Kamakura Museum, 2015, photographed by Ryota Atarashi

The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura

2-1-53 Yukinoshita, Kamakura, Kanagawa
248-0005
Tel. +81 467 22 5000

Access
Train station: Kamakura (JR Yokosuka Line and Enoden Line). Walk in the direction of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine (about 10 minutes). The Annex is located 5 minutes-walk away.

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On closing of The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura

The opening of The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura to the general public ended on Sunday, January 31, 2016.

The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura opened on November 17, 1951 in the precincts of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, the shrine in the center of Kamakura. That was almost 65 years ago.
In previous years it was a trying period, when, over fifteen long years, the war expanded from mainland China to the Pacific Ocean, and having embroiled citizens in the Battle of Okinawa, air raids, and two atomic bombings, Japan was defeated. Plans for the museum originated in 1949, when Japan was still under the occupation of the Allied Forces. With the aim of constructing a museum to revive culture, artists and scholars in Kanagawa and the then prefectural governor established "Kanagawa Artists' Colloquium." In the process of investigating candidate sites within the prefecture, an offer to lease land in Kamakura materialized and the first public museum of modern art in Japan designed by Sakakura Junzo, who had studied under Le Corbusier, the master architect of the 20th century, was welcomed with expectation in the historical city of Kamakura. Ever since, it has been referred to fondly as "Kamakura Kinbi (Kamakura MoMA.)"
Unfortunately the final exhibition at "The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura" closes to the public on January 31, 2016 and the "Kamakura building" will be closed down at the end of March. From April 2016 onwards, the Museum's activities will be integrated into two buildings, Hayama and Kamakura Annex. We are most grateful for your patronage over the past 65 years and look forward to your continued understanding and cooperation for our future activities.

The Basic View of the Kanagawa Prefectural Government
The Kamakura building of The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama has become remarkably old. However, as it stands within the precincts of Tsurugaoka Hachimangu, a shrine which is designated by the national government as a Historical Site, the status quo cannot be altered unless it corresponds with the historical site. This makes it difficult for the building to be improved as an art museum. Consequently, its function as a museum will terminate when the lease contract with Tsurugaoka Hachimangu for the land expires at the end of March 2016 (Heisei 28).