Apart from the Matsumoto Castle, the Matsumoto City Museum of Art (松本市美術館) is another primary landmark of the city. The museum dedicated to artists related to Nagano Prefecture is the best place in the world to experience the world of Yayoi Kusama, one of the world’s favorite contemporary artists, born in Matsumoto. Before you even enter the museum, the permanent outdoor sculpture, The Visionary Flowers (幻の華), will already give you a deep impression (albeit they might look like giant insect trapping plants (´▽｀*).
Stepping into the exhibition room of Yayoi Kusama’s artworks is like walking into her world. Suffering from both visual and auditory hallucinations, Yayoi creates various sculptures and paintings, which is her way to heal herself and achieve inner peace. The museum is like a paradise for Yayoi Kusama’s fans. You will find many works she created throughout her life inside that exhibition room.
Other Artworks at the Matsumoto City Museum of Art
Besides the paintings in the exhibit, the museum has something else that would attract visitors’ attention. Whether it is vending machines, garbage bins, and even toilets, the Matsumoto City Museum of Art is decorated with red polka dots, Yayoi’s synonymous. One of the vending machines even contains her autograph!
In addition to Yayoi’s work, you can also examine works from other artists, such as Kamijō Shinzan’s (上條信山) calligraphy and Tamura Kazuo’s (田村一男) landscape paintings.
The museum also holds special exhibitions four times a year. For more information on what is on, please refer to the official website HERE.
An Aware Winning Architecture: Matsumoto City Museum of Art
If you are interested in architecture, the Matsumoto City Museum of Art is definitely a masterpiece. The building was designed by Miyamoto Tadanaga (宮本忠長) with the concept of a forest museum to add green space to the historical city of Matsumoto, which has been urbanized.
Surrounded by greeneries, the museum may seem pretty contemporary at first glance, but it does contain some traditional Japanese elements. The lobby at the ground level is only divided by Japanese sliding doors and folding screens on the north and the south. This creates a transparent space that extends the museum space visually.
So, when you are sipping a cup of coffee at the museum’s cafe, you can adore the garden in the atrium and Yayoi’s Visionary Flowers at the front.
Buses Inspired by Yayoi Kusama
If you are lucky, this red-dotted bus may drive by right in front of you!
The bus, named Boisterous Polka Dot (Mizutama Ranbu-gō, 水玉乱舞号), is one of the Town Sneakers buses running in the city. As there is only one Mizutama Ranbu-gō, some waiting is required if you are keen to see it.
Not only is the bus decorated with Yayoi’s red polka dot, but the car plate number also contains dots. What is printed on the number plate is “・841” as the dot motif and the name Yayoi (how 841 can be pronounced in Japanese)!
Another Yayoi Kusama-themed bus is the express bus operating between Shinjuku and Matsumoto, Kusama-gō Mamoroshi no Hana (草間号 幻の花). On top of the red polka dot, the Visionary Flowers is also painted over it.
Matsumoto Museum of Art’s Opening Hours, Admission Fee, and Access Information
- The museum is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily except Mondays.
- The last admission is at 4:30 pm.
- If Monday is a public holiday, it will close the next business day.
- The museum is also closed from the 29th of December to the 3rd of January.
- The admission fee is
- 410 yen for adults
- 200 yen for university and senior high school students
- The museum is a 12-minute walk from JR Matsumoto Station (松本駅).
Tip: Keep your admission ticket for multiple entries to the museum on the same day.
Explore Other Fascinating Attractions in Matsumoto City
Wonder what else in Matsumoto is worth your time? Check out our list of selected attractions in Matsumoto that you won’t want to miss out on.
There are a couple of places where you can source delicious natural water from in the city center, an art museum filled with Kusama Yayoi’s eye-opening contemporary artworks, places perfect for cherry blossom and fall foliage hunting, and a lot more!
For more information, please refer to our article on Matsumoto!
