The Ohara Museum of Art houses a wide-ranging collection of artworks.
You can also see crafts such as ceramics, prints, and dyed textiles, as well as ancient Oriental artworks.
The crafts and ancient artworks are displayed in the “Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery.”
The works are fascinating, of course, but the building itself is full of ingenious features that delight both the ears and the sense of touch!
A floor that makes sounds, mysterious handrails, and doors made from construction-site scaffolding planks!?
With Mr. Okazaki, a staff member at the Ohara Museum of Art, as our guide, we’ll introduce the charms of the Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery.
Photography is normally prohibited inside the Ohara Museum of Art. Special permission to take photographs was granted for this article.
The information presented is as of the article’s publication in April 2023. Please note that it may differ from current information.
The Ohara Museum of Art’s Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery
Founded in 1930, the Ohara Museum of Art expanded after the war and is now divided into the Main Building, Annex, and Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery.
![[Currently closed] Ohara Museum of Art Annex: A museum moving with the times, supporting creative endeavors](https://media.kuratoco.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/23060108/190215-101r-3.jpg)
The Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery is an exhibition space converted from storehouses once used to store rice and cotton.
It displays works by artists who supported the Mingei movement, as well as ancient Oriental artworks.
About the Crafts Gallery
The Crafts Gallery displays crafts by the following six artists who supported the Mingei movement, with each artist’s works shown in a separate room.
| Artist | Genre |
|---|---|
| Shoji Hamada | Ceramics |
| Bernard Leach | Ceramics |
| Kenkichi Tomimoto | Ceramics |
| Kanjiro Kawai | Ceramics |
| Shiko Munakata | Woodblock prints |
| Keisuke Serizawa | Textiles |
The Mingei movement was an effort to discover the beauty of everyday household objects.
Ohara Magosaburo, founder of the Ohara Museum of Art, and his son Soichiro were inspired by and supported the Mingei movement.
The Ohara family provided most of the funding to establish the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Komaba, Tokyo, making them important figures in the Mingei movement.
The Mingei movement is introduced in this article about the Kurashiki Museum of Folkcraft. You can see folk crafts from Japan and around the world at the museum, so visiting both makes for an even more enjoyable experience.
About the Oriental Art Gallery
Kojima Torajiro, who collected the Western paintings that formed the foundation of the Ohara Museum of Art’s collection, also visited China, the Korean Peninsula, and Egypt, collecting Buddhist statues and ancient artworks.
The Oriental Art Gallery displays ancient artworks, primarily from Kojima Torajiro’s collection.
There were many precious items, including vessels from before the Common Era and large stone Buddhist statues.
Look closely at the building in the Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery!
The exterior, interior, displays, and arrangement of the storehouses in the Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery were meticulously designed by Keisuke Serizawa, a textile artist who was close to Soichiro.
Serizawa was designated a Holder of an Important Intangible Cultural Property (Living National Treasure) for his kataezome technique, in which he carried out the design, stencil carving, and dyeing processes himself, rather than dividing them among different artisans as had previously been the practice.
He also demonstrated outstanding talent beyond textile dyeing.
In the Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery, each room is arranged in a variety of ways to complement its works and artists.
The building is full of thoughtful details, making it fascinating and packed with things to see!
Here are some features to look out for.
A Kurashiki-style namako wall exterior
The Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery was created by renovating storehouses.
The red-walled storehouse stands out among the white-walled storehouses—so stylish!
The Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel, visible behind the Japanese-style building, uses a design resembling the namako walls of the Crafts and Oriental Art Gallery.
Soichiro commissioned the construction of the Kurashiki Kokusai Hotel. Its design was carefully calculated to blend in when viewed from the Ohara Museum of Art.
Near the entrance are water lilies propagated from Monet’s garden, which bloom delicately from late spring to early summer.
A carefully designed floor
The first-floor rooms of Shoji Hamada, Bernard Leach, Kenkichi Tomimoto, and Kanjiro Kawai have floors paved with wooden bricks.
The pattern varies from room to room.
As I walked, the floor made little popping sounds, and I could feel the unevenness of the bricks through the soles of my shoes.
The sheen that has developed over many years as countless people have walked across them is beautiful.
The second-floor room of Kanjiro Kawai uses a technique called “Korean-style flooring.” It is said to reflect Kawai’s interest in Korea.
Because the boards are laid so that they float slightly, they make a loud creaking sound as you walk.
The sound of the boards creaking with every step is an auditory effect created by Serizawa.
He wanted visitors to experience the works not only by looking at them, but also by listening to the sounds.
Be sure to visit and experience the sounds for yourself.
The floor in the Shiko Munakata Room is made of floor tiles coated with Oribe glaze, which gives them a brownish-green color.
