renaissance-style columns and stained glass, but the entrance has a ramp, and the interior is also equipped with an accessible restroom and an elevator.
This is a museum where people of all ages, genders, and abilities can enjoy viewing the artworks.
The three galleries
There are three galleries.
Gallery 1 is the first room you enter after passing reception. It is a double-height space that retains the bank’s teller counter.
Natural light streams in from the high ceiling, making it a bright, open gallery.
This room displays Oriental art collected by Kojima Torajiro, including sculptures and glassworks from ancient Egypt and West Asia.
Gallery 2, on the first floor of the new reinforced-concrete building, and Gallery 3, on the second floor, have no windows. They display works painted by Kojima Torajiro.
Although the exhibits are scheduled to be changed regularly, the current display mainly features works by Kojima Torajiro that were exhibited when the Ohara Museum of Art opened in 1930.
Who was “Kojima Torajiro,” the focus of the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery?
When the Ohara Museum of Art opened, its founder, Ohara Magosaburo, also reportedly hoped to open a memorial gallery dedicated to Kojima Torajiro.
For this reason, the opening of the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery is said to fulfill a long-held wish 95 years in the making for the Ohara Museum of Art.
What kind of person was Kojima Torajiro?
Kojima Torajiro as a Western-style painter
Kojima Torajiro was a Western-style painter born in 1881.
In 1901, Torajiro moved to Tokyo to study painting. The following year, he entered the Tokyo Fine Arts School, now Tokyo University of the Arts.
He completed the four-year course in two years by skipping two grades, then continued his studies in the research program, equivalent to today’s graduate school.
While he was a student, Torajiro’s work Garden of Compassion was purchased by the Imperial Household Ministry (as it was then known), an honor (it is now held by the Museum of the Imperial Collections, Sannomaru Shozokan).
He went to Europe to study in 1908 and graduated at the top of his class from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium, in 1912.
Inspired by light and color in Europe, Kojima painted vivid Western-style works, mainly portraits of people from Japan and abroad, even after returning to Japan and settling in Sakazu, Kurashiki City.
Kojima Torajiro as a collector
Although Kojima’s talent as a painter was recognized in Europe, he also began collecting works with the aim of “showing authentic Western paintings to art students and ordinary people living in Japan.”
With support from Ohara Magosaburo, founder of the Ohara Museum of Art, he traveled extensively for his painting studies and art collecting, making three trips to Europe and four to China and Korea.
In those days, the voyage to Europe was arduous, taking about a month and a half one way.
Even so, Torajiro traveled abroad energetically to collect works from overseas, laying the foundation for the Ohara Museum of Art.
He collected more than just paintings.
Fascinated by the diverse cultures of the world, Kojima Torajiro also collected works of art from various countries. He seems to have had a particular interest in ancient Egypt, collecting numerous artifacts and works of art, and even visiting Egypt himself.
He is said to have been the first painter in Japan to collect a substantial body of Western paintings and ancient Oriental art as a collection.
The Vision for the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery
The Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery will serve the following functions:
- Exhibition and preservation of artworks
- A hub for educational outreach and visitor support programs
- A research institution
- Preservation and use of the building
Kojima Torajiro’s guiding principle, “I want art students and ordinary people living in Japan to see authentic Western paintings,” offers a glimpse of his commitment to contributing to society.
The Ohara Museum of Art has also devoted considerable effort to educational outreach over the years.
The lecture room at the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery is also expected to serve as a hub for educational outreach and visitor support.
The Ohara Museum of Art Foundation reportedly has a wealth of materials related to Kojima Torajiro, so I look forward to seeing future research and exhibitions making use of them.
Ayumi Yoshikawa, Senior Special Researcher at the Ohara Museum of Art Foundation, says:
“All of Kojima Torajiro’s works are so charming that you can’t help wanting to get closer and look at them.
Our museum, which has repurposed a bank building, has a scale that feels intimate in a way that is characteristic of Kurashiki.
