The National Museum of Modern Art or MOMAT has a collection that features many notable artists from the Meiji period (1868-1912). When it was established in 1952 it became the first national museum of art in Japan. The facility was governed by the Ministry of Education and the architect who designed the building was Kunio Maekawa. After more land was purchased the museum was further expanded and the most recent redesign was done by Yoshiro Taniguchi. Matsukata Kojiro was a successful businessman who sought to collect the scattered ukiyo-e wood block prints from around the world. Approximately 8,000 ukiyo-e prints from his collection are now housed in the National Museum of Modern Art. Other than the permanent exhibits there are temporary exhibitions available to view.
