Five Best Museums in Yamanashi

Keith Haring's kinetic, socially conscious street art has an outsized following in Japan, but it’s still a bit surprising to encounter this temple to Haring in Yamanashi. The project of Nakamura Kazuo, a local boy made good in the pharmaceutical industry, the museum curates the hundreds of pieces in the Nakamura’s private collection and hosts traveling exhibits in a stunning Kitagawara Atsushi-designed building in the Kobuchizawa Art Village. The nearby Hotel Keyforest Hokuto was designed by Kitagawara as an accompaniment to the collection’s building, and if—as Nakamura suggests one should—you visit the museum multiple times, Keyforest Hokuto is the perfect base.

Nakamura Keith Haring Collection

Yamanashi Pref. Hokutoshi Kobuchisawachou 10249-7

0551368712

9:00-17:00(Last entry16:30)

View All

Go here

The Kiyoharu Art Colony is a collection of museums and spaces that includes a Taniguchi Yoshio-designed, La Ruche, a replica of a Gustave Eiffel-designed building for the Great Exposition of 1900 in Paris (and a statue of Eiffel with an original section of staircase from his tower stands on the grounds, as well), and the Tadao Ando-designed Museum of the Light. Apart from the superstar architecture, the museums and gallery spaces host some of the best, most recent work in contemporary art. After roaming the grounds, take a coffee and pastry or a plate of duck confit under the wisteria trellis at the Art Colony’s La Palette, touted as the first French restaurant in the prefecture.

Kiyoharu Art Colony

Yamanashi Pref. Hokutoshi Nagasakachounakamaru 2072

0551323332

10:00-17:00 (Admission until…

View All

Go here

Off the Chuo Expressway in the northern half of the prefecture, nearly in Nagano, Gallery Muu in set in the forested foothills of the prefectural borderlands. The sprawling space exhibits ceramics, stoneware, sculpture, and a wide variety of other folk art and handicrafts native to the region. It’s hard to sum up the collection in a sentence, and it changes with the season. The museum is open to the elements, with guests strolling open walkways around the main buildings (for that reason, it’s closed from November to March, when the snow rolls in). The gift shop curates its own collection of mostly functional pieces, with handcrafted ceramics, glassware and textiles.

Yume Udani Gallery MUU

4.5

11 Reviews

Yamanashi

0551380061

View All

Go here

Down on Lake Kawaguchi, in an area with almost as many museums as onsens, the Itchiku Kubota Art Museum is home to the work of its namesake textile artist who revived the lost traditional form of "Tsujigahana", a Muromachi era (1336–1573) fabric dyeing technique. Kubota’s work has been exhibited in galleries around the world, including the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. This is a rare opportunity to see the largest collection of his work. Inspired by Antoni Gaudí, the museum building is a work of art in its own right, a perfect match the Kubota’s textile work, as well as other pieces collected by the artist. At the end of exploring the space, stop for a cup of macha in the artist’s former workshop.

Itchiku Kubota Art Museum

4.5

356 Reviews

Yamanashi Pref. Minamitsurugunfujikawaguchikomachi Kawaguchi 2255

0555768811

[Dec.--Mar.] 10:00-16:30 [A…

View All

Go here

Another worthy spot on Lake Kawaguchi, Kawaguchiko Muse Museum hosts the work of Yuki Atae, whose cotton cloth dolls maker. He held a personal exhibition at New York, Paris, and Sao Paulo. The dolls scratch a nostalgic itch, presenting a slice of life in early-20th century Japan, but they also represent the highest expression of the indigenous artistic tradition of dollmaking. After the dolls, tour the other gallery spaces and stop for a cup of tea with a view of Yagizaki Park.

Kawaguchiko Muse Museum Yuki Atae Building

4.5

73 Reviews

Yamanashi Pref. Minamitsurugunfujikawaguchikomachi Kodachi 923

0555725258

9:00-17:00(Last entry16:30)

View All

Go here