The is an arts museum located in

Tokyo Midtown is a 569,000-square-meter (6.1 million sq ft) mixed-use development in Akasaka, Tokyo, Japan. Completed in March 2007, the $3 billion (¥370 billion) project includes office, residential, commercial, hotel, and leisure space, and the new quarte ...

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It is owned by the

Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and ...

corporation. The collection theme of the art works is "Art in life" and they mainly have Japanese antiques. The museum houses more than 3,000 cultural objects, one of which have been designated by the Japanese government as

National Treasures A national treasure is a structure, artifact, object or cultural work that is officially or popularly recognized as having particular value to the nation, or representing the ideals of the nation. The term has also been applied to individuals or ...

, 15 as Important Cultural Properties, and 21 as Important Art Objects ( ja).

History

In 1961, Suntory President Keizo Saji opened the Suntory Museum in the Palace Building in

Marunouchi Marunouchi () is an area in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, located between Tokyo Station and the Kokyo, Imperial Palace. The name, meaning "inside the circle", derives from its location within the palace's outer moat. Marunouchi is the core ...

Chiyoda, Tokyo , known as Chiyoda City in English,
." ''City of Chiyoda''. Retrieved on December 28, 2008. is a S ...

with the theme of "Art in life". In 1975, it was moved to Suntory Building in Akasaka,

Minato, Tokyo is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is also called Minato City in English. Minato was formed in 1947 as a merger of Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Azabu and Shiba, Tokyo, Shiba wards following Tokyo City's Local Autonomy Ac ...

. When the Tokyo branch of Suntory was to move to

Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge (Tokyo), Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built for defensive purposes in the 1850s. The land was dramatically expanded during the late 20th centur ...

in January 2005, the museum was temporarily closed. On March 30, 2007, the former site of the

Defense Agency The is an Ministry of Japan, executive department of the Government of Japan responsible for preserving the peace and independence of Japan, and maintaining the country's national security and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The ministry is h ...

was redeveloped and reopened as a new "Suntory Museum of Art" to be moved into the "Tokyo Midtown". It was temporarily closed in November 2019, renovated, and reopened in July 2020. As a result, the ceiling was made more

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

-resistant, the indoor lighting was changed to

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

, and the entrance, shops and cafes adjacent to the building, and staff uniforms were renewed. The design of the renewal was supervised by

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolif ...

, who designed the Tokyo Midtown Garden Site, where the museum is located, and the museum. The Suntory Museum of Art,

Mori Art Museum The is a contemporary art museum founded by the real estate developer Minoru Mori. It is located in the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex, a commercial, cultural, and residential mega-complex in Tokyo, Japan. The museum's ...

and

The National Art Center, Tokyo (NACT) is a museum in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. A joint project of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the National Museums Independent Administrative Institution, it stands on a site formerly occupied by a research facility of the Univers ...

, comprise the "Roppongi Art Triangle" 生まれ変わった“美の空間” サントリー美術館、リニューアル・オープン記念展
The Asahi Shimbun, July 21, 2020

Gallery

Publications

The museum has published a number of books about its collection and special exhibitions: * ''In the Country of Fans, Japan'' (2018) * ''Suntory Museum of Art 60th Anniversary Exhibition: Unsettling Japanese Art'' (2021) * ''The Sword: The Soul of the Warrior'' (2021) * ''Treasures from the Chishakuin Temple'' (2022) * ''Mushi: (Insects and Other Creatures) Lovers in Japan'' (2023) * ''A Mokubei Retrospective'' (2023) * ''Tumultuous Times - Painters in the Bakumatsu and Meiji'' (2023) * ''Émile Gallé: Longing for Paris'' (2024) * ''Confucianism in Japanese Art'' (2024) * ''Hanabusa Itchō: A Talented Man of Great Refinement Depicts the Floating World'' (2024) * ''Shutendōji Begins: Tales of the Demon Slayer Throughout the Ages'' (2025)

References

External links

*
Suntory Museum of Art
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world, operated by Google. It utilizes high-re ...

* Kengo Kuma buildings Akasaka, Tokyo Art museums and galleries in Tokyo Suntory Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo {{Japan-museum-stub