Today we took a train ride out to see the Miho Museum near Kyoto. Mary had visited it on her previous business trip to Japan and felt it was worth a revisit.
The museum was the dream of Mihoko Koyama (after whom it is named), the heiress to the Toyobo textile business, and one of the wealthiest women in Japan. The Miho Museum houses Mihoko Koyama's private collection of Asian and Western antiques. The architect I. M. Pei (designer of the glass entrance pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris) designed the Miho Museum.
The museum was built in beautiful forested nature reserve on top of a mountain and required 6 years to get all of the permits required. They basically took the top off of the mountain, built the museum, and then put some of the mountain top back on top of the museum. Some 80% of the structure is below ground, to protect the environment and views. The front entrance door and the back wall of windows facing the valley are some of the few parts of the museum not covered with soil.
The setting and entrance are spectacular. The entire complex was designed based on an ancient Chinese work that described the tale of a fisherman who is drawn by the fragrance of peach blossoms into a grotto and then emerging on the other side where there is a village where all live joyfully. The tale is similar to the Shangri-La story in the Himalayas. The road leading up to the tunnel was lined with Peach Trees (not in bloom),
and tunnel opens onto museum which represents the real world interpretation of the village as a place of beauty and peace.
The museum was the dream of Mihoko Koyama (after whom it is named), the heiress to the Toyobo textile business, and one of the wealthiest women in Japan. The Miho Museum houses Mihoko Koyama's private collection of Asian and Western antiques. The architect I. M. Pei (designer of the glass entrance pyramid of the Louvre Museum in Paris) designed the Miho Museum.
The museum was built in beautiful forested nature reserve on top of a mountain and required 6 years to get all of the permits required. They basically took the top off of the mountain, built the museum, and then put some of the mountain top back on top of the museum. Some 80% of the structure is below ground, to protect the environment and views. The front entrance door and the back wall of windows facing the valley are some of the few parts of the museum not covered with soil.
The setting and entrance are spectacular. The entire complex was designed based on an ancient Chinese work that described the tale of a fisherman who is drawn by the fragrance of peach blossoms into a grotto and then emerging on the other side where there is a village where all live joyfully. The tale is similar to the Shangri-La story in the Himalayas. The road leading up to the tunnel was lined with Peach Trees (not in bloom),
and tunnel opens onto museum which represents the real world interpretation of the village as a place of beauty and peace.
The views from inside the lobby looked out over the valley beyond, ...
and there were small gardens tucked away in various parts of the museum grounds.
In Osaka, we found a bookstore with English books – Harry Potter was sold out. This store was huge, three floors of a department store.
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