Thirteen hundred years ago, during the Nara Period (710-94), the town of Kiryu in Gunma Prefecture produced its first silk. It was the start of an industry that by the late 19th and early 20th centuries helped Kiryu become prosperous.

Gunma-farmed silk was processed, spun and shipped all around the world via Kiryu. However, like many industrial towns across rural Japan, Kiryu has since economically suffered. With less demand for silk and fewer job opportunities in general, younger generations have moved to areas in Japan with better prospects. The high-quality textiles Kiryu is renowned for continue to be made, but the town is not the economic powerhouse it once was.

Despite the fact that population continues to age and dwindle, there has been a recent optimistic energy to the area’s residents and shops. Some people who were born and raised in Kiryu, but left it for work or higher education, are moving back. Artists and designers from other areas are also arriving, drawn to the town’s unique textile history.

Kiryu Shinmachi, an architectural preservation district with structures dating back to the late Edo Period (1603-1868) through to the early Showa Era (1926-89), has more than 100 beautiful old buildings that are occupied by many new shops, restaurants and galleries.

Once a month the area becomes awash with visitors to the local antique market at Kiryu Tenmangu Shrine, which sits on the edge of the preservation district. For that day of each month, the town is crowded and busy with visitors, often dressed in kimono, arriving from afar. But, for the rest of time, the city remains relatively quiet.

Among the citizens and organizations who hope to change the shape of the town’s future, is a group of artists centered around the Okawa Museum of Art. The museum, which is celebrating its 30th year, was founded by Eiji Okawa, a Kiryu-born business man and art collector. Its collection focuses on Japanese artists from the Meiji Era (1868-1912) to the present. It also sponsors contemporary artists to create new works, such as its current installation by Nara Yoshitomo and artist Mari Katayama.

Last month, the Okawa Museum of Art held a public talk event in Yurinkan, a beautiful old warehouse that has been turned into an event space, in the Shinmachi area of Kiryu. The topic was “Kiryu’s Future and the Museum,” and around 140 visitors — including Kiryu University students, local artists and members of the public — attended to hear Okawa Museum of Art director Atsushi Tanaka and others in the art industry speak.

“We want to encourage education, community and interest in art, especially with young children,” said Tanaka, who mentioned various challenges the museum faces, including it’s own location.

“We are not an accessible museum, and are located at the top of a hill,” he explained. “Sometimes we do exhibits in buildings across town, but I think we need to do more events that actively encourage community participation.”

The panel also featured Miyako Ishiuchi, a Kiryu-born photographer who recently moved back to the area, Gunma-based artist Mari Katayama and Eriko Osaka, the museum director of the Yokohama Museum of Art.

Osaka, a former artistic director of the Contemporary Arts Center of Art Tower Mito who oversaw a town-wide art project designed to bring locals closer in touch with the Contemporary Arts Center, discussed the benefits of an institution being located in a smaller town.

“The museum can have a closer connection to different kinds of people in the town. You can make have more of an impact on the community,” she said. “I got to know many people in banks, shops and working in commerce in the town. That was very meaningful for the community because they also had new opportunities to communicate with each other.”

Kiryu, explained Osaka, was the ideal size for the Okawa Museum of Art.

Ishiuchi, meanwhile, focused on the role of artists within a community. She mentioned that as a recent returnee to Kiryu she was surprised by how little interaction there was between locals in the community.

“I try to shop at the shōtengai (shopping street) as much as possible. I told my local shopkeepers about today’s event — and other events — but they were not particularly interested in attending,” she said. “I do think it’s important that they know about the museum, and its events, however.”

One audience member mentioned the importance of refocusing as least part of the museum’s efforts on local, younger and more unknown artists, as well as female artists. Tanaka agreed and the museum is planning a group exhibit of some up-and-coming local artists for early next year.

He also discussed the need to encourage a wider range of people to come to the museum and the events the museum sponsors, saying, “Having events in a more places across town is becoming more important.”

The Okawa Museum of Art and Kiryu are representative of hundreds of small museums in small towns across Japan. These towns are rich in local culture and natural beauty and can offer an easier way of life. They still hold potential for perhaps smaller, but still healthy, populations for generations.

In order for the Okawa Museum of Art to stay viable and meaningful, though, the symposium highlighted that it needs not just to adjust to the current circumstances of the town, but to push its art culture and community forward.

For more information about the Okawa Museum of Art, visit okawamuseum.jp.