The concept of “family” in Japan was shaped by a translation of the English word just as the country was moving into the modern era. This also added value to the “home.” After World War II, due in part to the introduction of home economics education, the ordinary home was recast as a place that was independently related to society. Today, the nature of family and home continue to grow increasingly diverse. While retracing their history and other conditions, this exhibition sets out to question and shed light on the state of family and the home in contemporary Japan.

The exhibition consists of two parts, the first entitled “Collection Highlights,” and the second a Special Feature titled “An Inner LandscapeⅡ: Symbols and Abstractions.”
“Collection Highlights” introduces important works that are representative of the collection, or exemplify its characteristics, from among the approximately 1,600 works the museum has acquired thus far. This edition will feature artists’ endeavors to re-examine traditional concepts of art. Meanwhile, the Special Feature “An Inner Landscape Ⅱ: Symbols and Abstractions” turns attention to the abstract in contemporary art, and shows how artists have depicted the world in “imagined landscapes,” with a focus on postwar Japanese art.