Our unique collection is based on three main areas of interest: "Art of Southern Hokkaido", "Calligraphy and Oriental art", and "Contemporary art on the theme of letters and symbols". A total number of works is 2336, which includes 402 works belonging to the city of Hakodate. (As of March 2021)

Donan (Southern Hokkaido) is one of the regions in Hokkaido where culture has flourished from the earliest time. We collect works of highly recognized Donan artists in each genre, from modern to contemporary times, to show the region’s history through our collection.

Japanese-style Painting:
Kodama Teiryo, Kakizaki Hakyo, Noda Kyuho, Yamaguchi Hōshun, Kitagami Seigyu

Oil Painting/Printmaking:
Yokoyama Matsusaburō, Tanabe Miematsu, Yamamoto Yukio, Ikegaya Torakazu, Hasegawa Rinjiro, Hayase Tatsue, Kunimatsu Noboru, Iwafune Shuzo,  Hashimoto Saburo, Hukai Katsumi, Maeda Masao

In addition to our main focus on works by distinguished Japanese calligrapher Kaneko Otei from Matsumae (1906 - 2001), we collect other Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, as well as artifacts from the East Asian, to add to Kaneko's own private collection.

Calligraphy
Kaneko Otei, Hidai Tenrai, Nakano Etsunan, Kuwahara Suihou, Murakami Santo, Nakajima Sogyu, Kaneko Takayoshi

To complement our calligraphy acquisitions, we also collect outstanding works by contemporary artists whose practice is concerned with letters, characters and symbols.

Shinoda Toko, Araki Takako, Mishima Kimiyo, Kawara On, Takamatsu Jiro, Hirabayashi Kaoru, Georges Mathieu, Andy Warhol, Joseph Kosuth, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger