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[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

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[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

A short distance from Kyoto, in the mountains, there is a museum where nature, architecture, and art come together in beautiful harmony. Gold-Guide will show you how to spend an artistic time in this place that attracts fans from Japan and abroad.

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[Gold-Guide] is a platform that matches tourists visiting Japan with excellent interpreter guides and offers guided tours. We provide memorable guided tours for customers looking for a special experience in Japan. We want to share the charm of Japan with people all over the world.

Gold-Guide is a guide matching platform operated by JR West Communications Co., Ltd., which matches tourists visiting Japan with excellent interpreter guides and provides guided tours. In this article, Gold-Guide, which has a track record of guiding tours in various areas of Japan, will introduce recommended ways to spend your time at the MIHO Museum.

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1. The story of how the Miho Museum was born

The Miho Museum opened in November 1997 in Shigaraki, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture, next to Kyoto. The original plan was to display Japanese art (tea ceremony utensils, Shinto and Buddhist art, calligraphy, ceramics, lacquerware, etc.) that Mihoko Koyama, founder of the emerging religious group Shinji Shumeikai, had collected over 40 years. At first, the number of items in the collection was not large, so it was not expected to become such a large-scale museum. The transformation into the grandiose concept it is today was due to an encounter with IM Pei, the Pritzker Prize-winning architect who designed the world-famous glass pyramid at the Louvre Museum in France.

Meeting with architect IM Pei

The Miho Museum is the only museum in Japan designed by IM Pei. IM Pei is the most successful Asian American architect of the 20th century, and his works still symbolize the cultural image of various countries as landmarks. Born in 1917 to a wealthy family in China, he studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and MIT in the United States, and studied under the master of modernism, Walter Gropius, at Harvard University.

IM Pei is known for his many international masterpieces, such as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library and the glass pyramid at the Louvre, and for expressing the history and culture of various countries through sophisticated geometry. He is a great architect who fused culture and technology to give elegance to modernist architecture.

When constructing the Miho Museum, Pei said, "If we're going to build it in such a wonderful, utopia-like place, we need to make it on a much larger scale, so that it embraces nature, " and he greatly expanded his original plan. From the perspective of environmental protection and maintaining the landscape, about 80% of the building is buried underground. Pei said that the architecture, which appears to be quietly standing in nature, is actually a meticulously designed expression of "assimilation into nature."

2. How to get to the Miho Museum

It is not too far from Kyoto, about an hour by car or public transport.

If you are traveling by public transportation, take a 13-minute train ride from JR Kyoto Station to JR Ishiyama Station in Shiga Prefecture, then a 50-minute bus ride from JR Ishiyama Station to reach the museum.

3. Gold-Guide's recommended way to enjoy the Miho Museum

①Entrance building

First, get off the car/bus and head to the entrance. There is a reception building on the right, so buy your admission ticket there. (You can also buy tickets online in advance!) There is a small restaurant in the reception building. If you are hungry, you can have a meal here. The museum also has a cafe, but it only serves light meals such as bread and sandwiches. However, the view from the museum cafe is beautiful, so we definitely recommend visiting! Be sure to check in advance.

Restaurant Peach Valley→ https://www.miho.jp/en/restaurant/

Cafe Pine View→ https://www.miho.jp/en/cafe/

[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

Miho Museum during cherry blossom season

Travelling by electric car

Enjoy a leisurely stroll from the entrance to the museum. Most people walk, but you can actually use an electric car to get to the museum building. It takes about 8 minutes to walk, but only 3-5 minutes with an electric car. The electric car runs every 10-15 minutes, and no reservation is required! What's more, it's free. An environmentally friendly electric car is perfect for a paradise. Try it out according to your physical condition!

②Walk along the approach road

I walk along the approach road, surrounded by greenery and breathing in the clean air. My mind gradually turns to a paradise. The scenery here is truly beautiful. It goes without saying that it is best to visit during cherry blossom season, as shown in the photo, but it is also recommended during the season of fresh greenery and autumn. (Closed in winter)

[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

Once you exit the tunnel, you enter a different world.

[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

③ Finally, we head to the museum

First, you can see the view of the deep, deep forest through the glass walls from inside the building. It's a view that is deep yet bright, and even on a cloudy day you can feel the light. Light pours in through the glass roof, and the limestone walls softly envelop the space. It's a shame that I can't show you any photos from here this time. This is truly a "world of utopia." And just when you think you're finally going to see the art, you head straight to the cafe.

[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

④ Cafe Pine View

The glass-walled cafe blends in with the nature surrounding the museum. Soft light shines in from the ceiling. This cafe offers salads and soups made with ingredients grown using Hideaki's natural farming method, which does not use any pesticides or fertilizers! Before visiting the museum, enjoy the natural beauty and architecture in a space surrounded by greenery.

In my case, after looking around the art pieces, I come here again for tea.

[Shiga] Gold-Guide's recommended way to spend time at the Miho Museum

⑤Art appreciation

There are two exhibition rooms, the South Exhibition Room and the North Exhibition Room, each of which can be viewed in about 30 minutes to an hour and a half. The exhibits are divided into Japanese antiques (tea ceremony utensils, Buddhist art, etc.) and world ancient art (Egypt, West Asia, South Asia, China, etc.). Of the approximately 3,000 items in the collection, 250 to 300 are always on display, and special exhibitions are held each season. Audio guides are available for rental at the entrance reception on the first floor to help you understand the exhibits better.

My favorite work is...

My favorite is the standing Buddha made in Gandhara in the second half of the 2nd century. It is the museum's signature Buddha. It is always there waiting for you with a warm smile. It is a presence that will always embrace you with kindness no matter what. I want to meet it when I feel weak and my self-esteem is low. I also like the "Standing Female Statue with Dog." Please be sure to find it.

This utopia that enchanted IM Pei and inspired Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel to hold their haute couture shows is a perfect place for you to forget about the world for a while and experience the eternal past. You will undoubtedly be enchanted by the Miho Museum!

This utopia, which enchanted the famous IM Pei and inspired Dior, Louis Vuitton and Chanel to hold haute couture shows, is the perfect place to forget about the world for a while and experience the eternal passage of time.

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Gold-Guide

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[Gold-Guide] is a platform that matches tourists visiting Japan with excellent interpreter guides and offers guided tours. We provide memorable guided tours for customers looking for a special experience in Japan. We want to share the charm of Japan with people all over the world.

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