About the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, which collects and displays outstanding art and crafts associated with Okayama and holds exhibitions and workshops to introduce domestic and international artistic activities, opened in 1988 and will celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2023. It aims to be an art museum that “linked” the present to the past and future, and from Okayama to various countries and regions.
Located in the heart of Okayama City, where the prefectural government, Okayama Castle and Korakuen Garden are located, the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art is not only a wonderful museum for its collection, but also for its location: it is a 15-minute walk from the Korakuen Exit of "JR Okayama Station", and there is a bus service from the station, making it easy to visit from outside the prefecture.
The museum also holds regular seminars, hands-on tours and volunteer gallery talks.
Access and visitor information for the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Address | 8-48 Tenjin-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama City |
Tel | 086-225-4800 |
Access from nearest station | 15-minute walk from JR Okayama Station Korakuen Exit (East Exit). |
Opening hours | 9:00-17:00 (admission by 16:30) |
Closed | Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a holiday), year-end and New Year holidays, and during exhibition change periods. |
Admission | Adults 350 yen (280 yen) / University students 250 yen (200 yen) / Elementary, junior high and high school students free of charge / 65 years and older 170 yen (140 yen) * Group rates for 20 or more people in ( ). |
Facilities | underground parking and bicycle parking available, wheelchairs and prams available for hire, multipurpose toilets (wheelchair accessible, ostomate accessible, nappy changing available), nursing room (B1F). |
Note | As crowding is expected during the exhibition, use public transport if possible. (If the car park is full, go to a nearby pay car park. Parking fees are the responsibility of the visitor). |
Official website |
Highlights of the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Collections
The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art has a large collection of works with the keyword ‘related to Okayama Prefecture’. Major works include Landscape (imitating a jade) (Important Cultural Property) by SESSHU Toyo, a painter born in Soja City, Okayama Prefecture, famous for his ink paintings, and Kareki Jade by MIYAMOTO Musashi, a master swordsman with a dual style who also possessed artistic talent (one theory is that he was born and spent his childhood in Mimasaka City, Okayama Prefecture). The other major sculptures in Japan are also on display at the museum.
Other items in the collection include Goura Fisherman by HIRAKUSHI Denchu, a leading Japanese sculptor and native of Ibara City, Okayama Prefecture, and Bizen ware, a traditional craft of Okayama Prefecture.
Architecture
The Okayama Prefectural Art Museum was designed by architect OKADA Shinichi. Okada is also known for designing the Supreme Court Building and the Metropolitan Police Headquarters Building, as well as the Okayama Municipal Orient Museum in Okayama Prefecture.
The exterior of the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art is inspired by Okayama Castle and is made of granite and porcelain tiles. The space between the exhibition and hall buildings, which Okada named the ‘indoor plaza’, was inspired by the undulating Tenjinzan mountain on which the museum stands, and is a fluid design with continuous natural light from the basement floor to the courtyard on the second floor.
Representative past exhibitions
The Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art holds a wide variety of exhibitions that can be enjoyed by all generations, young and old. In addition, as part of the ‘Okayama Art Exhibition (Collection Exhibition)’, old paintings, Japanese paintings, Western-style paintings and crafts are displayed, changing every few months.
〈Main exhibitions.〉
"The Bizen: Formative Beauty Born of Clay and Fire"(2020)
"Photography exhibition: Michio Hoshino: Traveling through Eternity" (2021).
"THE Doraemon Exhibition OKAYAMA 2022" (2022)
"Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art 35th Anniversary Collection Exhibition CORRELATION - Exchange and Inheritance" (2023).
"World Heritage: The Great Silk Road Exhibition" (2024)
Museum shop
The museum shop "KENBI CIFAKA", located on the ground floor of the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, offers a wide range of unique items related to the exhibition content. The shop also offers goods in collaboration with local artists and limited-edition items, making it a great place to visit when visiting the museum.
Opening hours: 9:30-17:00
Closed: Museum holidays
Cafés and restaurants
‘Café CIFAKA’ is a café in the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, run by the design office CIFAKA, like KENBI CIFAKA, and opened on the ground floor of the museum in April 2023.
The furniture and lighting were designed by architect OKADA Shinichi, who also designed the Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art, and the charm of Café CIFAKA is that you can enjoy the atmosphere of an old-fashioned café. Coffee brewed with a siphon, a coffee menu using ingredients from Okayama Prefecture and sweets made in Sifaka's baked sweets laboratory are also popular.
Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 *Changes according to exhibitions.
Closed: Museum closures
Recommended places around Okayama Prefectural Museum of Art
Hayashibara Museum of Art
The Hayashibara Museum of Art stands on the ruins of Okayama Castle Ninomaru, just west of the inner moat of Okayama Castle. The museum was opened in 1964, with the collection acquired by HAYASHIBARA Ichiro, a businessman from Okayama. The museum houses approximately 9,000 items, including paintings and crafts from Japan and other East Asian countries, as well as furniture inherited from the Ikeda family, the former feudal lords of Okayama. It is therefore recommended to visit the museum at the same time as Okayama Castle. The museum does not have a permanent exhibition, but replaces the exhibits for each exhibition.
