Koumi Kōgen Museum of Art

The Koumi Kōgen Museum of Art (小海町高原美術館, Koumi-machi Kōgen bijutsukan) stands in Koumi (小海町), Nagano Prefecture (長野県), on the Matsubara-ko plateau (松原湖高原) at the foot of the Yatsugatake mountains (八ヶ岳). A municipal museum run by the town, it opened on 29 July 1997.

The design is by Tadao Ando's office (安藤忠雄建築研究所). The museum's stated mission is to make local art and its collections known, to present a range of artistic expression from Japan and abroad, to introduce the design and architecture of everyday life, and to nurture children through art, serving as a base for cultural activity in the region.

The main building is reinforced concrete, left exposed, with one basement level and one level above ground. Beside it, an outdoor lookout has three levels. The site covers 7,667.73 m2, the building footprint 1,188.42 m2 and the floor area 1,583.22 m2.

The museum's logo takes in silhouette the arc and the "small sea" (小さな海) characteristic of the building; the circle stands for eternity, sustainability and harmony of the world.

The museum mainly holds works by artists tied to Koumi: the painter Kuribayashi Kesao (栗林今朝男, 1924-2016), born in the town, and the potter Shimaoka Tatsuzō (島岡達三, 1919-2007), a Living National Treasure. It also has paintings by Tanimoto Seikō (谷本清光), pre-war SP records and ise-katagami stencils (伊勢型紙). It owns Matsumoto mingei furniture (松本民芸家具), which accompanies the display of Shimaoka's ceramics; he carried on the spirit of mingei, the folk-craft movement.

Temporary exhibitions cover artists of the region, contemporary art, architecture and design. There are also lectures, guided tours, workshops and viewing sessions based on group conversation (対話鑑賞) for schools. A video room with a 165-inch 4K multi-display screen shows moving-image works, including films by Shinkai Makoto (新海誠). Since 2007, an artist-in-residence programme has hosted artists for stays of research and creation in the town.

The museum is open from 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30). It is closed on Tuesdays and on the day after a public holiday, during exhibition changeover periods and in winter. Admission is charged, free up to high-school age, and payable in cash only. A ramp, a lift and accessible toilets serve the building, and two wheelchairs are lent free of charge.

It stands next to the Yahho no yu hot-spring bath (八峰の湯), with which it shares a free car park of 100 spaces. From Koumi Station (小海駅) on the JR Koumi Line, a town bus on the Matsubara-ko line (松原湖線) runs to the "Yahho no yu - Bijutsukan" stop (八峰の湯・美術館), about 8 km and 20 minutes away. By car, leave National Route 141 at the "松原湖入口" traffic light and drive about 4 km towards the lake; the Yachiho-kōgen interchange (八千穂高原) is about 14 km away.