Did you know that there was once a bank in the Bikan Historical Area with Renaissance-style columns and stained glass?
The former Chugoku Bank building, which closed in 2016.
Ohara Museum of Art plans to transform the building into a museum and open the “Kojima Torajiro Museum (Shin-Kojimakan)” (provisional name) in April 2022.
What kind of building is this bank architecture, loved for 100 years?
What kind of museum will it become?
I attended a press conference held on Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
Some of the photographs used in this article were taken with special permission.
The information presented is as of the article’s publication in February 2020. Please note that it may differ from current information.
About the building that will become “Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name)”
“Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name)” will be housed in a building that was used as a bank.
| Address | 3-1 Honmachi, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture |
|---|---|
| Structure | Preserved building: mixed construction (partly reinforced concrete) and wood New building: reinforced concrete |
| Total floor area | 961.38 square meters |
Let’s take a look at the architecture and its connection with the Ohara Museum of Art.
About Kojima Torajiro
Kojima Torajiro was a Western-style painter born in 1881.
In 1902, he entered the Western Painting Department’s elective course at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts and became a scholarship student of the Ohara family.
At an art exhibition in 1907, he won first prize, and his work was purchased by the Imperial Household Ministry (now the Imperial Household Agency).
From 1908, he studied in Europe and graduated at the top of his class from an art school in Belgium.
It is clear that he was a highly talented painter.
At the time, people in Japan had no opportunity to see authentic Western paintings.
To help people studying Western painting in Japan, Kojima urged Ohara Magosaburo to collect Western paintings, and Magosaburo agreed.
While earning recognition for his talent as a painter in France, Kojima also began collecting artworks.
He actively collected “contemporary art” of the time, including obtaining one of Monet’s own favorite paintings during a visit to Monet’s studio.
He laid the foundation for the Ohara Museum of Art’s magnificent collection.
Kojima also purchased antiquities in Egypt and China.
The Ohara Museum of Art was established by Ohara Magosaburo to fulfill Kojima Torajiro’s wish and honor his death at the young age of 47.
He was an outstanding painter, a discerning collector, and Magosaburo’s friend—a person who made a major contribution to the development of art in Japan.
History of the building that will become Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name)
Next, here is a brief overview of the building’s history.
| 1921 | Construction began |
|---|---|
| 1922 | Completed. Opened as the Kurashiki Branch of Daiichi Godo Bank |
| 1930 | Renamed the Kurashiki Branch of Chugoku Bank. The branch name was changed twice thereafter. |
| 1998 | Registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property |
| 2016 | Banking operations ended. Transferred from Chugoku Bank to the Ohara Museum of Art. |
| 2017 | Recognized as a constituent cultural property of the Japan Heritage story “A Kurashiki story beginning with a single cotton flower: A textile town woven from Japanese and Western influences” |
| 2018 | Designated an Important Cultural Property by Kurashiki City |
It continued operating as a bank while undergoing extensions and seismic retrofitting.
The restoration of the ceiling’s wooden-lath plaster finish was also carried out using a mold taken from the original, we were told.
This shows that the building was used with care.
Its connection with the Ohara Museum of Art
When the building was completed in 1922 as a branch of Daiichi Godo Bank (now Chugoku Bank), the bank’s president was Ohara Magosaburo, founder of the Ohara Museum of Art.
It is located about 80 meters from the Ohara Museum of Art’s Main Building and next to “Yurin-so Villa,” the Ohara family’s former villa.
Yakushiji Kazue, who designed this building, was also the architect behind the Ohara Museum of Art’s Main Building and Yurin-so Villa.
In other words, this place and building have deep ties to the Ohara family and the Ohara Museum of Art.
It could also be said to share with the Ohara Museum of Art the distinction of being a “facility that supported the development of modern Kurashiki.”
The role of “Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name)”
“Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name)” will serve the following functions:
- Exhibition and preservation of artworks
- A hub for education, outreach, and viewing support
- Research institution
- Preservation and use of the building
Let’s take a closer look.
