In 1914, World War Ⅰ broke out. This war brought tremendous benefits to Japan. Through the luck, some businessmen in Japan made a huge amount of money quickly and became lavish spenders in that they enjoyed eat and drink at exclusive restaurants. Surprisingly, some crazy men lit bank notes to shine their feet in the dark before leaving such a restaurant. On the contrary, a businessman in the photo above collected many masterpieces of western paintings by spending a lot of money earned in the business through the lucky period. His name is Kojiro Matsukata. He was a president of ship building company. The collection includes world famous painters like Claude Monet, Lenoir, Gauguin, Picasso, Courbet and so on. Those masterpieces are permanently exhibited, so we are happy to see them. After World War Ⅱ, most of his collection were confiscated by the government of France because of Japan's position of defeated nation. After Japan regained independence in 1952, Japan negotiated with France about returning the collection to Japan. France replied, "Basically yes, but one condition must be required. It is to build a suitable museum to house and exhibit those precious masterpieces. Responding to it, Japan commissioned a famous French architecht, Le Corbusier to design a museum. It was completed in 1959. Since then, we have appreciated his collection. The national museum of western arts is wonderful and a place where we praise a great job of him. 
    

Painted by Claude Monet