Miho Museum

Our good friends from CO are leaving Japan (in a few days now), and for their last big weekend hurrah they wanted to go see the Miho Museum.  Located deep in the woods at the top of a mountain, this magnificent structure was designed by the famous I.M. Pei.  Mihoko Koyama, a very wealthy and some say eccentric woman, commissioned the building to house her personal art collection as well as a lot else acquired by the Shumei organization before the museum opened in 1997.  The Shumei organization, for those who are confused as to what this might be, is a religious movement founded in 1970 by Mihoko Koyama.  I.M. Pei had previously designed the bell tower located at the religion's headquarters, which can be seen from the museum.  So you can see it's all in the family.

Religion aside, the museum is an incredible piece of artwork on its own.  The two pictures above show clearly the impressive nature of the structure.  On the left is the view of the main entrance, and on the right the view from inside looking out the main entrance.  The ceiling is made of glass and steel, and the inner stone is limestone from France.  The effect is a lot of angles softened by the cream of the limestone and migrating shadows, which makes for a fairy-tale environment.  Pei called this style Shangri-la, which referred to its situation in the mountainous, forested landscape.  About 3/4 of the building is actually underground, which is why it looks so small from the main entrance.  Inside, the structure breaks open for room upon room of wonderfully displayed treasures.   

The impressive unity of architecture and art.

Inside the main entrance.

The grounds outside were given just as much attention to detail as the main building itself.  To the left is a picture of the immaculate gardens that lead up to the main entrance, peppered with stone lanterns.  On our way to the museum, we waited for the little golf carts that ferry people to-and-from the waiting station to the museum's front doors.  This turned out to be a really funny affair, because the trip on foot is no more than 10 minutes walking very slowly.  We didn't know when we climbed on the cart or we would've walked, I swear!  Although it was very hot and sunny, we decided to walk back, in order to enjoy the architecture of the tunnel that leads to the museum.       

This is what you see when you exit the tunnel going toward the museum.  Krista took this picture to showcase the all-encompassing feeling created by the iron bars coming down on all sides to support the bridge.  The tunnel is necessary because, as has been stated, this museum is built deep in the mountains.  That tunnel goes through a mountain, allowing the museum to be accessed by visitors coming up from the park that is the rest of the adjoining mountain.

This is the exit on the other side, in our case this is what we saw as we returned to the visitor's center before catching our bus down the mountain to the train station.  We visited in July, the heart of summer, so we were treated to superb greenery.  If you visit in spring, you can see colorful blossoms, and in fall bright autumn leaves.  The gardens are designed to offer beautiful views in every season.