In 1966, my grandfather, Taneji Yamazaki (founder of Yamatane Securities, now SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.), opened this museum, based on his own collection. In 1976, my father, Yamazaki Tomiji, became the museum's second director and worked to broaden and deepen the collection. I have served as its third director since 2007. "It is my wish that not only people who love art but also people with little connection to it thus far will experience the excellence of nihonga," Taneji said. Our museum will continue to implement our founder's vision and to raise awareness of nihonga in the twenty-first century through a variety of programs, including exhibitions, outreach activities, and providing information via the internet.

In 2016, the fiftieth anniversary of our museum's opening, we undertook several new efforts. First, we drew up the basic principles of our museum, putting the spirit we have inherited and our shared values in writing. We added a new symbol mark (designed by Take Satō) to our existing logo, to communicate the brilliance of nihonga more broadly. We also implemented a new award, the Yamatane Museum of Art NIHONGA AWARD: Seed 2016, relaunching the earlier Yamatane Museum of Art Award in a format more suitable to today. We plan to continue carrying out the new awards, to foster seeds of new talent that will carry nihonga on into the future and to make nihonga better known throughout the world.

Culture and art enrich our hearts and lives. Here in the twenty-first century with globalization advancing, we hope that our museum can spread awareness of the fascination of nihonga, a cultural asset unique to Japan, more widely in Japan and overseas and to continue activities of significance for international society. Through a variety of programs, from exhibitions with approachable themes to patient research, we will work to encourage and advance Japanese culture and scholarship.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Yamatane Museum of Art.

Taeko Yamazaki
Director
Yamatane Museum of Art