Kumanokodo Nakahechi
Museum of Art
Tanabe City Museum of Art Annex

Admission

Wakayama Region

Open Hours
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Entry until 4:30)
Closed Days
Every Monday, except national holidays or substitute holidays.
The day after each national holiday. December 28 to January 4.
(There are occasional unscheduled closings for exhibition changes.)
Admission Fee ¥260
* Students and children under 19: Free of charge* Group of 20 or more: ¥200 per adult* The fee may be higher for special exhibitions.
Parking is available free of charge at the museum.
ParkingAccess◎Ryujin Bus bound for Hongu Taisha
from JR Kii-Tanabe Station to the Nakahechi Bijutsukan bus Stop.
◎Kumano Kodo Express Bus (Meiko Bus line)from Nanki-Shirahama Airport, JR Kii-Tanabe Station or
JR Shingu Station, to the Nakahechi Bijutsukan bus Stop.
By Car: About 60 minutes from JR Kii-Tanabe Station.
About 90 minutes from Nanki-Shirahama Airport.
About 90 minutes from JR Shingu Station.

Tanabe City Museum of Art Annex

Kumanokodo Nakahechi Museum of Art
891 Chikatsuyu, Nakahechi-cho, Tanabe, Wakayama 646-1402

The Kumanokodo Nakahechi Museum of Art was the ﬁrst art museum designed by theinternationally prominent architectural ﬁrm SANAA.
Designed from the concepts of presenting art in a new kind of space creating a space forinteraction through art, it opened in 1998 as the Nakahechi Municipal Museum of Art.
In 2005, in connection with a merger of municipalities, it was relaunched as an annex ofthe Tanabe City Museum of Art.

Design Architecture
Supervision
Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa SANAA
Construction
O.R.S. Oﬃce
FixturesES Associates
Electrical Systems Nichiei Architects
Site Area
4567.48 m2
Building Area
752.30 m2
Floor Area752.30 m2
Oﬃce
Reception

Entrance

Rest room

Service Entrance

Storage

Exhibition RoomInteraction Space

Banka NONAGASE

Ryoun WATASE

Born as Hiroʼo NONAGASE, in what is now
Chikatsuyu in Nakahechi-cho, Tanabe.
Went to Osaka at age 14 to study withRogetsu NAKAGAWA, and took the professionalname Roshu. Moved to Kyoto in 1907 to study
with Kokyo TANIGUCHI. Enrolled in the ﬁrst classat the newly established Kyoto City University of
the Arts in 1909, taking the professional nameBanka at about that time.
His classmates included Bakusen TSUCHIDA,
Chikkyo ONO, Shiho SAKIKIBARA and Kagaku
MURAKAMI. Awarded the third prize at the 16thShinko Bijitsu-in exhibition in 1911.
Cofounded the Kokugasousaku-Kyokai in1918, together with four of his university
classmates, and organized its exhibitions. Noted
for numerous works that recast the expressive
style of Nihonga, culminating in paintings
shown at the 6th Kokugasousaku-Kyokai
exhibition in 1927, after which he parted fromthe established art scene.
From 1930 he made several trips to China, andexhibited sketches from his travels. In 1946 hejoined with artists and poets he encounteredduring wartime evacuation in Nagano
Prefecture, to form the Hakuensha movement,
and remained active in Nagano.

Born as Yukishige WATASE in Nagano Prefecture
where his father worked, but considered his
hometown to be what is now Nonaka inNakahechi-cho, Tanabe.
Trained from age 7 in Nanga(ClassicalChinese-style painting), and took the professionalname Ryoun at age 12. Active in Wakayama
Prefecture for seven years from 1924, studying
during that time under Seisho FUKUDA.
Moved to Kyoto in 1930, where he showed
paintings in the Nihon Nanga-in and TeikokuBijutsu-in exhibitions.
Became well known after the painting “Saiso,”which was shown in the 1933 Teikoku Bijutsu-in,
won the admiration of German architect Bruno
Taut, who reproduced it in one of his publisheddiaries about Japan.
Traveled in China and Europe, painting andorganizing exhibitions. Spent a year in the UnitedStates from 1958, holding solo exhibitions invarious locations and actively spreadingawareness of the Nanga.
In 1973, served as vice-president and exhibition
judge of the Nihon Nanga-in, and received adistinguished service award from Wakayama
Prefecture.

(1889-1964)(1904 - 1980)“Season of Fresh Growth” (c. 1918)“Early Autumn in Kasugano” (1952)

MachineryRoom