As reported in Japanese Art Scene Monitor, Japanese museum goers are being treated to two major openings, as Osaka’s National Museum of Art relocates and Nagasaki plans to open a new art museum in April 2005. The Osaka National Museum of Art reopened at a new location in November. Previously, the museum has been located a thirty minute train ride out of the city, but deterioration of the original building plus falling visitor numbers has prompted a move. Now, the Museum is situated in the cultural enclave of Nakanoshima. Predominantly subterranean, its cavernous galleries total 4,153 square metres in area, with art from Joan Miro and Alexander Calder among others. The relocation has been accompanied by a re-branding of the museum, and also a broadening in collection parameters. Formerly, the collection had been focussed on international contemporary art, but this will now expand to include art from all ages. To celebrate the relocation, the museum will host a an exhibition featuring over one hundred and fifty works by Marcel Duchamp and post WWII artists who have been inspired by him. Meanwhile, the construction of Nagasaki’s Prefectural Art Museum is proceeding on schedule for its opening in April 2005. The museum, being built in Nagasaki's Joban-Dejima district, aims to make art accessible to the relatively isolated region’s public, and also to house the Suma collection. Assembled between 1940 and 1946 by Yakichiro Suma, a diplomat based in Spain, the Collection now numbers over 500 pieces, including Picasso's Still Life with a Pigeon from 1941. The museum will also be equipped with a studio for international artists-in-residence, and it will have a strong focus on public programs. In addition to exhibitions, there are plans to feature music concerts, educational activities, opening hours until 8pm every night. For more information about the National Museum of Art in Osaka, please Click Here To read more about the Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum (in Japanese), visit http://www.nagasaki-museum.jp/ To visit Japanese Art Scene Monitor, Click Here