The collection at the main building of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) now has thirteen pieces that are designated as Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government, comprising eight Japanese-style paintings, four oil paintings and one sculpture.

This section presents the thirteen Important Cultural Properties in the order of production date with brief comments.
*Two will be designated Important Cultural Properties later this year.


Please consult the web page Modern Japanese Art from the Museum Collection to know pieces on display. Do not miss Japanese-style paintings that are shown for only limited periods for preservation purposes.

The large canvas features Kannon in a white robe riding the dragon, with a willow branch in the right hand and a water cup in the left hand. Having studied in Germany, Harada made this piece referring to European religious paintings and Japanese pieces showing Kannon. Applying realistic representation of oil painting to a traditional Japanese subject, this ambitious work generated fierce debates about its theme and vivid depiction when first shown.
(Designated on June 8, 2007)

Answering to the question from Chinese empress Wu hou (years of reign: 690–705), Bodhisattva Kenshu, the third founder of the Kegon sect of Buddhism, is said to have explained the doctrine of Kegon Sutra using a gold lion in the garden as an example. This piece shows a notable technique in which minute patterns are drawn on stippled colors. Hishida used to depict the air and light not with lines but with shades of colors. In this piece, the painter advanced his style to the next level, succeeding in expressing perspective and plasticity with subtle changes of color tones.
(Designated on June 6, 1979)

Nude Beauty was Yorozu's thesis painting at the Tokyo Art School (now Tokyo University of the Arts). The flame-like movements of the weeds and simplified figure of the nude show influences of Matisse and van Gogh, whose works were beginning to be introduced in Japanese media at that time. The painter's intense colors and touches are said to have perplexed his teachers including Seiki Kuroda. This is a monumental work heralding the Taisho period (1912-26) when people advocated freedom of expression and respect for individuality.
(Designated on December 4, 2000)

Depicting a scene near Yoyogi where Kishida lived at the time, the painter tried to come close to nature again with an eye that had gone through influence of classical Western paintings. According the artist himself, it was a time when he began to escape from “influence of classical” Western paintings, and “the desire to directly face the mass of nature itself” returned. Closely composed and showing a unique spatial grasp that overwhelms the viewer, this is a highly prominent piece among paintings of the Taisho period (1912-26).
(Designated on June 22, 1971)

In a late-spring gorge where cherry petals flutter down, three waterwheel boats are moored on the river. During his sketching trips in 1915 and 1916, Gyokudo visited Nagatoro gorge where he enjoyed boating trips down the river. Using the scene of the gorge as the starting point, the painter added cherry petals fluttering down like a light snow to produce this masterpiece.
Interested particularly in the repeating rhythm of the waterwheels’ rotation, Gyokudo said he took the greatest pains in depicting the rapid flow of the water to express the motion. Combining the diverse appearances of nature—its grandeur as well as the subtlety seen in the changing seasons—and the daily life of the local people, this piece succeeds in creating a world brimming with poetic sentiment.
(Designated on June 22, 1971)

Juxtaposing a mountain range in the style of Yamato-e painting of the Heian period (794-1185), luxuriant pine trees reminiscent of wall paintings of the Momoyama period (1568-1600), and a sensual woman dressed in bright red reminding us of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Bakusen produced Serving Girl at a Spa in sympathy and consultation with different styles of various times and places. This piece was sent to the first exhibition organized by the Kokuga Sosaku Kyokai (National Creative Painting Association), a group of artists that challenged the dominance of the Bunten (Ministry of Education Fine Arts Exhibition).
An intellectual integration of natural and feminine beauty—landscape and figure painting in fusion—Serving Girl at a Spa was an ambitious work by young Bakusen who aimed to create new modern Japanese-style painting free from traditions and conventions.
(Designated on June 7, 1999)

This is a piece based on a legend concerning Dojoji temple in which Kiyohime, a woman in the reign of Emperor Daigo (885-930), fell in love with a priest, and pursued him to the bank of the Hidaka River. Carried away by rage, she eventually got the priest incinerated with flames that she herself kindled.
Kagaku chose the scene just before the climax of the story when the heroine transformed herself into a huge serpent. Instead of suggesting a consuming grudge, however, the painter presents Kiyohime with her eyes closed, accompanied by a lonesome pine tree and a stick thrown away, to convey sadness and grief. This work succeeds in expressing the depth of human emotion with subdued colors and delicate lines.
(Designated on June 7, 1999)

The model of this portrait is Vasilii Yaroshenko (1889-1952), a blind, then young Russian poet and Esperantist who appears also in a short novel of Lu Xun. Yaroshenko first came to Japan in 1914, then went wandering about Asian countries, and returned to Japan in 1919 to become a dependent at Nakamuraya, a baker in Shinjuku, Tokyo. This piece is characterized by soft brushwork reminiscent of the style of Renoir that Tsune greatly admired at that time, and the small number of colors used—chiefly the yellowish brown range. This piece unveils the deep spirituality of the model in placid light.
(Designated on June 11, 1977)

A water drop that appears in the vapor of the air travels through a mountain stream, and grows into a great river that flows into the sea where waves form a dragon that rises up into the sky. This is a forty-meter scroll painting depicting the life of water on a grand scale. And that’s not the end of the story. The dragon in the sky turns into water drops again to live a new life. Taikan made free use of various techniques of suibokuga (sumi painting) to express his imposing view of nature and life where the vicissitude of all things was seen in the flow of water.
(Designated on June 15, 1967)

San'yutei Encho (1839-1900) was a rakugo (comic monologue) storyteller in the Meiji period (1868-1912) known for his masterful presentation of tales of human compassion (ninjo-banashi). Kiyokata was familiar with Encho because he was an old friend of the painter’s father. In this piece showing the moment just before Encho begins his story, the storyteller kneels in the formal seiza position, fixing his eyes on the audience beyond the teacup. Kiyokata painted Encho's personal appearance relying on memory, conveying the master's intensity and tension through the piercing eyes and the firm mouth. The kimono, cushion and props were carefully depicted based on sketches of the relics.
(Designated an Important Cultural Property on May 29, 2003)

A baby leans forward with one hand holding its mother’s kimono at the neck, and the mother holds the baby tight in her arms with an affectionate gaze. One common scene in everyday life has been elevated to a noble mother-and-child painting. Her mother’s death made Shoen often turn to the subject of motherhood. With this memorable piece first shown at the Imperial Academy’s art exhibition in autumn of the year of her mother’s death, Shoen broke new ground in her later years. Her portrayal of the skin, chignons and clothes shows her sensitivity and techniques that the painter acquired producing bijinga (‘pictures of beautiful women’).
(Designated an Important Cultural Property on June 27, 2011)

This is a scene from Azuma kagami, a historical account of the Kamakura shogunate, in which Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a younger brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the shogunate, hurries to the camp at Kisegawa after hearing that Yoritomo had raised an army. The stern composition with large blanks conveys the tension between the two warriors exchanging glances, creating chilliness that seems to suggest the tragedy awaiting the brothers. The painter is said to have consulted Yoritomo’s (now considered Ashikaga Tadayoshi’s) portrait housed in Jingo-ji, Kyoto, a Bishamonten (Vaishravana) statue from the Heian period (794–1185) for Yoshitsune’s image, and the descriptions in Gikeiki, an popular account of the life of Yoshitsune, for the costume, to produce this extraordinarily elaborate masterpiece of history painting.
(Designated an Important Cultural Property on June 27, 2011)