Wakayama is known as the “Emigrant Prefecture” with the 6th most emigrants overseas.
They moved to America, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and others.
Their Wakayama descendants still live in these countries.

Most of their ancestors went overseas for new job opportunities.
Some pursued a career as artists,
and those in the United States were engaged in the history of American Art,
many of whom left their footprints on American soil.

In relation to the history of Wakayama Prefecture,
The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama (MOMAW) researches and collects
the works of pre-war artists who went to America.

The prefecture is also home to research institutes other than MOMAW,
which conduct research on emigrants’ history from various perspectives.

We have inherited the history and research accumulated
and have identified two challenges that lead to the next stage of the study.

One is to integrate the researches in Wakayama
and disseminate them in and outside Japan.
This requires collaboration between research institutions within the prefecture.

The other is to examine the history of the Japanese diaspora or Nikkei,
from both the emigration (sender) and immigration (receiver) perspectives.
Therefore, we have started joint research with
The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) in America,
which represents the American side of the study.

This website is aimed to be a hub for spreading such activities sustainably.
To share the past and current researches on migration with the wider public
and to connect such sharing to the future,
five perspectives have been set:
History, Art, Research, Education, and Collaboration.

One by one, we will develop this platform that shares different views of people
while reflecting on the historical phenomenon called “migration.”

This website is a part of the outcome of
Programs for Promoting International Exchange for Museums, FY 2022
adopted and commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs,
and will be continued by MOMAW.

Opened in February, 2023

Executive Committee for International Exchange Programs on Migration Studies in Wakayama
administrated by the Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama

  

 

Programs for Promoting International Exchange for Museums, FY 2022, adopted and commissioned by the Agency for Cultural Affairs

 

About the Logo

 

 

The orange lines represent the initials “A” and “M” of our “Art and Migration” website, symbolizing the ocean that Japanese emigrants crossed to the new world and the various waves they experienced, and reflecting our work of looking back and writing down their stories as history.

Designer：Hiroyoshi Suzuki