The Otsuka Museum of Art is a "Ceramic board masterpiece art museum" with the largest exhibition space in Japan (total floor of 29,412 square meters), built to commemorate the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Group’s 75th anniversary in Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture. Inside, there are more than 1,000 replicas of priceless masterpieces of Western art selected by a committee of 6, from ancient murals to modern paintings, and collection from more than 190 art museums in 25 countries worldwide. These masterpieces are reproduced to their original size using special techniques by the Otsuka Ohmi Ceramics Co., Ltd. Unlike the paintings in art books or textbooks, visitors will able to appreciate the true artistic value of the original works, and experience art museums of the world while being in Japan.
Furthermore, while the original masterpieces cannot escape the damaging effects of today’s pollution, earthquakes and fire, the ceramic reproductions can maintain their color and shape for over 2,000 years, and this is a large contribution in the nature of preserving the history of cultural treasures. This is a groundbreaking experiment where we have reproduced ″Guernica,″ which can no longer be moved, and El Greco’s high altar panels, which have been dispersed during war. We received many endorsements and compliments from Picasso's son, Miro’s grandchildren and art museum curators from all over the world who came to check the quality of these 1,000 works. The Otsuka Museum of Art can be considered as the world’s first and only ceramic art museum, both technically and philosophically.
Ichiro Otsuka Director General, Otsuka Museum of Art
Over 1,000 pieces of Western masterpieces ceramic board replicas displayed in the Otsuka Museum of Art are selected by 6 renowned art historians including Masanori Aoyagi, Vice President of the Tokyo University (March 1998 – ).