The Suntory Museum was reopened in Tokyo Midtown in 2007 with the goal of providing a comfortable and relaxing space whose underlying tone is that of "Japanese Modernism," uniting Japanese tradition with the modern. The museum continues with its basic principle of "Art in Life," which has been retained since its opening, and now also carries out various projects under a new message for the museum, that of "Art Revisited, Beauty Revealed." This new message incorporates our hope that even more people will experience firsthand the pleasures of discovering and sensing new beauties that transcend time, location, and field.
The Roppongi neighborhood in Tokyo Midtown is one that has many museums and receives many visitors from all over the world. Approaches that take advantage of these local peculiarities and work to revitalize art in the area are also moving ahead. Marking its 50th anniversary, the museum will engage in such activities as collaborations around the neighborhood, education programs for the coming generations, and making contributions to the field of research to accompany the various exhibitions and acquisition activities focused on Japanese art into which it has poured its energies to date.
As people seek out a new vision for the art museum in the 21st century, our goal is to hear what visitors and experts have to say as we strive to create a comfortable museum, an "parlor of the city" that creates feelings through the medium of art and offer space for many people to gather and relax.
- The museum interior, with the underlying tone of "Japanese modern sentiment"
- National Treasure: "Box with Fusenryo design in mother-of-pearl inlay and maki-e"
- Partner shop inside the museum
- Education Program
Suntory Hall was opened in 1986 as the first dedicated concert hall in Tokyo, with the concept that it would provide the world's most beautiful sounds. In the years since, the hall has presented creative, high quality concerts and also implemented various education programs for the coming generations, including a joint program with Carnegie Hall and exchange projects with overseas colleges of music.
As the hall marks its 25th anniversary, we have created two new programs under the theme of "Music Moves our Hearts as One" with the aim of delivering music to an even wider audience and reaffirming the hall's role in creating the history of classical music.
The Suntory Hall Festival scheduled for this autumn will bring together some of the best performers in the world, while the Suntory Hall Chamber Music Garden event set for early summer is designed to transmit the innate pleasures of chamber music and spread and develop the genre further. In addition, we will open a chamber music academy that — together with the Opera Academy (opened in 1993) that has produced singers who perform around the world — will provide young performers with the opportunity to interact with top-flight musicians and gain experience on the stage as professionals.
The Suntory Hall aims to make music into something that is even more firmly rooted in everyday life by continuing to offer programs that are creative and appealing.
- Blue Rose (Small Hall)
- Carnegie Kids 2010
- Vienna Philharmonic Week in Japan 2010
- Pipe organ
The starting point for the cultural activities and contributions to society in which the Suntory Group has continued to engage across the generations has its roots in the spirit of "Sharing the Profit with Society" in which founder Shinjiro Torii believed. This idea holds that the profits earned through business will be useful not just for reinvesting in our business and in services to our customers and clients, but also for contributions to society. At the Suntory Group, we continue on in our founder's spirit of "Sharing the Profit with Society" by engaging in many cultural and social activities in which our employees actively participate.
Given the circumstances during the period in which our founder lived, Torii directed his enthusiasm in particular to charitable activities and social welfare projects for people in underprivileged circumstances.
- Our founder Shinjiro Torii
The first project for contributing to society that founder Shinjiro Torii carried out based on his deep religious beliefs was Hojukai. The Hojukai project began with the opening of Imamiya Clinic in Nishinari Ward, Osaka in 1921, and provided free examinations and medication to the poor. The project continued during the Second World War. After the war, Suntory opened Hojukai dormitories for people who had returned from overseas and needed a place to live, as well as the Akagawa Home for war widows.
Later, seeking to help an even wider range of people, Suntory opened Takadonoen, Osaka's first facility for seniors (1974) as well as the Tsubomi Nursery School (1975), the low-cost Amanoen facility for seniors (1976), and the integrated welfare facility Domyoji Takadonoen (2008). Hojukai has been continuously active now for some 90 years. Today, responding to the increasing diversity in people's lives, it also offers inhome care services, including the provision of care attendants, ambulatory care, and other support for care in the home.
- The Akagawa Day Care Center, inside the Akagawa Home
- Inside Takadonoen and Tsubomi Nursery School operated by the social welfare organization Hojukai
- The integrated welfare facility Domyoji Takadonoen, opened in Osaka prefecture in 2008
Keizo Saji, Suntory's second president, carried on the aims of his predecessor Shinjiro Torii by bringing the spirit of "Sharing the Profit with Society" into the cultural sphere. Saji thought that the job of promoting the arts and scholarship was becoming more important for producing a richness of the spirit in a country that had become materially rich.