Because they are glazed and fired, they have a glossy, jet-black sheen. I thought they looked “cool.”
Walls with distinctive character in each room
The interior walls also take different forms to suit each artist.
The Shoji Hamada Room has a latticework of wooden frames, while the Bernard Leach Room has simple white walls. The atmosphere changes each time you enter a different room.
There was also a stained-glass wall. It is a work by Shinzo Kotani, known for Kurashiki Glass.
The door before the Stone Buddha Room is made from metal planks used at construction sites. I thought it was wonderful how Keisuke Serizawa used such an unexpected material.
Part of the Oriental Art Gallery has walls made of vertically stacked stones. I have heard that this requires much greater skill than stacking them horizontally.
The Shiko Munakata Room is perhaps the most striking of all.
The logs embedded in the wall are called “nizuri-gi” and are used in warehouses. They are installed to keep cargo from touching the walls, preventing it from rubbing against them; the gaps also help keep moisture from accumulating.
A wall created for practical use is beautiful and harmonizes with the artwork—this is truly the “beauty of utility” of folkcraft!
Shiko Munakata called his own prints “hangas” (literally, “board pictures”). I imagine the wall was made with cargo-protection logs out of respect for Munakata, who created works that made the most of the characteristics of woodblock printing.
The windows also had a distinctive shape and were lovely.
Handrails you’ll want to touch to feel the difference
The handrails on the stairs inside the museum were also designed by Keisuke Serizawa.
These stairs and handrails are modeled on something. Can you guess what?
The answer is an “escalator”!
When I touched it, the rounded shape felt just like an escalator handrail.
Works that reveal each artist’s world
In the Craft Gallery, each artist has a separate room.
With so many works gathered here, it is easy to understand and compare each artist’s style and distinctive features: for example, Shoji Hamada’s work is powerful and bold, Bernard Leach’s is notable for its handles, and Kenkichi Tomimoto’s brushwork is delicate.
The Ohara family did more than simply collect works; they supported the folkcraft movement and built relationships with artists before establishing the Craft Gallery.
Shiko Munakata was close to the Ohara family and apparently visited them almost every year. The collection also includes prints made for the family, inspired by a poem written by Ohara Magosaburo’s wife, who was a poet.
When viewing craftworks, try looking for these details
There are many craftworks on display, but how should we look at them?
Of course, there is no one right way to appreciate them.
But in case you find yourself wondering, “I don’t know how to look at these,” we asked Okazaki, a staff member at the Ohara Museum of Art, for some advice.
Okazaki recommends “looking while imagining the process.”
For example, when looking at pottery, try considering the following:
- How was the shape made?
(Was it made on a potter’s wheel? Pressed against something to shape it? Made by attaching flat pieces?) - How were the colors applied and the designs painted?
- How was the glaze applied?
You may find that you sense the artist’s individuality and attention to detail more deeply than when simply looking at the work.
From the Writer
The Ohara Museum of Art’s Craft and Oriental Art Gallery is a place to enjoy not only craftworks and antiques, but also the building itself.
It is full of fascinating features, and with every step I found myself excited to wonder, “What kind of room will be next?”
From the floors that make sounds to the walls and lighting that change dramatically from room to room, as well as the unusually shaped handrails, be sure to visit and experience Keisuke Serizawa’s ingenuity with your eyes, ears, and hands.
And the breadth and richness of the Ohara Museum of Art’s collection are simply astonishing.
The Main Gallery, Annex, and Craft and Oriental Art Gallery each have their own distinct atmosphere and appeal, and the museum shop is also wonderful.
I already loved the Ohara Museum of Art, but reporting on it made me an even bigger fan.
Why not encounter art at the Ohara Museum of Art?
- Model: Isako
Articles about the Ohara Museum of Art
Ohara Museum of Art Information
| Name | Ohara Museum of Art |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1-15 Chuo, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
| Contact | 086-422-0005 |
| Parking | None |
| Opening hours | [December–February] 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. (last admission: 2:30 p.m.) [March–November] 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. (last admission: 4:30 p.m.) |
| Closed | Mondays Open when a Monday falls on a public holiday or substitute holiday Closed during the winter; occasional temporary closures |
| Admission (tax included) | [General admission] Adults: ¥2,000 High school, junior high school, and elementary school students (under 18): ¥500 |
| Payment methods |
|
| Reservations | Available Reservations are not required for individuals |
| Smoking | Entirely smoke-free |
| Restrooms | Western-style toilets, accessible toilets |
| Childcare facilities | Nursing room, diaper-changing tables, stroller rental Nursing room in the Crafts Gallery Diaper-changing tables on the second floor of the Main Building and in the Crafts Gallery |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair rental, ramps, accessible toilets, elevator |
| Website | Ohara Museum of Art Official Website |
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