MIHO MUSEUM

Located in the suburbs of Shigaraki Town, this museum was built in the image of a “Shangri-La” in a mountainous region rich in nature. The museum is based on the theme of the fusion of “nature and building art,” “tradition and modernity,” and “East and West,” and brings to life in Shigaraki the story of a lost fisherman who discovers the fairyland paradise of Taoyuan-go, as described in Tao Yuanming’s “The Book of the Origin of Peach Blossoms.

Designed by I.M. Pei, world-renowned for the Glass Pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, and the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the building is a work of art by the same architect, I.M. Pei.

Eighty percent of the building is buried underground, and it was built while protecting the beautiful natural environment and taking into consideration the surrounding natural landscape.

From the reception building, visitors pass through a tunnel lined with cherry blossom trees, and at the end of the tunnel, they cross a suspension bridge to reach the exhibition hall. Electric vehicles shuttle visitors between the reception building and the exhibition hall.

The collection includes more than 2,000 outstanding works spanning various regions and periods, including Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Middle Eastern, Gandhara, Chinese, and Japanese.

The collection is said to have been formed at a cost of tens of billions of yen, making it one of the best private art museums in Japan.

Major Collections

Statue of Horus (the Falcon-headed God): Egypt, 19th dynasty, 13th century B.C.
Statue of Arsinoe II: Egypt, Ptolemaic dynasty, 3rd century B.C.
Lytton in the form of a wildcat holding a chicken: Iran/Central Asia, 2nd-1st century BC
Assyrian relief of a spirit and its attendant: Assyria, 9th century BC
Standing Buddha, Gandhara, 2nd century B.C.
Enma-ten (Heavenly image of Enma) on silk, Heian period (Important Cultural Property, formerly owned by Hara Sankei)
Fragment of “Jigoku Zoshi” (Kaijin Jigoku) on paper (Important Cultural Property, to be designated): Heian period (Lent by Shinji Shumeikai religious corporation, in the possession of MIHO MUSEUM)
Scroll of caricatures of birds, animals, and humans on paper, Heian period (Important Cultural Property to be designated) (Lent by Jinji Shumeikai religious corporation, in the collection of MIHO MUSEUM)
Scroll fragment of caricatures of birds, animals, and humans on paper, Kamakura period (Lent by Shumei Bunka Foundation, stored at MIHO MUSEUM) (Scheduled to be designated as Important Cultural Property)
Wooden Standing Jizo Bosatsu (Important Cultural Property): Kamakura period (Designated as Important Cultural Property in 1972)
Standing Wooden Statue of Jikkoten (Important Cultural Property): Kamakura Period (Lent by Kofukuji Temple)
Yohen Tenmoku Tea Bowl (Important Cultural Property): Southern Song dynasty (Important Cultural Property, handed down by the Maeda family)
Ping quiver with design of Housoge phoenixes in mother-of-pearl inlay in rosewood (last Chinese character is “roku” in bamboo crown) (Important Cultural Property)
Murasaki Shigami Kinko Mei Saishou-kyo Sutra Scroll No.2 (Important Cultural Property)
Elephants and Whales, By Ito Jakuchu