Kōjirō Matsukata

Kōjirō Matsukata was a Japanese businessman who, in parallel to his professional activities, devoted his life and fortune to amassing a collection of Western art which, he hoped, would become the nucleus of a Japanese national museum focused particularly on masterworks of the Western art tradition. Although his plans were not realized in his lifetime, his vision is partly realized in Japan's National Museum of Western Art (NMWA) in Ueno Park, central Tokyo. where part of his collection is exhibited.