If you are wondering what to see on your trip to Japan... go see art!
Japan is dotted with art spots in a variety of locations.
Of course, there are many art museums in Tokyo, but there are also many museums and other facilities outside of Tokyo where you can experience art on a larger scale. Be sure to add them to your list of spots to stop by on your next trip.
1) Naoshima (Kagawa)
Naoshima is a small island with a population of about 3,000, located about 15 minutes by ferry from Uno Port in Okayama Prefecture.
In fact, this small island in the Seto Inland Sea is the main spot for the Setouchi International Art Festival, a world-class art event held every three years.
Naoshima has an abundance of art museums and other permanently installed art spots, so you can visit any time of the year!
Kanko Travel official website
Mediterranean Art Museum
The Chichu Art Museum was designed by the world-famous ANDO, Tadao Ando.
Works by famous world masters such as Claude Monet, James Turrell, and Walter de Maria have been installed.
Most of the building is buried underground so as not to spoil the beautiful scenery of the Seto Inland Sea. Although the museum is underground, it is flooded with natural light, and the expression of the artworks and space changes from moment to moment throughout the day and the four seasons.
Lee Ufan Museum
This museum is a collaboration between internationally acclaimed artist Lee Ufan, who is currently active mainly in Europe, and architect Tadao Ando.
Located in a valley surrounded by the sea and mountains, the museum offers visitors a chance to quietly contemplate our origins in a society overflowing with things, as nature, the building, and the works of art resonate with each other.
Naoshima Public Bath "I Love Hot Spring
Artist Shinro Ohtake has created an art facility where visitors can actually take a bath.
The bathhouse was created as a source of vitality for the islanders and as a place for exchange between visitors from Japan and abroad and the islanders themselves. Soak in the bathtub and experience art with your whole body.
Yayoi Kusama "Red Pumpkin
Yayoi Kusama herself said, "I searched for the red light of the sun to the edge of the universe, and it transformed into a red pumpkin in the sea of Naoshima. Some of the polka dots that characterize Kusama's work have been hollowed out, allowing visitors to enter the interior.
(2) The Sculpture Forest Museum (Kanagawa)
Hakone is a place where visitors can enjoy magnificent nature in each of the four seasons.
The Hakone Open-Air Museum, the first open-air museum in Japan, was opened in 1969 to take advantage of the natural beauty of the area.
It is famous for its permanent exhibition of works by world-class sculptors representing modern and contemporary art in its lush outdoor exhibition space.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 1121 Ninohira, Hakone-cho, Ashigarashita-gun, Kanagawa Prefecture
TEL: 0460821161
Official Site
Picasso Museum
This is an exhibition hall built exclusively for Picasso's works, with one of the world's largest Picasso collections of 319 pieces.
Footbath with natural hot spring
Touring the exhibitions takes a lot out of your legs and feet.
For such occasions, the Sculpture-no-mori Museum has a natural hot spring footbath. Enjoy a relaxing moment of rest and relaxation while viewing art in a leisurely manner.
21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa)
Since its opening in 2004, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa has introduced the work of cutting-edge, world-class artists to Japan. It is located just 10 minutes by bus from Kanazawa Station and is very well known for its iconic permanent installation works.
Kanazawa is also famous as an ancient city that preserves the streets of the Edo period in the present day. Why not add the Museum of Contemporary Art to your plan of touring the ancient capital?
Facility Basic Information
Address: 1-2-1 Hirosaka, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture
TEL：076-220-2800
Official Website
Swimming Pool
A famous work by Leandro Erlich, an artist who experiments with human illusions and the inversion of the senses.
Looking down at the surging pool, it appears as if it were deeply filled with water.
In reality, the pool is only filled with water about 10 cm deep on top of transparent glass, and the viewer can enter the light blue space below the glass.
This is a rare work of art that shakes our sense of the ordinary and creates conversation and enjoyment among viewers.
L'Origine du monde
Anish Kapoor, a contemporary artist from England, uses the entire room.
On the sloping concrete wall that makes up one side of the exhibition room, a huge black ellipse can be seen. The more you look at it, the more the black colored surface looks like a flat surface, a rise, or a depression, which may leave you puzzled.
The color surface is created by the blue pigment that fills the large holes in the surface. Using simple shapes and materials, this work shakes our perception and invites us to deep thought.
The title means "origin of the world" in French and refers to the work of the same name by the 19th century French painter Gustave Courbet.
4) Towada Museum of Contemporary Art, Aomori
Located in Towada City, Aomori Prefecture, this art museum exhibits works from its collection, mainly by world-class contemporary artists, and also has a space for civic activities.
The entire city of Towada has a "community development through art" initiative called Arts Towada, and there are many different spots to discover.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 10-9 Nishi Nibancho, Towada City, Aomori Prefecture
TEL: 0176-20-1127
Official Site
Building-Buenos Aires
Like Kanazawa, this building also houses an interesting collection of Ehrlich's works.
