Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art

When I visited Shizuoka City for a few days, one of the sights I had down was the Prefectural Museum of Art. It's actually a little way out of the city itself, but it's worth making the short journey to see a range of interesting art in a very pleasant rural setting.

The setting

Even before you come to the museum building there's plenty to enjoy, as the approach is lined with a number of sculptures. Some of them are straightforward statues, some of them more abstract, and some of them left me rather scratching my head, but it certainly made the walk more interesting. There's also a fairly large lawn, which would be nice to stroll on with better weather than I had, and a leafy promenade if you care for a longer walk.

The building itself is well matched to its hillside location, low-rise with a tiered profile, a shallow pond at the front, and pleasant rooftop terraces on which to take the air. It was a surprise then when I walked in and found myself in a very spacious, high-ceilinged lobby, especially with a giant inflatable anime heroine crouching in "Masterpiece Corner".

The art

Every year there are a number of special exhibitions; when I visited it was about young girls portrayed in art through the ages, but other exhibitions in the year's schedule were related to Parisian art, Japanese photography, and animals in art.

I actually skipped that special exhibition, and went just to the permanent collection, displayed in one room which rotates the pieces on show. What I saw was mostly classical European landscapes by Constable, Pissarro and others, and there were also some etchings, engravings, and small but exquisitely beautiful painted mirrors.

Tickets for special exhibitions vary in price, but cost only ¥300 for the permanent collection; this also includes entrance to the Rodin Wing, a separate building dedicated to sculptures by (you guessed it) Auguste Rodin. The building is almost like a cathedral, with curved walls and a high vaulted ceiling, and the sculptures show an artist at the height of his powers and creativity.

You can see more art on the first floor too: "Masterpiece Corner" is where they show two works from the permanent collection, regularly rotated, and there's also a gallery available for rental. On the day I went this was hosting an exhibition of calligraphy, and while I could read next to nothing, I enjoyed the drama and sheer scale of some of the pieces, especially one where the brush had been applied with some force, sending ink spattering across the paper.

As well as all this, there's the Cafe Rodin, where you can enjoy drinks, cakes or (very) light meals; Esta Restaurant next door provides fancier food in fancier surroundings, for commensurately fancier prices. Finally, there's also the gift shop, with a good range of prints and postcards, bags and T-shirts, stationery, calendars and toys.

How to get there

There are direct buses roughly every hour from the terminal inside Cenova shopping centre in Shizuoka City, which take about thirty minutes. If you miss the bus, you can take the much more regular Shizutetsu line train from Shin-Shizuoka station, also in Cenova. It's then about a fifteen-minute walk from the misleadingly named Museum Station, longer if you take a detour along the way to enjoy all the statues at Toukoji temple.