Exhibition and preservation of artworks
The following items will be exhibited and preserved at Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name):
- Antiquities from Egypt, West Asia, and elsewhere
- Works by Kojima Torajiro
The antiquities from Egypt, West Asia, and elsewhere could be called “the sources of culture.”
Kojima Torajiro collected not only Western paintings but also artworks from ancient Egypt and West Asia.
About 600 artworks and pottery fragments dating from ancient Egypt to around the 16th century will be housed here.
Among them, the “pottery fragments from Fustat, Egypt” are attracting particular attention.
Fustat was founded in 641 and was Egypt’s commercial center until 1168.
However, it was later burned down and apparently became a dumping ground for Cairo.
As a result, objects used in everyday life by Egyptians accumulated in Fustat and were left there for many years.
Pottery from outside Egypt, including China and Syria, has also been excavated at Fustat, revealing the rich cultural exchange that took place there.
Today, many excavation teams from around the world come to Fustat and collect pottery fragments.
The fragments to be housed at Shin-Kojimakan are among the earliest finds from excavations at Fustat.
The fragments are exceptionally large and varied, and are said to be of extremely high research value.
They include valuable examples of ninth-century Islamic pottery that researchers in Europe had considered “missing.”
As research progresses, we may learn more about the historical development of ceramics in the Middle East and Egypt.
The Ohara Museum of Art holds around 160 works by Kojima Torajiro, including oil paintings and ceramics.
The author loves Kojima Torajiro’s work, so is really looking forward to it!
A hub for educational outreach and visitor support
The Ohara Museum of Art has long focused on educational outreach.
Every year, it welcomes more than 3,000 preschool children free of charge, and more than 20,000 students in school groups visit to view the art.
However, it seems that a lack of space for hosting groups had been a constraint.
Shin-Kojimakan will have a lecture room.
After it opens, they hope to further expand their programs for school groups and workshops.
Research institution
The Ohara Museum of Art holds a very wide range of works, from antiquity to the present day.
Museum staff will act as coordinators, welcoming researchers from a range of fields, including archaeology, ceramics, applied science, and architecture, and helping connect and expand their research.
Preserving and making use of the building
The building that will become Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name) is an important part of Kurashiki’s historic streetscape.
The Ohara Museum of Art hopes to preserve this building, which is also important to local residents, by putting it to use.
Its relationship with the Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery at Kurashiki Ivy Square
From 1975 to 2017, the Ohara Museum of Art operated the “Kojima Torajiro Memorial Gallery” (hereafter, the “former Kojima Gallery”) at Kurashiki Ivy Square.
The former Kojima Gallery was created by renovating a warehouse built during the Meiji period.
The building and display cases had also deteriorated, making it difficult to maintain an environment suitable for preserving and exhibiting valuable cultural properties.
The items displayed at the former Kojima Gallery will be transferred to Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name).
You could think of it as the former Kojima Gallery returning, upgraded.
Total construction cost: 1 billion yen; donations being accepted
Shin-Kojimakan will make use of the existing building while adding an elevator and lecture room, with the aim of contributing broadly to the development of culture and the arts.
The total construction cost is 1 billion yen.
Along with using its own funds and loans, the museum is seeking donations from corporations and individuals.
Donors will receive tax benefits and be recognized inside the Ohara Museum of Art.
If you’d like to support the project, contact the Ohara Museum of Art.
Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name): a “small art museum”
Because part of Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name) is a cultural property, the building cannot be extensively renovated as a whole.
How can they create a good art museum while making the most of the historic building’s charm?
You could sense the careful thought and ingenuity that had gone into it.
Chief curator Ayumi Yoshikawa describes Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name) as “a small, old, charming building, packed to the brim with the functions and dreams of an art museum.”
Chairperson Akane Ohara said, “We want to create something exciting together with the people of the city and prefecture.”
Shin-Kojimakan (provisional name) is scheduled to open in April 2022.
In 2022, the building will mark 100 years since its completion.
And April is Kojima Torajiro’s birth month.
This welcoming art museum, blending into the streetscape, will surely bring a fresh breeze to Kurashiki.
I can’t wait for it to open.
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