MIMOCA was an unexpected discovery when we arrived in Marugame 丸亀市, a small city on Japan’s Shikoku 四国, to begin our “pilgrimage.” Chris joined IT and her friends to walk a short stretch of the Henro (四国遍路)—a 1,200-year-old, 1,200-kilometer journey that links 88 Buddhist temples and remains one of Japan’s most revered spiritual traditions. We will write about the walk in a series of future posts.
Marugame, in Kagawa Prefecture 香川県 on Shikoku, is best known for its coastal setting on the Seto Inland Sea, its historic castle, and its reputation for producing Marugame uchiwa fans, a centuries-old craft still practiced today. Marugame Udon, a chain of restaurants found in the US, mostly in California, serves Sanuki-style udon 讃岐うどん which is firm and chewy. Kagawa Prefecture is formerly called Sanuki Province.
Enjoy some music while browsing.
The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art 猪熊弦一郎現代美術館 (MIMOCA) sits diagonally across from the city’s main train station, and it’s impossible to miss—its striking design stands out sharply from the surrounding buildings the moment you step outside.
The museum opened in 1991, built to honor Genichiro Inokuma (1902–1993), a Marugame-born painter who studied in Tokyo and Paris and became one of Japan’s leading modern artists.
At the entrance of the museum, visitors will find Genichiro Inokuma’s huge mural and a space with some of the artist’s objects. The building’s facade acts as a natural extention of the adjacent station-front square.
The front of the building facing the station plaza is conceived as a monumental gate. Set deep within this frame, a broad wall of white marble evokes the backdrop of a stage or the screen of a cinema. Displayed here are Inokuma’s works that include sculpture from a series called “Songs of the Shell” and incised reproductions of his line drawings.
The building was designed by architect Yoshio Taniguchi, who later gained global recognition in 2004 for his redesign of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). MIMOCA exemplifies Taniguchi’s restrained style: a low, rectilinear structure that emphasizes proportion, light, and flow.
The exterior is clad in imported black Burlington slate from the United Kingdom, paired with extruded aluminum siding, giving the building a composed and understated presence.
On the sunny day of our visit, the pale veins in the slate seemed to mimic reflections and flares of sunlight glancing off its surface.
Sculpture is integrated into the museum’s grounds and forecourt, reflecting the founders’ intention that MIMOCA be part of the daily life in Marugame.
We walked up a spacious set of external but covered stairs to reach an entrance to the upper floors of the museum and
public ancillary spaces.
Unfortunately, the museum was closed on the day we were there. The museum has a shop, a cafe, a library and an auditorium.
Although the museum is closed, we enjoyed the remarkable external spaces. The architect has managed to avoid sterility and create spaces that feel warmly inviting.
On the third floor, we came upon the Cascade Plaza—a spacious, open area featuring minimalist landscaping and a serene wall of gently cascading water.
The design avoids monumentality, instead inviting visitors into a setting where art can be approached at a human scale.
We hope to return and properly see the interior of the museum and its holdings.