Article

Maiko Muraoka
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MIMOCA, the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, was established in 1991 through the collaboration of Marugame and painter Genichiro Inokuma. The large, white canvas-like fa-cade immediately catches one’s eye upon exiting Marugame Station. Each of the three floors is accessible via exterior or interior staircases, and the layout is spacious. It also features wide spaces that are available for free use, including a library and indoor and outdoor public areas. This openness makes contemporary art feel accessible to anyone.

The construction of the museum was part of a project commemorating the 90th anniversary of the city of Marugame. In the 1980s, Kagawa Prefecture was advancing several major infrastructure and urban devel-opment projects prior to the opening of the Seto Ohashi Bridge connecting Okayama and Kagawa prefec-tures. Maru-game was also moving forward with redevelopment plans around Marugame Station and other initiatives.
Marugame Castle, with over 400 years of history and the highest stone walls in Japan, has long been the city’s symbol and pride. However, city officials thought that having a new cultural facility, in addition to the historic site, would make Marugame more comfortable and attractive to young people who would shape the city’s future.
As discussions about constructing a museum gained traction, so did the idea of giving the museum a dis-tinctive identity by showcasing the works of Genichiro Inokuma, an internationally renowned contempo-rary artist who was originally from the region.

A work of art

Inokuma insisted that the entire museum space should present itself as a work of art. To achieve this, In-okuma appointed architect Yoshio Taniguchi. As highlighted in Expo Inokuma, a MIMOCA exhibition (held from Apr. 12 to July 6, as part of the Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 initiative by the Agency for Cultural Affairs to promote Japanese culture and arts), Inokuma actively engaged in collaborations with various prominent artists and architects, including Taniguchi.

Taniguchi is a world-renowned architect known for designing the expansion of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Koichi Nakata, the artistic director and chief curator of MIMOCA, noted that the MI-MOCA building showcases Taniguchi’s commitment to detail. For example, many areas of the museum are paved with large, square stone tiles with vertical and horizontal joints that are all perfectly aligned with no irregularities, appearing as if a grid pattern were drawn three-dimensionally on all surfaces. Highlighting this astonishing precision, Nakata said, “This embodies Taniguchi’s philosophy of eliminating visual noise so viewers can focus solely on artworks.”
The stone used is a dark, natural slate. “Thirty years ago, when the building was completed, it was almost pitch black. But over time, the minerals have oxidized, causing some parts to turn grayish, with natural patterns emerging,” Nakata said.
If any of the exterior tiles were to crack in the future and be replaced with new ones, there would be patches of darker colors, distracting visitors’ eyes from the design of the architecture. “To prevent this, Taniguchi deliberately left spare slate tiles exposed on the rooftop after the construction was completed. This natural aging will ensure that if the tiles are needed for repair decades later, the finish will be seam-less and natural,” Nakata said.
Another key feature of this building is its effective incorporation of natural light. “Traditional museums focus on how to protect artworks from external factors like natural light, but this building took the exact opposite approach.” Some of the museum’s exhibition rooms have glass walls and high ceilings with re-tractable louvers. It was Inokuma’s intention to create openness and spaciousness by allowing abundant natural light to come in.

The massive mural adorning the facade, measuring approximately 12 meters high and 22 meters wide, was designed by Inokuma. It was created using a stone inlay technique. The white base stone tiles were carved exactly according to the design, which features horses and vehicles, and black stone was embedded into the grooves. Even details like the ink blots and intentionally distorted or misaligned lines were precisely crafted based on the design. The work of the highly skilled stonemasons is worth close examination.
“If the wall had been painted, it would have required restoration in less than 30 years,” Nakata said. Thanks to this incredibly time-consuming and highly technical but extremely durable method, the mural remains as pristine as when it was first completed.
The friendly and playful design of the mural embodies Inokuma’s wish for children to think, “I could draw that too,” and to feel closer to and welcomed by the museum and art.
According to a booklet published in 2021 commemorating the 30th anniversary of the museum (which re-counts the story of the museum’s establishment and memories of Inokuma), when parts of the mural be-came visible during construction, the city hall received numerous calls from citizens reporting that some-one had already graffitied the wall.
Inokuma received the news and burst into laughter, declaring, “It’s a huge success!”

Accessible to everyone

Inokuma also had a strong desire “to do something for the young people and children of his hometown.” He deeply resonated with the vision of the then-Mayor of Marugame Shigetoshi Horiie to build the mu-seum right in front of the station, offered to donate approximately 20,000 of his own works and pledged his full cooperation in establishing the museum.

