Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (大宮盆栽美術館), Saitama, Japan

This article was updated on 19 Sep 2021 to clarify the train trip to Toro Station and the museum, and to add the link to The Railway Museum article.

Saitama, Japan is just a 40 minute train ride north from Tokyo. The major rail station is called Omiya and is the first major junction outside of Tokyo for the Shinkansen when traveling to the northern parts of the main island of Honshu. Two major tourist attractions are located in Saitama: the first is the world-class Railway Museum (鉄道博物館), run by the non-profit foundation of East Japan Railway (better known as JR East) and the second is the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum (大宮盆栽美術館), which is publicly run and a short walk from Toro Station, one station north of Omiya Station on the JR Utsunomiya Line. I visited both places on 02 Nov 2018 while I was staying in Tokyo. The Railway Museum article can be found at:

• https://ducksoupeasytravel.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-railway-museum-tetsudo-hakubutsukan.html

Bonsai (盆栽; lit. 'tray planting') is a Japanese art form using cultivation techniques to produce, in containers, small trees that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penzai or penjing from which the art originated. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years. [1]

While I'm not a fan of gardening, I am fascinated by Japanese bonsai since the creation and growing of these works of living art is something I personally have never tried and probably will never attempt. So to come to Japan and view this small museum dedicated to a unique Japanese art was on my list of places to see. Like any good museum, the "exhibits" are constantly changing and whenever you visit, there's always something new to see besides the permanent collection. The museum draws many Japanese and foreign tourists, so the exhibits are well labeled in both Japanese and English. An audio guide in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean is also offered.

The picture above was a work of bonsai art created by Kimura Masahiko (木村雅彦) and was displayed in the museum's lobby as the introductory work to the exhibit. The tree is a Japanese yew (taxus cuspidata) collected in Hokkaido (Japan's northernmost main island) in April 2018. The estimated age of the tree is 1,000 years! From the description:

"From the tree's root base to the rising trunk, it looks like a dragon spirit rising up. The sturdy trunk fold and turns with a superior sense of movement. This is the first time that this bonsai is being exhibited. According to Kimura, the tree is a rare world class material. The final form is yet to come, yet a thing to look forward to."

Please continue reading the article to find out more about the museum and to see more photographs.

Nezu Museum (根津美術館), Tokyo, Japan

This article was updated on 19 Sep 2021 to clarify taking the train or subway to get to the museum.

The Nezu Museum (根津美術館, Nezu Bijutsukan) is an art museum in the Minato district of Tokyo, Japan. The museum houses the private collection of pre-modern Japanese and East Asian art of Nezu Kaichirō (1860–1940), the former President of Tōbu Railway, and is built on Nezu's former residence and garden. Closed due to large-scale renovation and renewal in 2006, the museum re-opened in fall 2009 with a completely new museum building designed by the noted Japanese architect Kuma Kengo [1]. Kuma Kengo was also the architect for the modern redesign of the Akagi Shrine, which I reviewed in this earlier article: 

• https://ducksoupeasytravel.blogspot.com/2019/05/not-your-typical-japanese-shrine-akagi.html.

One of the defining architectural features of the Nezu Museum is the street entrance. The photograph of the entrance at the beginning of this article is the museum's most identifiable feature and is a tribute to Kuma Kengo's skill as an architect. As the museum is a very popular with both tourists and locals, it is really hard to get a photo without someone walking through it!

While it is worth a visit to view the art exhibits at the Nezu Museum when you're in Tokyo, for me the real reason to visit the museum is to see the garden. The site not only contains the museum, but also four tea houses and statuary within the garden. I last visited the museum on 29 Nov 2017, when the Fall colors were the most prominent and the garden most picturesque. Read the rest of the article to find out more information, and see more photographs of the museum and gardens.

Adachi Museum of Art (足立美術館), Yasugi, Japan

This article was updated on 18 Sep 2021 to clarify the details on taking the train to Yasugi Station and the Adachi Art Museum.

The Adachi Museum of Art (足立美術館, Adachi Bijutsukan) should be on everyone's sightseeing list when visiting Japan. While it is an art museum, the real reason you should visit the museum is to see the 16.5 hectare (40.7 acre) garden. The garden has been voted the number one Japanese garden since 2003 by the Journal of Japanese Gardening. The museum's founder, local businessman Zenkō Adachi (1899-1990), believed "the garden is also a picture" and devoted himself to gardening until his death. As seen in the picture above, the inside of the museum was designed to frame the garden as a picture. While the views from inside the museum impressive, the views of the garden from outside of the building are spectacular (visitors are not allowed into the garden themselves). The views change with the four seasons, so one visit will only give you a glimpse of garden's possibilities. I've been fortunate to visit the garden twice, once in Dec 2009, and more recently on 14 Nov 2017. Please continue reading the rest of the article and to see more photographs.