Greetings

“Hometown of Yumeji Takehisa”

Mitsunobu KOJIMA, Director
The Yumeji Art Museum, Okayama

Welcome to the Web site of the Yumeji Art Museum. We would love to warmly introduce you to the hometown of Yumeji Takehisa. Okayama prefecture is famously known as the “Sunny Land” because it is blessed with a warm climate.

The“Yumeji Kyodo Bijyutsukan” (Yumeji Art Museum) was given its name by the late Motoi Matsuda, a collector of Yumeji’s works and also the first director of this art museum. Mr. Matsuda strongly suggested that the name of this art museum should have the words of "Kyoudo” which means "hometown" in Japanese.That is what made this art museum unique and special.

The Yumeji Art Museum - Honkan was built near Korakuen Garden in Okayama-shi in order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Yumeji’s birth. You can enjoy many of his works which are exhibited in the building of white walls and Namako-kabe (walls covered with tiles and jointed with raised plaster) and red bricks. Yumeji liked this combination of white walls, Namako-kabe, and red bricks which are reminiscent of the Taisho era (1912-1926). Here you can appreciate a variety of his works of beautiful women who were painted with melancholy eyes, peculiar hands and feet, and posing in the “S-style”. You can also enjoy the diversity of his modern designs.

There are two structures that make up the Yumeji Art Museum - Bunkan in Oku-cho, Setouchi-shi. One is the Yumeji Seika and the other one is the Syonen Sansou. They will take you back in time to Yumeji’s childhood days. Entering the Yumeji Seika across the Mojiro-bashi bridge from the Syonen Sansou, you will see a lively farming village from one of his rooms where he spent his childhood. You can also see the names Yumeji wrote on the pillar of his room, which still remain slightly visible today. Many people believe that the memories of a dear mother and a beautiful raven-black haired sister led Yumeji to establish his style of beautiful melancholy women in his works. Generally, men continue to have not only a feeling of youth forever, but also a feeling of yearning towards women. In analyzing Yumeji’s “Bijin-ga” style, surely, these strong feelings from his childhood for his mother and sister are expressed from his heart. That is why Yumeji’s art catches the hearts of many people as well. The memory of the hometown where he spent an impressionable boyhood to the age of 16 put these feelings into his works. Many of his works and poetry depict memories of his youth, such as village festivals and theatricals, and happy times of playing around the camellia trees near the mountain behind his house.

Although there is much evaluation of Yumeji’s art, it is impossible to understand without first getting to know his hometown of Okayama. Many saw Yumeji Takehisa as a simple and kindhearted artist, who had just an ordinary sense without complex ideals and principles. With his tremendous spirit which he nurtured himself, Yumeji created his own uniqueness in his art and was seen as a true Okayama man to his adoring fans.

Celebrating the upcoming 125th anniversary of Yumeji’s birth in September, 2009, we hope you enjoy spending time at our Honkan in Okayama-shi, and Bunkan (Yumeji Seika and Syonen Sansou) in Oku-cho, Setouchi-shi. We greatly appreciate and thank you for all your support.