Because this is a compact museum with many small-scale works on display, we want to change the exhibits frequently.”
she says.
A project to support the renovation, funded by corporate hometown tax donations from 69 companies
Preparations to open the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery began in 2020.
This was around the time that the number of tourists in the Bikan Historical Area had fallen due to measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Against this backdrop, with the desire to “revitalize the Bikan Historical Area,” the city applied for the “Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery Facility Development and Surrounding Area Revitalization Project,” using Kurashiki City’s corporate hometown tax donation program.
The project was successfully selected, and approximately 228 million yen in corporate hometown tax donations from 69 companies across Japan, along with a 10 million yen subsidy from Kurashiki City, was presented to the Ohara Museum of Art Foundation on Thursday, March 27, 2025.
At the ceremony, Kurashiki City Mayor Ito Kaori said:
“As a place where people can see Kurashiki’s art from long ago, I hope it will become a new place for exploring the area and sharing its appeal.”
Along with these words, the presentation document was handed to Ohara Akane, representative director of the Ohara Museum of Art Foundation.
After receiving the presentation document, the foundation’s representative director said:
“By making use of the corporate hometown tax donation program, we have been able to connect with a variety of companies across Japan.
As I express my gratitude to everyone, I also pledge that we will continue to broaden the scope of our activities.”
She expressed her gratitude.
March 6, 2025 (Thursday): Preview Opening
Ahead of the grand opening on Thursday, April 3, 2025, a preview opening for the public was held on Thursday, March 6.
When I visited in the morning, new visitors were arriving constantly, and the gallery was bustling.
Groups of friends enjoying the exhibits together and people taking their time to look around on their own were all filled with excitement.
The works collected by Kojima in Exhibition Room 1 are all small in scale. However, the display cases are arranged at regular intervals, so visitors can view the works in any order they like and take their time, even when the gallery is crowded.
Stories about the works are explained throughout the gallery, and as I looked at the exhibits, I could almost picture how they were collected and how people at the time encountered Western paintings and foreign antiquities for the first time.
The building itself is compact, but time flies when you take a close look at each work.
April 3, 2025 (Thursday): Grand Opening
April 3, about a month after the preview opening, was Kojima Torajiro’s birthday.
The Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery held its grand opening to mark the occasion.
The grand opening ceremony began at 9:30 a.m. under a blue sky that seemed to celebrate the day.
Cherry blossoms were also in bloom along the Kurashiki River, and the ceremony began as corporate hometown tax donor companies and tourists looked on, amid spring weather that seemed to bring blessings from those who had passed away and were connected to this place.
Before the opening, Ohara Akane, representative director of the Ohara Museum of Art Foundation, commented as follows:
Afterward, she joined the guests of honor—Mayor Ito Kaori, Kato Sadanori, president of Chugoku Bank, and Inoue Minehito, chair of the Kurashiki Chamber of Commerce and Industry—for the ribbon-cutting.
Visitors who had eagerly awaited this day entered the gallery one after another.
To mark the opening, I spoke with director Miura Atsushi.
Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery Information
| Name | Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery |
|---|---|
| Hours | 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ※Last admission is at 3:30 p.m.; from December to February, closes at 3:00 p.m. |
| Location | 3-1 Honmachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Admission (tax included) | Combined admission to the Ohara Museum of Art Main Building, Craft and Oriental Art Gallery, and Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery Adults 2,000 yen High school, junior high school, and elementary school students (under 18) 500 yen |
| Website | Ohara Museum of Art Official Website |
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The Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery is a museum that Ohara Magosaburo, founder of the Ohara Museum of Art, had long hoped to see established.
I imagine that Magosaburo, Kojima Torajiro, and Yakushiji, who designed this building, are somewhere watching us with a smile, thinking, “Those people 100 years later really did a great job.”
I hope that new values will emerge from the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery, and that, while making use of them, we can step into the future together with people from around the world, not just Kurashiki residents.”