Adachi Museum of Art

Home Japan Travel Guide Chugoku Shimane Adachi Museum of Art

The wonderful Adachi Museum of Art is one of the most popular museums on the western side of Japan. It is located in Yasugi City, the southeast of Matsue City which is the capital of Shimane Prefecture. Its garden is award-winning, making it worth a visit if you are in the Sanin area.

Foundation of the Museum

Yokoyama Taikan painting, Adachi Museum of Art, Shimane, Japan

Adachi Museum of Art was established by Zenko Adachi (1899-1990). He was born in Yasugi where the museum stands. He was from a poor family but very clever and a man of effort. One day he found a wonderful painting of Yokoyama Taikan, one of the top painters in Japan. He had a dream to own Taikan’s paintings and so he did!

Then he finally made a museum to share his collection of Yokoyama Taikan and other painters of the same period such as Takeuchi Seiho, Hashimoto Kansetsu and Uemura Shoen. Also he wanted to promote young contemporary painters, so he founded the Adachi Museum of Art Award and added an annex to exhibit their paintings.

Garden of the Museum

Japanese garden at the Adachi Museum of Art, Japan

The collection of the museum is really something, but that’s not all. It was the beautiful Japanese gardens that have made the museum world famous. The gardens of the museum have been ranked as number one in the “Japanese Garden Ranking” by US magazine “The Journal of Japanese Gardening” for 17 consecutive years out of more than 1,000 gardens all over Japan.

According to Zenko Adachi, “A Japanese garden is thought of as a living canvas”. His belief and passion for gardening can be seen all over the 165,000 square meters of garden. From the dry landscape garden to the white gravel and pine garden, moss garden and the pond garden, a calming view expands before you at each step. The combination of such a relaxing atmosphere and Japanese paintings in the building refreshes visitors. Azaleas in spring, fresh greenery in summer, red leaves in autumn, and snow-covered gardens in winter. Throughout the four seasons, the changing scenes of the gardens are enjoyable.

A window as a picture frame in the Adachi Museum of Art, Shimane, Japan

Even the window itself is a “Living Canvas”. The garden through the window is like a canvas that shows the different characteristics with the shifting sunlight and with each season. It feels like a Rinpa School folding screen.

Cafes and Tea Rooms

There are several cafes and tea rooms in the museum building. From the cafes, you can relax and enjoy the view of the garden to your heart’s content. You can also enjoy traditional Japanese matcha tea in a Japanese style tea room.

Your Japan Tour

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Adachi Museum of Art Information

Access: Free shuttle bus from Yasugi station (JR Line) about every half an hour. It takes  20 minutes.

Entrance: 2,300 yen for adults / 1,800 yen for university students / 1,000 yen for senior high school students / 500 yen for junior high school and elementary school students

Hours: From April to September 9:00 – 17:30 / From October to March 9:00 – 17:00

Area Map

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