The financial success he enjoyed in the early part of the century was later affected adversely by economic downturns in the 1920s and 1930s; but much of his art collection remained intact despite the collapse of his business interests.

[1] Matsukata lived in the United Kingdom in London at Queen Anne's Mansions from 1916 until November 1918 based in the Suzuki and Co. offices, he frequented the Japanese Club (Nihonjin Kai) where he met with artists, dealers and collectors in the Japanese community such as Sadajirō Yamanaka, Ishibashi Kazunori and Frank Brangwyn; first at Leicester Square and later Cavendish Square; where he spent £2000 to help remodel the club building in 1918.

[4] Matsukata invested his significant personal fortune in the acquisition of several thousand examples of Western painting, sculpture and decorative arts.

[8] The remaining objects in the Matsukata collection totaled 370 works, including 196 paintings, 80 drawings, 26 prints and 63 sculptures—including massive public statuary by Rodin which now grace the landscaped area in front of the entrance to NMWA.

[8] In fact, as it happens, Matsukata was the one who paid for the best Rodin castings in France today, but he didn't quite manage to bring them back to Japan,[9] which is how they fell into French hands at the end of World War II.

These artworks, designated as the Matsukata Collection, were returned by France to Japan in 1959, which led to the opening of the National Museum of Western Art.