Artwork Acquisition Policy

The city of Yokosuka started acquiring artworks in 1985. In 1996, the city received a number of donated works from artist Kan’emon Asai and consequently started planning the construction of a museum. Two years later, it received a large number of Rokuro Taniuchi’s Shukan Shincho cover illustrations from the artist’s wife and children. In 1999, the city’s Museum Planification Committee determined that the museum should focus its acquisitions on modern and contemporary paintings, woodblock prints, and sculptures based on the following criteria:

- Artworks by artists linked to Yokosuka or the Miura Peninsula (e.g. artists born or residing in the area)
- Artworks related to Yokosuka or the Miura Peninsula
- Artworks depicting the sea
- Artworks representative of Japanese modern and contemporary art 

The museum was then inaugurated on 28 April 2007 as part of the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of its municipalization. Its collections include around 5,000 Japanese modern and contemporary artworks, consisting mostly of paintings and sculptures.