The collapse of the Sasago Tunnel in Yamanashi Prefecture three weeks ago put a spotlight on the state of Japan's infrastructure, and how many of the bridges and tunnels that were built during the period of rapid economic development in the 1970s and '80s have not received proper maintenance. Much of Japan's art-world "infrastructure" was built during that time, too, but the good news is that efforts to update Japan's museums have been going on for a while now, and in 2012 some of the fruits of those labors became apparent.

The most visible change was at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno, which reopened in April after a massive, two-year renovation.

The renovation was impressive not just for what it did, but for what it didn't do, which is destroy the charm of its original building — a deceptively low-profile series of red-tile-clad rectangular prisms built in 1975 by Kunio Maekawa, a Le Corbusier pupil and one of Japan's most famous modernist architects. Nevertheless, the renovation allowed for an increase in the ceiling height of the main galleries from 3.2 meters to 4.5 meters. It also enabled the creation of three brand-new restaurants, a doubling in the size of the museum shop and more.