Kawasaki's involvement in the art collection was similar to the reasoning behind his involvement in the shipbuilding business, which was based on the nationalism of people who lived in the Meiji Period, and that is to say Japanese traditional arts were exported to art collectors in Europe and the United States which left very few masterpieces to be admired in Japan after the Meiji Restoration.
川崎の美術蒐集は、彼の造船業への参入の動機と同じように、明治時代に生きた人間らしいナショナリズムに基づくもので、すなわち明治維新後には日本の伝統的な美術品は欧米の美術愛好者のために輸出されることが多くなり、多くの名品が日本で見られなくなる状態が出現しつつあった。