The museum is the third museum established to house the art collection of Mokichi Okada, the founder of the Church of World Messianity (世界救世教, Sekai Kyūseikyō), and was founded in 1982.

The collection of the museum consists of approximately 3,500 works of art that include three National Treasures (Red and White Plum Blossoms screen by Ogata Kōrin, Nonomura Ninsei’s Tea-leaf Jar with design or wisteria, and a Calligraphy Album “Tekagami Kanboku-jo” which is an album of ancient calligraphy from the Nara to Muromachi periods), as well as 67 Important Cultural Properties and 46 Important Art Objects (重要美術品, Jūyō bijutsuhin).

[2] The museum owns three masterpieces of gorgeous, long and "extremely colorful" ("gokusaishiki") emakimono (picture scrolls), Yamanaka Tokiwa Monogatari Emaki (山中常盤物語絵巻), Jōruri Monogatari Emaki (浄瑠璃物語絵巻), and Horie Monogatari Emaki (堀江物語絵巻), which were created by Iwasa Matabei and his workshop based on the text of jōruri (traditional Japanese narrative music).

Jōruri Monogatari depicts a romantic story involving Ushiwaka.

[3] The museum also has a reconstruction of the 16th century Golden Tea Room, which was made under the supervision of the architect Sutemi Horiguchi, an expert of sukiya architecture.