Tenshin Memorial Museum of Art was named after Okakura Tenshin (aka Okakura Kakuzo 1863–1913 岡倉天心/覚三), a famous art scholar and advocate of Japanese art, especially Nihonga paintings.

In 1890, he was one of the founders and the first de facto dean of the forerunner of the Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai), one of Japan's most prominent art universities.