According to Nakata, the downtown location directly in front of the station was pioneering because “most museums in Japan at the time were built in suburban areas with a lot of greenery.”
For Inokuma, who had lived in New York for many years, having a museum in the heart of the city was perfectly natural. He also believed that a museum should not be a formal place that requires visitors to straighten up, but rather a place where people can casually drop by to receive fresh inspiration from art and feel their spirits lifted. For this, a location near the station, easily accessible to everyone, was essen-tial.
\To make the museum even more accessible to children, admission is free for those of high school age and younger. Supporting children’s creative activities has been an integral part of the museum since its open-ing, and inside the building the Creative Studio offers workshops and hands-on experiences.
As part of activities collectively called Kodomo MIMOCA (children’s MIMOCA), the museum started the full-scale implementation of a school program in April, following two years of pilot testing. This program invites all third-grade students from elementary schools in the city, including those on remote islands, to visit the museum.
“Only three schools are close enough for children to walk here, while students from the other 14 schools need to take a ferry or bus. We not only arrange transportation for the students, but also offer activities like exploring the entire museum in addition to viewing the artworks. It could be the first museum experi-ence for many children, so we want to make it meaningful and enjoyable,” Nakata said.
He emphasized the importance of continuing this kind of project for a long period of time to sow and grow the seeds of culture.
“If we continue this for 20 years, most of the adults who spent their childhood in Marugame will have vis-ited the museum,” he said.
The museum’s many efforts to provide children with quality art experiences are beginning to bear fruit. Nakata said that some of the children who had their first museum experience at MIMOCA started visiting the museum repeatedly when they were older. “Some went on to study art, art history or aesthetics at uni-versity. Some even became curators at this museum or other museums in Tokyo and other parts of Japan after completing internship programs here,” he said.
Inokuma’s commitment to fostering children’s imagination is also reflected in the museum’s name and ex-hibitions. While museums named after artists often use the term “memorial museum,” Inokuma insisted it be named a “museum of contemporary art” based on his strong desire to constantly expose people, espe-cially children, to the latest contemporary art and new forms of expression.

Always something new

True to its name, MIMOCA continuously holds special exhibitions of diverse contemporary art from Japan and abroad alongside its permanent collection of Inokuma’s works. With each new special exhibition, the museum also changes the contents of the permanent exhibition, selecting works from the Inokuma collec-tion that relate to the special exhibition.
Nakata explained that the museum embraces a broad definition of contemporary art, encompassing art-forms from design and architecture to fashion and music. MIMOCA’s next special exhibition will feature Canadian artist Janet Cardiff, who creates sound installations.
To exhibit Cardiff’s work in Japan, four contemporary art museums across the country, including MI-MOCA, collaborated to transport her work. “It’s an effort to share the burden of soaring transportation costs to keep the ‘window to the world’ open,” Nakata said.
He also stated that this approach will offer a new way of enjoying her sound installation, by comparing how the sound resonates in each of the distinct architectural spaces of the four museums.
Marugame is a city rich in history and culture, featuring Marugame Castle and traditional crafts like the Marugame *uchiwa* fan, as well as contemporary art that connects the region and the world. “We hope many people, both domestic and international, will visit MIMOCA and our city,” Nakata said.

Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art

Opened in 1991, the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi. The museum houses around 20,000 works by Genichiro Inokuma, donated by the artist himself, and hosts special contemporary art exhibitions, workshops and other events, with a particular commitment to children’s free admission and creative education.

Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. [No admittance after 5:30 p.m., closed on Mondays]*
Venue: 80-1 Hama-machi, Marugame, Kagawa Prefecture
Admission: ¥300 for general admission, ¥200 for college students. Children under 18, Marugame residents age 65 and over and all visitors with a physical disability certificate are admitted free.**

*The museum may also close during the New Year holidays or between exhibitions. When a regular clos-ing day falls on a national holiday, the museum may open on that day and close on a nearby weekday in-stead.
**The admission fees listed here are for permanent exhibitions. Special exhibitions require a separate fee, which varies by exhibition. Please check the MIMOCA’s official website for the most accurate and up-to-date information.

Special exhibition: Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet
Dates: Through Feb. 15, 2026
Admission: ¥1,500 for general admission, ¥1,000 for college students
Information: https://www.mimoca.jp/en/exhibitions/janetcardiff1213/