ABOUT THE MUSEUM

UESHIMA MUSEUM is located on the grounds of Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen, the alma mater of UESHIMA COLLECTION owner Kankuro Ueshima. It is highly regarded for its emphasis on international perspective and high ethical standards in education under the fundamental goal of "Seek and Think for Oneself." (“Jicho-Jiko”) The museum’s building, named “Ueshima Tower, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen”, was renovated from the former British School in Tokyo, which was established in 1988 and held its opening ceremony in September of the following year in the presence of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The British School in Tokyo was utilized until August 2023 and was reopened as UESHIMA MUSEUM after renovation.

Museum Director: Kankuro Ueshima
Museum Associate Director: Tetsuji Fuwa
Advisors: Yukie Kamiya, Junya Yamamine
Email: info@ueshima-museum.com

ABOUT "UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION"

UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION is a contemporary art collection curated in Feb 2022 by Kankuro Ueshima, a versatile entrepreneur and investor in Japan. He began his full-scale collection activities ever since.

Ueshima has always been agile and responsive in the concept of "contemporaneity”. He quickly embodies the future and proactively contributes to building a better society. This attitude is one aspect of Ueshima as a forward-thinking businessperson. Since adopting art direction and space design from contemporary artists for one of his businesses, Ueshima was fully inspired by the progressive creation of contemporary art while he promoted creative projects in a wide range of fields, including human resources, IT, medicine, construction, and the investment industry. As a contemporary art collector, he envisions the same path as well.

Therefore, UESHIMA COLLECTION emphasizes the formation of a collection centered on "contemporaneity," including not only artists who strongly evoke a sense of "contemporaneity," but also internationally active artists, artists who have just started their careers, and those who, despite having built an artistic career, have not yet received sufficient recognition. The collection will be exhibited in several spaces, mainly at UESHIMA MUSEUM in Shibuya, Tokyo, and will be open to the public on a regular basis. The museum has open shelves with monographs and exhibition catalogs of the artists in the collection, and for artists without such publications, the museum creates exclusive artist portfolios and other resource files which are also available for free viewing. As an entrepreneur, Ueshima’s collection is displayed not only in a museum, but also in a space that is seamlessly integrated with the business scene, challenging the relationship between art and the real world on a practical level.

Additionally, by disseminating information about the artists and works in the collection in multiple languages (Japanese, English, and Chinese) through its website and social media, the museum aims to serve as a platform to share free thinking about art with more people on a global scale. Beyond online information dissemination, the collection actively engages in lending artworks to educational institutions and external museums, providing opportunities for children to experience art, and creating support opportunities for artists, curators, and critics, hoping to foster a greater interest in contemporary art in Japan.

Whether it is interdisciplinary, economic, or social, artistic expression still has many possibilities beyond everyone's imagination. Knowing art is, in essence, to think about the past, present, and future. Beyond the perspective of owning and preserving valuable artworks, the collection believes that the significance and mission of art collection is to pass on to the next generation a truly unbounded imagination and originality that no one has ever seen before through art.

Through a wide range of activities, UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION aims to curate a collection that stays true to its "contemporaneity", that does not keep artworks in storage, but keeps them alive and moving as they continue to engage with society.

PROFILE

Founder of "UESHIMA MUSEUM COLLECTION", born in Chiba prefecture, Japan in 1979.Graduated from Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Makuhari Senior High School in 1998, then enrolled in the Natural Sciences I at the University of Tokyo. While attending the Faculty of Engineering, he started his own business and has since developed a diversified business as an entrepreneur and investor.

Selected to be "Top 200 Collectors 2024" by ARTnews in US