The long‑awaited Kawaguchi Museum of Art (MOA) 川口市立美術館 will officially open its doors in September 2026, bringing a fresh cultural landmark to the west side of Kawaguchi Station. Construction is already complete, and the building’s striking geometric form has been visible from the station deck since late 2025. You may have noticed on the event roundup posts that they have also been having pre-open exhibitions for the last few months. According to local reporting, the museum had its “completion ceremony” in January, followed by a careful “drying off period” to stabilize the interior environment before artworks were installed. The museum will open with a commemorative exhibition featuring artists connected to Kawaguchi, marking the beginning of a new cultural chapter for the city.
Kawaguchi Museum of Art (Kawaguchi MOA / 川口市立美術館)
Located near JR Kawaguchi Station, the museum sits between the station and the park, designed to blend seamlessly with the natural slope of the land and surrounded by greenery. The total floor area is 11,184.78㎡ and it has five floors: B2F, B1F, 1F, 2F, RF. The central atrium, on the second floor, acts as a public “living room” and they also aim for smooth circulation; park → museum → Lilia.
The museum by floor
1st Floor
- Exhibition Hall; large space with movable walls
- Gallery; corridor-like exhibition space
- Library; visitors can browse materials and documents
2nd Floor
- Atrium; Floor tiles made with copper powder from Kawaguchi foundries
- Exhibition Room 1
- Exhibition Room 2
- Multipurpose Room
- Restaurant
- Museum Shop
With its thoughtful design, flexible exhibition spaces, and a welcoming atrium, the Kawaguchi Museum of Art is set to become a cultural anchor for the city. The opening exhibition celebrating artists connected to Kawaguchi will be a fitting start to this new chapter;
Exhibitions
The Kawaguchi Art Museum will open with a major commemorative exhibition by photographer and filmmaker Mika Ninagawa, whose creative roots trace back to Kawaguchi, the city where she spent part of her childhood and where her father, theatre director Yukio Ninagawa, was born.
Opening Exhibition: “Mika Ninagawa – Light at the Beginning”
The exhibition, titled “Light at the Beginning” 「蜷川実花展 はじまりの光」, explores the artist’s earliest memories and the sensory world that shaped her visual language. Rather than her recent large‑scale installations, this exhibition returns to the core of her practice: photography, interwoven with film pieces and deeply personal family archives. It is presented as a journey back to the “origin of her sensibility,” revealing how childhood impressions; vivid lights, festival scenes, and the blurred boundary between reality and imagination, became the foundation of her artistic voice.
The exhibition unfolds across two chapters. The first features her monochrome self‑portraits, a body of work she has continued for nearly 30 years, alongside emotionally charged pieces such as 『うつくしい日々』, documenting the final months of her father’s life. These works examine how fleeting moments as well as fragile light can hold entire worlds of memory and meaning. . The second chapter shifts toward family history. For example, the relocation of Yukio Ninagawa’s study, quilts by her mother Hiroko Ninagawa, and the newly unveiled series 『First Light』, created by re‑photographing her parents’ old albums. Together, these pieces form an intimate space where personal memory, artistic identity, and the city of Kawaguchi converge, making this exhibition a fitting beginning for the museum’s grand opening.
📅from Saturday September 12th to Sunday November 29th 2026
Museum Information
Museum: Kawaguchi Museum of Art / Kawaguchi MOA / 川口市立美術館
Address: 3 Chome-1-2 Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0015. View on Google Maps.
Hours: from 10 am to 6 pm, Tuesday to Sundays. Closed on Mondays, except on public holidays – in that case they close the following non-holiday day. That’s usually a Tuesday. However, in September it will September 24th as the 21st to 23rd are all public holidays for Silver Week.
Admission: Tickets are cheaper when bought in advance; General – 1,800 yen. University students – 1,300 yen, High school students – 800 yen. Add 200 yen for same day prices. Junior high school & younger – Free.
Access: the MOA is about a two minute walk from the west exit of JR Kawaguchi Station.
川口市立美術館 グランドオープン, official website.
Other museums in Saitama Prefecture.
All images from the official press release.
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