A huge mirror tilted at an angle reflects the wall of a building set on the floor. When you lie down, you see yourself reflected in the mirror as if you are about to slide down on a wall that stands vertically.
It is a simple trick, but the sight of yourself in a scene that could not possibly be real will bring bewilderment and surprise to those who see it for the first time.
Standing Woman
A work by Australian artist Ron Mueck.
Standing nearly 4 meters tall, the woman stands with a power that overwhelms the viewer. The melancholy look of the figure is so realistic that the disparity between the statue and its overly large size gives the viewer a strange feeling of disorientation.
As you look at it for a while, you may start to imagine her life and the life and death of people. These sculptures are not just objects, but they evoke a variety of stories behind them.
Ghost / Unknown Mass
This is a work by the German artist unit Inges Ide.
A huge white ghost rises above the lawn. The square building built next to it is a toilet. Something that looks like mercury is about to spill out of the top of the toilet, but if you actually enter the toilet, you will see that it is also a silver ghost looking upside down into the toilet.
It is an interesting work that combines cuteness and scale.
5) Seishun Art Village (Yamanashi)
In addition to the artworks in the collection, visitors can enjoy the charms of the four seasons at this unique place, with architecture by famous architects such as Tadao Ando, Gustave Eiffel, and Yoshio Taniguchi, as well as 100-year-old cherry trees in spring and wisteria in early summer. The Cheongchun Art Village is such an art spot.
Experience the luxury of being surrounded by nature while appreciating art! Located in Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture, this facility is easily accessible, only two hours from Tokyo by Chuo Line or two hours by car.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 2072 Nakamaru, Nagasaka-cho, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture
TEL：0551-32-4865
Official Website
Museum of Light
Designed by Tadao Ando, this museum was established in 2011 and uses only natural light.
In the exhibition rooms, which have no artificial lighting whatsoever, visitors are immersed in light that changes from moment to moment according to the seasons, the weather, and the movement of the sun as it rises and sets. This is truly the architecture of Tadao Ando, who makes the most of the beauty of light shining into the inorganic concrete space.
6) Otsuka Museum of Art (Tokushima)
The Otsuka Museum of Art, which calls itself the "Museum of Masterpieces on Ceramic Boards," exhibits more than 1,000 masterpieces of Western art, ranging from ancient murals to contemporary paintings from the collections of museums in 26 countries around the world, reproduced on ceramic boards the same size as the original works.
Visitors can truly appreciate the original artistic value of the originals, which is different from that of prints or displays, and are said to be able to experience a world-class museum without leaving Japan.
Facility Basic Information
Address: Naruto Park, Naruto-cho, Naruto City, Tokushima Prefecture
TEL: 088-687-3737
Official Site
Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring. The ceramic plate can be touched.
(vii) Toyama City Museum of Glass (Toyama)
Toyama City is also known as "City of Glass Toyama.
To promote glass crafts, the city comprehensively produces the Toyama Institute of Glass Art, a studio, and an art museum.
The museum has a permanent collection of works by Dale Chihuly, a master contemporary glass artist, and many other works of art finished with such superb craftsmanship that it is hard to believe they are glass.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 5-1 Nishimachi, Toyama City
TEL: 076-461-3100
Official Site
Works by Dale Chihuly
(8) Towel Museum (Ehime)
Now, a different kind of towel museum!
This is a museum of towels, a rarity in the world. It is located in Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, which is famous for towel manufacturing.
The museum exhibits the manufacturing process as well as many towel arts, and has a well-stocked towel collection store, restaurant, and café.
This museum is a must-see for those who love cute things, including a permanent exhibition of Moomin.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 2930 Asakurakami Ko, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture
TEL: 0898-56-1515
Official Website
Sapporo Art Park (Hokkaido)
Sapporo Art Park is a comprehensive facility that opened in 1986. It is a variety of art and cultural facilities including the Sapporo Art Park Museum, an open-air museum, a crafts museum, and the residence of the great writer Takeo Arishima, who is also associated with Sapporo.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 2-75, Art Park, Minami-ku, Sapporo
TEL: 011-592-5111
Official Site
⑩BnA Alter Museum (Kyoto)
Room "D/R/M" created by EY∃.
BnA Alter Museum" is one of a growing number of "art hotels," or "museums where visitors can stay overnight," that have been popping up in various locations across Japan in recent years.
BnA, which operates art hotels in Koenji and Akihabara in Tokyo, is located in Kyoto.
There are 31 art rooms designed by artists such as Daito Manabe of Rhizomatiks, Yusuke Nakano/Paramodel, Tetsuya Umeda, and Ey∃, and each room offers a completely different lodging experience.
Facility Basic Information
Address: 267-1 Tenma-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
TEL：075-748-1278
Number of rooms: 31
Official website
Tetsuya Umeda's room "Nobody's water / A place where nothing is seen
Buku Akiyama's work from the inaugural exhibition "TO SELF BUILD" (2019)
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