Japan’s reputation as one of the most amazing countries is no exaggeration. Everything is unusual here – even museums! They exhibit copies and build entire pavilions to observe the flow of water.
And museum buildings are designed by great architects on commission from great collectors who have dedicated their entire lives to the subject of their adoration.
In Japan, museums can be found in the most unexpected places: in a small mountain village, and on a remote island, where a full-fledged museum complex was built to display just 10 works. In this selection, I have collected museums that may surprise you, amaze you, or even make it better. This is just a small part of what you can find in the Land of the Rising Sun, and I hope that this list will inspire you to further searches!
If you’re visiting Japan and the cherry blossoms haven’t started blooming in Tokyo, Osaka, or Kyoto (or, conversely, if you’re a little late for the momiji season, the autumn change of leaf color), it’s worth heading south for a few days where the weather warms up earlier and the cold weather comes later. There are some great places to visit in this part of Japan, including Michelin-starred restaurants and wonderful onsen, but I’d like to focus on the Komiko Art Museum, a small exhibition space founded by NHN JAPAN and designed by the famous architect Kengo Kuma (who also designed the LVMH office in Osaka and the Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee, Scotland). The museum features works by just seven contemporary artists (including Takashi Murakami, Yoshitomo Nara, and Mariko Mori), but it’s one of the main attractions in the small town of Yufuin.
There are many such small museums in Japan, primarily because inheritance taxes can be as high as 55%, so private art collections are often given to corporations or non-profit foundations.