On this basis, Suntory has engaged in various cultural activities with the goal of being a company that promotes comfortable living. The company has launched a succession of new projects that include the Suntory Museum of Art, the Suntory Music Foundation, the Suntory Foundation, and the Suntory Hall, and is carrying on projects to the present day with the aim of promoting the arts and scholarship.
- The Suntory Museum of Art moved to Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi) in 2007
The motive for establishing the Suntory Museum of Art came from the profound impression that the art museums of Europe left on the president at that time, Keizo Saji. He came to believe that the Japanese people also needed to protect the art that had been handed down to them from their ancestors and pass it on to future generations.
In contrast with western culture where works of art are meant to be seen and enjoyed, the applied fine arts are a strong point in Japanese art and the culture is such that works of art are made to be things used in ordinary life. Based on the idea of having as many people as possible experience the wonders of traditional Japanese arts, the museum takes "Art in Life" as its theme and, as an art museum that has no standing exhibitions, focuses on exhibition planning and presentation methods. The works that the museum began to collect soon after its founding today constitute a 3,000-piece collection that includes one National Treasure and 12 Important Cultural Properties. With the 50th anniversary serving as a good opportunity, the museum is engaged in various projects based on its message of "Art Revisited, Beauty Revealed" and constantly strives to present a new and interesting face to visitors.
- The Summer Festival held by the Suntory Foundation for Arts
Suntory celebrated its 70th anniversary in 1969 by establishing the Suntory Music Foundation. The Foundation's purpose was to develop Western music in Japan. The Foundation has created three awards—the Suntory Music Award, the Keizo Saji Prize, and the Akutagawa Award for Music Composition—to honor individuals and groups who have made remarkable achievements in the world of classical music. One of the major features of these awards is that not only are the recipients honored, but the Foundation also provides a lively place for them to hold commemorative concerts to introduce some of their accomplishments and commission new works. In addition to bestowing public honors, the Foundation is engaged in a wide range of other activities including projects and publishing with the goal of promoting the work of Japanese composers. Beginning in 2009, through its Music Business Division, the Suntory Foundation for Arts works to contribute to the development of the classical music world and the improvement of culture.
- The 32nd Suntory Prize for Community Cultural Activities presented by the Suntory Foundation
The Suntory Foundation was established in 1979 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the company. Its goal is to nurture people and support international and scholarly research related to society and culture, as well as to contribute to the development of Japanese and world scholarship and culture. The motive for establishing the foundation lay in the need to improve the ability of people working in the humanities and social sciences in Japan to disseminate information about the work, at a time when internationalization was becoming an issue in Japan. The Suntory Prize for Social Sciences and Humanities awarded to young researchers and the Suntory Prize for Community Cultural Activities awarded for activities that contribute to community development through culture have been well received as projects unique to the Foundation and have honored many individuals to date. The Foundation also works to promote research and publications abroad related to the humanities and social sciences, and carries out surveys and research itself. The Foundation will continue contributing to the development of scholarship and culture in coming generations.
- Finale of the gala concert
The Suntory Hall was opened in 1986 in response to calls from people in the music world for the Japanese music world to have a dedicated concert hall with good sound. Two aspects of the hall were groundbreaking developments at the time. One was the scrupulous attention paid to sound, with the goal of creating a dedicated concert hall that offered the most beautiful sounds in the world. A "vineyard" style hall was employed—a first for Japan—that made it possible for both performers and listeners to share a musical experience overflowing with a unified ambience. Second is that the hall introduced services for people to enjoy before the performance and during intermissions, based on the idea that Suntory wanted to implant in Japan the culture of enjoying a concert itself. The hall also offered receptionists who would guide concertgoers and cloakroom and bar services, and created new pleasures as a space for adults to meet socially.
The hall also holds performances of original programs in its role as a base for providing information about music. The hall takes on projects with a global perspective, as seen in its partnership with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and its collaboration with Carnegie Hall on an education program.
Since its opening 25 years ago, the hall has welcomed performers from around the world on a daily basis, offering in this time around 14,000 performances heard by more than 14 million people.
Based on the spirit of "Sharing the Profit with Society," since the company's founding, at the Suntory Group we have carried out a variety of cultural activities and made contributions to society that range from social welfare activities to promotion activities for the arts, scholarships, and sports. To contribute to the development of comfortable living, we think it is necessary to respond to what the times call for; efforts are also needed to get things across more easily and more interestingly so that even greater numbers of people will take pleasure in the arts. Nurturing the children who represent the coming generation and collaborating with local communities is also becoming increasingly important. The Suntory Group will continue to carry on the spirit of "Sharing the Profit with Society," aim toward creating a truly affluent society, and engage in a variety of cultural activities to contribute to society.
