MOA Museum of Art
The MOA Museum of Art is a private art museum in the hillside city of Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, founded in 1982 to house a portion of the vast collection assembled by Mokichi Okada, founder of the Church of World Messianity. Perched on a forested hill overlooking Sagami Bay with sweeping views toward the Izu Peninsula, the museum is celebrated for its holdings of Japanese and East Asian art — including National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties — and for its extraordinary integration of architecture, garden design, and landscape.
At a glance
- Type
- Private art museum
- Period
- Founded 1982; predecessor Atami Museum of Art established 1957
- Style
- Modernist architecture integrated with traditional Japanese garden design
- Location
- Atami, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
- Coordinates
- 35.1093° N, 139.0752° E
Overview
The MOA Museum of Art — the initials stand for Mokichi Okada Association — is the second major museum established to display the art collection of Mokichi Okada (1882-1955), a Japanese religious leader and art patron who believed that beauty had a spiritually purifying power. The museum houses approximately 3,500 works, including three National Treasures and sixty-seven Important Cultural Properties designated by the Japanese government. It is widely regarded as one of Japan’s finest repositories of traditional Japanese and East Asian art.
History
Mokichi Okada began collecting Japanese classical art in the early 20th century, acquiring ceramics, lacquerware, paintings, and objects of outstanding quality. The first institution created to display his collection was the Hakone Museum of Art, established in 1952. A second museum, the Atami Museum of Art, was established in 1957 and served as the direct predecessor of the current MOA Museum of Art, which was purpose-built and opened in January 1982. The building was designed to accommodate both permanent collection galleries and large-scale temporary exhibitions, and has undergone significant renovation and expansion in the decades since its founding.
What you see
Visitors arrive via a series of long escalators through the hillside, emerging into a dramatically positioned building with panoramic sea views. The permanent collection highlights include the Kakitsubata-zu byobu (Irises), a National Treasure six-panel screen by Ogata Korin (1658-1716), widely considered one of the masterpieces of the Rinpa school of Japanese painting. Other National Treasures include a No costume and a lacquered incense burner box. The museum’s garden contains a reconstructed No theatre and traditional tea houses where seasonal tea ceremonies are performed. Rotating temporary exhibitions regularly bring in significant loans from Japanese and international collections.
Cultural significance
The MOA Museum’s collection preserves some of the most important surviving examples of Japanese classical artistic tradition, from Jomon-period ceramics through Edo-period painting and lacquerwork. The inclusion of three National Treasures places it among the most significant private art institutions in Japan. Beyond its collection, the museum embodies Okada’s philosophy of beauty as a vehicle for spiritual and social improvement — a vision that has shaped its distinctive atmosphere of contemplative elegance.
Practical information
- Address
- 26-2 Momoyamacho, Atami, Shizuoka 413-8511, Japan
- Hours
- Open daily except Thursdays; check official website for current hours
- Admission
- Ticketed; check official website for current prices
- Website
- moaart.or.jp
Getting there
Atami Station is served by the JR Tokaido Shinkansen (approximately 45 minutes from Tokyo) and the JR Tokaido Line. From Atami Station, a free shuttle bus connects to the museum (approximately 10 minutes). Taxis are also available from the station forecourt. The museum’s hilltop location makes it unsuitable for cycling; the shuttle bus or taxi is strongly recommended.