The Tōyama Memorial Museum, nestling quietly in the rural scenery, is housed in buildings originally constructed by the founder of Nikko Securities, Gen-ichi Tōyama (1890–1972), as a home for his mother, Mii (1866–1948). In recognition of the hardships she had overcome, Gen-ichi reconstructed the house in which he had been born, but which the family had been forced to leave while he was still young.
This traditional Japanese house, consisting of a gatehouse and three wings connected by corridors, was designed by Sōshichi Muro’oka and constructed over the course of two years and seven months, being completed in 1936.
After Mii’s death, it was mainly used by Gen-ichi to entertain guests, but in 1968 it was transferred to the Toyama Memorial Museum Foundation, to preserve the buildings and display Gen-ichi’s art collection to a wide audience. The museum opened in 1970, and in 2013 the Foundation was recognized as a Public Interest Foundation.

Modern Japanese Painting: From Gaho Hashimoto to Taikan Yokoyama