A REOPENED MUSEUM AND STREET ART SCULPTURES IN MARUNOUCHI
Tokyo's premier business district hosts a dynamic street exhibition of contemporary art sculptures, and the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum is also gaining attention as a historic museum.
March 2025
01. Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum & Café 1894
The Mitsubishi Ichigokan, designed by the English architect Josiah Conder, first opened in 1894 as one of the first Western-style buildings in the area, preluding a completely modernized Marunouchi by the early 20th century. Although the original three-story office building was eventually demolished, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan was meticulously reconstructed according to Conder's original blueprints and reborn as a museum in 2010.
After being closed for about a year, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum reopened in November 2024 with several operational improvements. Since then, the museum pays tribute to its architectural heritage by exhibiting European artworks from its birth era. While it primarily showcased works from the early 19th century before its reopening, the museum has since expanded its exhibitions to include works from the late 19th century, the 20th century, and contemporary art. In addition to the main exhibitions, the museum now also holds smaller thematic exhibitions in the new Small Gallery space and Espace 1984. The pieces are selected from the museum's own collection, which comprises some 900 artifacts, including works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and French Nabis who were strongly influenced by Japanese art.
One of the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum's signature collections is Odilon Redon's Grand Bouquet. This pastel painting, one of Redon's largest works, was originally installed in a château dining room in 1901. The 248.3-cm-high pastel had been hidden from public view for 110 years until the Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum finally exhibited it in Tokyo. Although the painting is always present in the gallery, it may or may not be visible depending on the theme of the exhibition. The museum reopened with its first exhibition focusing on Grand Bouquet, set under the theme of "absence".
© Odilon Redon, Grand Bouquet, 1901, Pastel on canvas, 248.3×162.9cm, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo
In a two-story atrium, Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum's Café 1894 serves fans of classic European architecture and foodies alike. The menu features thematic tie-ins with the exhibition of the moment, as well as the renewed "Palette Plate" of colorful hors d'oeuvres. After exploring the museum, unwind in this elegant space and enjoy a moment of relaxation.
Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum
Café 1894
02. Marunouchi Street Gallery
In 1972, Mitsubishi Estate Co., Ltd. launched a joint project with THE HAKONE OPEN-AIR MUSEUM, whose collection includes hundreds of outdoor sculptures, to exhibit some of the artworks in Marunouchi, on the busy sidewalks of Naka-dori street. The resulting Marunouchi Street Gallery is now one of Japan's oldest rotating outdoor public art exhibitions.
The gallery's greatest appeal is its ability to reflect current trends by showing artworks by both emerging and established artists, continually updating the scenery with new perspectives that are particularly suited to Marunouchi's urban street environment.
One of the more recently popular works is Michiko Nakatani's "A Girl Who Carries a Small Fish Carefully and a Blue Bird Flying in Your Golden Sky" (2022), an intriguingly curved sculpture made of bronze, carved with a concave painting that creates an eerie optical illusion. While the woman's eyes are looking down, her facial expression and gaze seem to change in this surreal space as you move around the sculpture.
Katsura Funakoshi's "I fly above the city" (2022) was specially commissioned for the Marunouchi Street Gallery. Veteran sculptor gave a lot of thought to how the piece would reflect the sunlight, and which direction the head should face, as he meticulously calculated to show various expressions with the passage of time and changing seasons. The exhibition of his artwork as public art is a moving and enduring legacy for this veteran sculptor who passed away in March 2024.
Beyond the sidewalk, British artist Henry Moore's "Working Model for Sheep Piece" (1971) set the tone for the entire Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum garden that was built around it. The abstract sculpture's peaceful presence in the bustling business district blends in gracefully with the architecturally restored Ichigokan, as if closing the circle of Mitsubishi's vision for Marunouchi, past, present and future.
