Shiraki Midori, who co-authored a recent Nihon Keizai Shimbun survey of 134 major public museums writes about the problems facing musuems in Japan today.   Many musuems lack the finances to maintain their collections, and are faced with further government cutbacks based on their performance.  The administration seems to have the view that "good musuems" attract many visitors, not taking into account quality exhibits and research.  He decided to rank Japan's museums based on three criteria:  Liberal arts/planning, local contribution, and management.  The highest rank went to six museums, including the Yokohama Musuem of Art, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art and the Tokyo Metroplitan Museum of Photography.   The author finds that museums have not adequately explained their mission and the significance of their acitivies to the public, and should work on strengthening their ties with the community.