He worked with the President of Portugal, Mario Soares (1986 - 1996) to bring Japanese art to the country, while also introducing many Portuguese artists to Japan.
While there, he worked with many other prominent Portuguese artists, like João Cutileiro, Pedro Ramos and Manuel Costa Cabral.
In 1986, Niizuma had a full exhibition at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, and even today, two of his sculptures are on permanent display.
Today, over 30 pieces are displayed at the Minoru Niizuma Sculpture Garden located at Berardo’s Bacalhoa Winery-Museum[1] just outside of Lisbon.
His last exhibition was held in Lisbon in July 1998 at Galeria Antiks Design, "4 Japanese Living in Portugal - Nakaoka, Niizuma, Takemoto, Sakamoto", by Zambeze Almeida and Carlos Henrich.
After establishing himself as a prominent sculptor in New York and attending several stone symposiums, Niizuma organized several himself in Japan.