A long with other great collections accumulated by early industrialists such as the Goto, Seikado Bunko, Mitsui and Nezu museums, the Hatakeyama Memorial Museum of Fine Art is a hidden gem where only the very best is to be seen.
The founder, Issei Hatakeyama (1881-1971), was a renowned tea master and connoisseur of traditional arts who designed and built the present museum in 1964 to house his collection for public benefit. Sited in what was once an old noble's estate near Takanawadai Station not far from the Gotanda district of Tokyo, the museum is a haven of peace where superb artworks can be appreciated at leisure. The only sounds to be heard are that of trickling water in the indoor tea garden and the breeze rustling the ancient pines outside.
Under years of previous directorship, seasonal exhibitions have focused largely on tea-ceremony utensils, but as so many of these objects just beg to be handled and used — so pleasing are they to all the senses — just looking at them in a glass case seemed to leave one feeling slightly less than satisfied. Recently, under new, younger management, the museum has started to present more rounded exhibitions that show other masterpieces from the museum's collection — many not necessarily used in the tea ceremony — in order to appeal to a wider range of art lovers.