The modern museum building can be seen when passing through the large Nagaya-mon gate, which serves as the main entrance. It was designed by Maekawa Kunio, who studied under the world-renowned architect Le Corbusier, and is registered as a Tangible Cultural Property along with the gate.
Address | 2-7-15 Marunouchi, Kita-ku, Okayama City |
Tel | 086-223-1733 |
Access | 25-minute walk from JR Okayama Station; 3-minute walk from Kencho-mae bus stop on the Okaden Bus for Okaden Takaya; 3-minute walk from Kencho-mae bus stop on the Uno Bus for Seto Ekimae or Shigoshin; 7-minute walk from Kencho-mae bus stop on the city bus for Higashiyama; 3-minute walk from Kencho-mae bus stop on the Megurin Circulation Bus for Kencho Medical University Line. |
Opening hours | 10am to 5pm (admission by 4.30pm). |
Closed | Mondays (or the following day if a public holiday), exhibition change periods (irregular), year-end and New Year holidays. |
Admission | 【Special exhibitions】¥500 for adults, ¥300 for high school students, free for elementary and junior high school students, Tomonokai members, persons with a disability certificate, accompanying persons and escorts. Special exhibitions: Varies according to the exhibition. |
Facilities | wheelchair lift and ramp at entrance, wheelchair-accessible toilets. |
Official website |
Yumeji Museum of Local Art, main building
‘The Yumeji Museum of Local Art, Main Building’ specializes in the works of Okayama-born artist Takehisa Yumeji and boasts the largest collection of his works in the world. TAKEHISA Yumeji, a representative of Taisho Romanticism, was active as a painter and designer from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period. The Yumeji Museum of Art has a collection of approximately 3,000 works, mainly Yumeji's paintings, with more than 100 on display at any one time.
The stylish building with its Taisho romantic atmosphere is one of the highlights of the main building of the Yumeji Local Art Museum. The red brick building with an eye-catching weathercock was designed by architect URABE Shintaro.‘The art café Yumeji’, designed by MITOOKA Eiji in 2017, is an interactive exhibition room, café and museum shop, which has also become a popular spot. Setouchi City is also home to places associated with Yumeji, such as the Yumeji Birthplace Memorial Museum and Shonen Sanso, which are also recommended for sightseeing.
Address | 2-1-32, Hama, Naka-ku, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture |
Tel | 086-271-1000 |
Access from nearest station | 15 mins by bus (Okaden Bus) from the bus stop in front of JR Okayama Station [for Fujiwara-danchi/Korakuen]. |
Opening hours | 9:00-17:00 (admission by 16:30) |
Closed | Mondays (if Monday is a public holiday, the museum is closed the following day), year-end and New Year holidays (28 Dec - 1 Jan). |
Admission | ¥800 for adults, ¥400 for junior and senior high school students, ¥300 for primary schools students *Special exhibitions differ. There is a shared ticket with Okayama Korakuen Garden and Okayama Castle (adult ticket only, valid for the day of admission only). |
Facilities | parking available (10 passenger cars, 2 large buses). |
Official website |
Yumeji Birthplace Memorial Hall, Shonen Sanso
(2000-1 Honjo, Oku-cho, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture) *Location differs from the main Yumeji Museum of Local Art.
The Yumeji Birthplace Memorial Museum, where Yumeji lived until he entered Kobe Junior High School at the age of 16, and the "Shonen Sanso"(Boys Villa), a faithfully restored studio and residence that Yumeji designed and built himself in Tokyo in his later years, are located 10 minutes by taxi or bus from "Oku" Station, about 30 minutes by train from Okayama Station. Here, visitors can trace the boyhood that nurtured Yumeji's art and view his hometown-themed artworks in the collection.
Address | Yumeji Birthplace Memorial Hall and Boy's Villa, 2000-1 Honjo, Oku-cho, Setouchi City, Okayama Prefecture |
Tel | 0869-22-0622 |
Access from nearest station | From JR Okayama Station, take the JR Ako Line and get off at Oku Station (approx. 30 mins). 10 minutes by bus or taxi from Oku Station. |
Opening hours | 9:00-17:00 (admission by 16:30). |
Closed | Mondays (if Monday is a public holiday or a substitute holiday, the museum is closed the following day). |
Admission | 600 yen for adults, 250 yen for junior and senior high school students, 200 yen for primary school students; group and senior citizen discounts available. Two museums can be visited: Yumeji Birthplace Memorial Museum and Shonen Sanso (Boy's Villa). |
Facilities | parking available (10 passenger cars and 2 large buses). |
Official website |
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