Visiting the Miho Museum an Hour out of Kyoto

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A Bit Futuristic

tunnel on the path to the Miho Museum (ミホミュージアム)

Shiga Prefecture, Japan
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Yesterday I made my first visit to the famous Miho Museum (ミホミュージアム) in the mountains of
southern Shiga Prefecture, an hour or so out of Kyoto.

There are two things that must be said when talking about this museum:

The first is that a visit is a spectacular experience. I can't begin to
tell you the high level of sense and style the designers have in displaying
works of art. In particular, the current “special collection” on display
until the middle of this month, of what I can best describe as “a bunch of
old red plates”, is jaw-dropping eye-popping bathing-in-the-light-of-angels spec·tac·u·lar.

Photography was not allowed and so I can't even begin to show it, but
even if photography was allowed, no photo could do the interactive 3D
experience justice. The folks who designed the display are masters
of light and sightlines and presentation, and their work oozes with
class and style.

When I actually stopped to read the details of some 1,000-year-old
plate or bowl I found interest in imagining who might have made it, and
what kind of hands it may have passed through on the way to the display
case in front of me, but much more than that I was in awe of how
these objects were displayed, and my jaw dropped at every turn in the
twisty many-roomed gallery.

But I'm getting ahead of myself... first, we have to arrive. From the
parking lot you can walk the 600m (0.4 miles) to the museum, or hop onto a
golf-cart type shuttle. I was with Paul Bar and Stéphane Barbery, and we chose to walk.

The initial part of the road is, I'm sure, spectacular during
cherry-blossom season, but it was quite dull for us:

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The First and Last Scene

that we saw that could be described as “dull”

Eventually you come to the opening of a tunnel...

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Tunnel and Shuttle

shuttle is approaching




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Tunnel Entrance

and shuttle just passed

The lead photo is from inside the tunnel. Here's a similar one, with the white balance set for
the incandescent lights lining the tunnel instead of for the sunlight splashing in...

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Spacey Vibe
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Eventually the curve leads you to see the museum in the distance...

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... but before you arrive to it you first must cross a bridge supported by thick, photogenically-arranged cables...

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End of the Tunnel





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Me

taking the shot above

photo by Stéphane Barbery





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Looking Back

from the middle of the bridge back to the tunnel

I'm probably the first person ever to take this shot. Same for all of these shots.

The thick cables terminate into an industrial-looking gridwork on the
outer edges of the bridge, a theme (as we'll see) carried throughout the whole museum.
(The industrial vibe reminds me of some of the photos on
“A Visit to Suntory's Kyoto Beer Brewery”.)

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Totally Tubular

At last we approach the museum entrance...

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At this point one must dutifully mention that the museum was designed by
that Louvre pyramid guy; in this
case the look mimics traditional thatched-roofed farmhouses of the region, such as these seen on the road
near the museum:

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I was told that food for the cafe is grown here

The inside is done tastefully. Here's the foyer for the special-collections wing:

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The glass ceiling is supported on a framework similar to that of the bridge, and this theme is carried out throughout the various wings of the building.

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At the Cafe




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Veggie Plate

of exquisite quality




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Random Staircase




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Near the Main Lobby

Let's go back down the random staircase to take a closer look at that 1,600-year-old mosaic on the floor...

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Lasers ● Bullet-Proof Glass ● Motion Sensors ● Ugly Warning Placards ● Yellow-Braided Ropes

none of these things mar the experience

Just six little stones that look like they've been taken from the
parking lot protect a 3rd-4th century floor mosaic depicting Dyonysos's
discovery of Ariadne on Naxos (whatever that is). Really, have you ever
seen a museum so devoid of things that detract from the experience of why
you're there in the first place?

If you look closely at the big version of the photo you get when you
click through, you can sort of make it out the description card on the
bumper closest to Paul, and even harder to make out is a “no touch” symbol
next to it, but otherwise there are no signs or warnings of any kind
visible in the shot.

Simple clean understated first-class class. The whole place is like this.

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Up Close and Personal

Like the special collection area, photography was not allowed in the
permanent exhibits either, but here's a shot from just outside the “Egypt”
room:

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Egypt Room

When you walk inside, and take a sharp right, on the wall is a small
poster that, though it's not apparent until you really pay attention,
serves as an overall description for the entire room. At the bottom is a
small “no photography” symbol, and that's the full extent of the “no
photography” warnings at this place... one small sticker on an easy-to-miss
poster in each room.

It's so easy to miss that Paul and I had looked around and decided that
photography must be allowed in this room, before eventually noticing the
sticker. There was no staff anywhere nearby to ask. We decided that the
sticker was meant to convey “no photography in this room” instead of the
at-first-glance “no photography of this poster”, so we refrained.

It seems clear to me that they don't care whether you take photos of the
artworks... they care whether your taking photos would disrupt others'
enjoyment of the artworks. Perhaps they had trouble in the past,
but even if not, I can easily imagine the clickity-click of even reserved,
respectful photographers would disrupt the atmosphere.

Later, at the larger restaurant near the parking lot, we had another, larger lunch just because
it had such a good reputation...

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Second Lunch

It was very good.

So, at the beginning of this article I said that there were two thing
that must be said when talking about this museum, but I've so far mentioned
only one.

The second is that the museum is owned and run by a religious movement
that, according rumors I've heard from everyone I've ever heard about the
museum from, is a cult. I've heard that it's similar to scientology in that
it has a pyramid-like scheme for “advancement” and that the ultimate goal
seems to be extracting money from its believers.

I have no idea whether that's true. As far as I can tell (and I was on
the lookout for it from the moment we arrived), there's not the slightest
hint of cult or “spiritual movement” at the museum... it's a museum 100%
and that's that. I recall that on one poster I saw the founder of the
museum's name mentioned, which is perhaps relevant because that lady also
started the religious movement (cult?), but at no time on the museum
grounds did I ever even see the “religious movement” mentioned by name,
implied, or even hinted at. Ever.

Yet here we have a private museum that rumors say cost a billion
US dollars to build and curate. And that's not all... looking out the window
you're meant with a sci-fi like view of the church off in the distance...

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That's a lot of land in between.

Even more strange is that the Wikipedia entries for the
museum and its owning religion make no
mention of any kind of “cult” status or even rumors.

I've been told that the religion has three main tenants: eat only
healthy food, appreciate art, and that people's spirits can heal one another. If this is true (that these indeed are the tenants), the first is well
represented in the lunches we ate, and the second one was apparent everywhere.

I highly recommend a visit, but do check their
calendar. Paul, who has been there a few times, said that it's normally
quite crowded, and he was shocked (and pleasantly surprised) at how
uncrowded it was yesterday.

To be continued...