Hara Museum of Contemporary Art to Close Historic Tokyo Building

The Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo will close its historic building in Gotenyama, Kita-Shinagawa, due to prohibitive maintenance and structural upgrade costs. The museum, housed in a 1938 Bauhaus-style residence designed by architect Jin Watanabe, was originally the private home of industrialist Kunizo Hara. After WWII, it served as housing for US occupation officers, then as the Philippine and Sri Lankan embassies before being converted into a contemporary art museum in 1979 by Rokuro Hara. The collection of about 1,000 works—spanning Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, and 21st-century trends—will be transferred to the Hara Museum ARC in Gunma Prefecture, a wooden building designed by Arata Isozaki in the late 1980s, featuring three contemporary art galleries and a pavilion for historical Japanese and Chinese art. Junko Watanabe, the museum's international programming director for 25 years, noted its role in introducing foreign artists like Jason Teraoka to Japan. The museum will continue operations at the ARC site, with staff currently reorganizing works and planning future activities.