[🎨 Exhibition Report] Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art: "Yuji Misu <Living in the Now> The painter pursued the mystery that exists beyond the canvas."

[#318, approx. 3,700 characters, approx. 60 photos]
I visited the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art for the first time to see "Yuji Misu <Living in the Now> The painter pursued the mystery that exists beyond the canvas." Here are my thoughts and review.

▶︎ Conclusion

I visited without any expectations, but it was surprisingly a museum I want to recommend! This is mainly because 1) the simple architecture by Toyo Ito matches the colorful style of | Yuji Misu, 2) the admission fee is cheap at 300 yen, and 3) it has become established as a local community hub. When you come to Kawagoe, in addition to Koedo and Hikawa Shrine, please try visiting the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art as well. 😀

▶︎ Access

To get to the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art, take a bus from Kawagoe Station for 15 minutes and get off at the "Hikawa Jinja-mae" bus stop. From there, it is about a 3-minute walk. I visited on foot after going to the Kawagoe City Art Museum.

Behind Hikawa Shrine, there is a river flowing. If you know that the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art is right near there, I don't think you will get lost. Although many people come to Hikawa Shrine, the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art is located in a place that a first-time visitor would definitely not notice.

▶︎ What is the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art?

✔️ The reason for its establishment

The Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art opened in 2012. The director is the eldest son of the late founder Tomo Kawano, and Yukio Kawano, the Chairman of Yaoko.

The reason for establishing the museum was that the frugal Tomo Kawano, who had no interest in paintings, bought a painting of cosmos by Yuji Misu (size 20). Since then, both parent and child became fans of Yuji Misu and started collecting his works. The construction of the museum was decided as a commemorative project for Yaoko's 120th anniversary (2010).

Since Yaoko's headquarters is in Kawagoe and Yuji Misu's atelier was near the birthplace of Yaoko (Ogawa Town, Saitama Prefecture), it seems the location of the museum was decided to be in Kawagoe. The collection consists only of about 150 works by Yuji Misu. These are being exhibited sequentially.

✔️ Architecture by Toyo Ito

One of the features of the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art is the architecture by Toyo Ito. Toyo Ito was also in charge of designing the Yaoko headquarters building (2018). Incidentally, I was curious that it was only disclosed that Toyo Ito was in charge due to "a chance connection".

I have almost no experience visiting architecture by Toyo Ito. The only one I remember is the Tama Art University Library. I certainly felt something in common between the two in their use of straight and curved lines.

The exterior of the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum is very simple. It is a gray concrete rectangular parallelepiped. It maintains an exquisite balance with the curves of the natural elements (water, plants, and trees) in the garden. At first glance, I also felt a touch of Tadao Ando style.

Also, the interior was simple. It is mainly composed of four 10-meter square (100㎡) rooms. It seems that Toyo Ito designed this after actually seeing Mr. Misu's works.

Each room had a distinct personality. In addition to the characteristic uneven designs depending on the room, the expression created by the light and shadow also differed. Through these, the impression of the works was also strategically altered. By the way, I realized when leaving that those uneven shapes were the origin of the logo (lol).

▶︎ What is Yaoko?

Yaoko is a company that operates businesses such as food supermarkets with annual sales of 736.4 billion yen (fiscal year ending March 2025) (Tokyo Prime: 417A). Its ordinary profit is 32.5 billion yen, and its ordinary profit margin is 4.6%. Its profit level is said to be top-class in the industry (Walmart is also about the same). ROE is 11.6%, which is a relatively high level among Japanese companies.

Founded as "Yaoko Shoten" in Bushu-Ogawa Town, Saitama Prefecture in 1890. In 1958, it converted its business model to a self-service supermarket, which was innovative at the time. That got on track, and it has continued to achieve increased revenue and profit for 36 consecutive terms. The origin of the company name is "Yao (Eight Hundred) Shop" + "Kawano Ko (Lucky) Taro".

There were no Yaoko stores in the regions where I have lived. That is to be expected. The group has 239 stores (Yaoko: 195 stores), and Saitama has the most stores. Incidentally, it is said that they have the top share of supermarkets in Saitama and Chiba Prefectures.

Yaoko's strengths are said to be product development, production area development/direct import, assortment by use/scene, and lifestyle proposals. Their steady efforts rooted in the community must be paying off.

Yaoko transitioned to a holding company structure from October 2025 and became Blue Zone Holdings. It is a relatively simple corporate entity with only seven companies under the holding company. Now that they have transitioned to a holding company structure, are they also aiming for M&A in the future?

Also, it was a bit surprising that they create an integrated report (Japanese/English) despite it being 50 pages in total. I thought it was a booklet that simply conveys their history and strengths. It is easy to read because there is a sense of unity in the design based on the corporate color orange. Due to their continuous growth and high business efficiency, it might be worth investing in Yaoko.

▶︎ Impressions of "Usushi Misu: Living in the Now - The Painter Who Pursued the Mystery Existing Beyond the Canvas."

✔️ Who is Usushi Misu?

Usushi Misu (1927–2010) was born in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture. He won the Yasui Prize for "Aging" (1976), and his works are held by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (the Yaoko Kawagoe Museum of Art also holds his sketches). At the time, he was known as a "master of contemporary realism." In 1982, he moved to Tamagawa Village (now Tokigawa Town) in Hiki District, Saitama Prefecture.

✔️ Exhibition Room 1

There are only two exhibition rooms in total.

All of them were as beautiful as photographs. I felt that his style, which looks like a photo processed with increased contrast and saturation, was characterized by a lustrous quality different from reality.

When I saw "Cosmos," the first piece in the collection, I understood how Tomo Kawano went from being a frugal person to a dilettante. It was a wonderful painting, with vivid colors that seemed to suddenly announce the arrival of autumn from summer in one's heart.

✔️ Exhibition Room 2

In Exhibition Room 2, in contrast to Exhibition Room 1, the center of the ceiling is raised, and soft light from there enveloped the entire room.

Of all the works in this exhibition, 《Autumn Day》 was my favorite. It also looked like a photograph with enhanced vibrancy. Also, if you look closely at Usushi Misu's works, he omits details in some parts. I also felt the unique warmth of Usushi Misu in the subjects, composition, color usage, and matiere of his paintings.

In November, when I visited, it was truly an "Autumn Day" with the autumn leaves in full peak. When I left the museum, the colors of the outside world also felt even more beautiful.

There was another fan of "Autumn Day" like me in the visitor's notebook 😁

✔️ Cafe

A massive 500-gou (size) masterpiece was on display in the cafe. I don't usually think about specific sizes like "this is a size...", but compared to the 20-gou "Cosmos", I felt that the 500-gou "Full Bloom" had a completely different impact.

In the cafe, you can see the flickering light reflected on the water from the open space at your feet, which is very soothing. At the water's edge, various birds use it for bathing, and watching that scene made me feel even more at peace.

It was the perfect size for casually viewing art and chatting with neighbors over tea. The low admission fee is also great (as expected of the supermarket Yaoko).

I felt a harmony between Yuji Misu's style, the community, and the architecture by Toyo Ito. This was something I didn't feel at the Kawagoe City Art Museum, which I visited just before.

▶︎ Summary

What did you think? It was a simple yet memorable museum run by the supermarket chain Yaoko. The architecture, artwork, and community were in harmony, and it was very comfortable. I thought it was a must-visit spot when you come to Kawagoe for sightseeing.

▶︎ Today's Museum Meal