As the Tokyo Olympics Games is running in full force, let’s look at some of the best art experiences in Japan both on and off the beaten track.
A cultural haven known for its traditions and art heritage, Japan is home to a plethora of attractions such as open-air museums and emerging modern arts hubs; not to mention the sublime culinary that is regarded an art form and listed as an intangible heritage. Here we’ve rounded up some of the best art experiences in Japan which will undoubtedly leave you enthralled once international travel resumes.
1. Open-air Museums
Japan has long excelled at mixing all things art and nature smoothly, with countless open-air art facilities across the archipelago, showcasing a cornucopia of sculptures and installations under the skies. Sapporo Art Park is a 40-hectare expanse of green forest in northernmost Hokkaido with an array of creative facilities, home to a sculpture park and art galleries, alongside craft studios – glassmaking, ceramics, textiles, woodwork – staging workshops, classes and events throughout the seasons. Another place to savour art in nature is the Hakone Open-Air Museum in the mountains west of Tokyo. Spanning a green mountainside, it opened in 1969 as the nation’s first open-air museum and remains today as timeless as it is popular.
2. Art Hotels
A 15-minute walk south of Kyoto Station, the Hotel Anteroom Kyoto is home to more than 200 works of art and has eight concept rooms designed by some of Japan's top artists – the most psychedelic of which is Room 152, a cherry blossom fantasia created by Mika Ninagawa. The BnA Alter Museum in Kyoto doubles as a 10-story contemporary art gallery and a hotel, each of its 31 rooms sporting a different design. In Tokyo, the Grand Hyatt had the Takashi Murakami Flower Art Gallery suite, featuring 14 original artworks and sculptures depicting his signature 12-petal flower motif.
3. Echigo Tsumari Art Triennale
Hosted in places as varied as rice fields, forests, and empty schools, Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale is one of the world’s largest outdoor art festivals that aims to tap into the power of contemporary art to help revitalise declining and depopulated rural communities scattered across scenic Niigata, a region of remote mountain villages and rice fields. Since launching in 2000, the event has presented the work of an impressive roll call of international contemporary artists, from Marina Abramovic and Antony Gormley to James Turrell.
This year’s triennale event will debut 100 new artworks scattered across the provincial region, bringing the total number of installations on display to around 300. New highlights to keep an eye out for include Voices from Afar by Michiko Nakatani; 16 Ropes by Ilya and Emilia Kabakov; and a new Tunnel of Light by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects.
4. Northern Aomori: Major Arts Hub
The far-flung northern region of Japan has long been famed for its apples, fresh seafood, wild mountains, and its high-quality, architect-designed art museums. Along with the opening of a string of progressive museums, Aomori has emerged as an unexpected modern arts hub in recent years.
Designed by architect Ryue Nishizawa, Towada Art Center, which appears as a minimal mesh of white cubes and flowing glass walkways with natural light, houses a compact but impressive permanent collection of 38 artworks by artists ranging from Yoko Ono to Ron Mueck. Another major attraction, the Aomori Museum of Art is a monolith of white minimalism by Jun Aoki with its form inspired by nearby archaeological sites with both temporary and permanent exhibits. Another modern design mecca is the Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art. Opened last year, its brick warehouses of a former apple cider factory have been renovated by architect Tsuyoshi Tane.
5. Nakanoshima Museum of Art
Osaka Prefecture may be best known for its sensational street food, raucous comedy clubs and electrifying nightlife, but for a more cerebral take on the city, head to Nakanoshima and the museum island. The island is shaping up to be one of the most exciting districts in Japan. Joining two existing museums (the Osaka Science Museum and the National Museum of Art, Osaka), the Nakanoshima Museum of Art will be the latest addition to the area which will contain around 6,000 works of contemporary Asian and international art including René Magritte's surrealist painting Le Boutique Tout Fait, Alberto Giacometti's sculpture Le Nez as part of the permanent collection, as well as significant Japanese Impressionist paintings by Jiro Yoshihara and Takeji Fujishima.
6. UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage: Food
Traditional Japanese cuisine, known as washoku in Japanese, is as much about the preparation and presentation as it is about the ingredients and the recipes – it's so integral to Japan's identity that it has a place on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Deeply connected to nature, washoku celebrates the country's rich bounty, from seasonal vegetables and prized fruit, to foraged wild herbs and edible plants, to rice and freshly caught seafood. Typically seen at family gatherings and New Year celebrations, each dish is always beautifully presented on special tableware to be shared with friends, family and among the community.
7. The Charm of Japanese Tea
Japan has long enjoyed a centuries-old tea culture with springtime kicking off the tea-picking season. The Ajimano teahouse in Echizen opens its doors for an annual event every spring. In this city, with its deep relationship to the Manyoshu (Japan’s oldest poetry collection), visitors can get hands-on with all the stages of making Ajimano tea.
Ureshino, situated in a mountainous valley in Saga Prefecture is also famed for its unique ancient tea culture. Another place to head to is the Shizuoka Prefecture which produces nearly half of the nation’s green tea. At its apex is tea store Nihondaira Ocha Kaikan, where visitors can step onto the fields with farmers and try their hand at harvesting tea leaves between April and October.
