Karuizawa is home to a surprising number of art museums and galleries, far more than one might expect from such a small town.
This is likely due in part to the area’s long history as a summer resort that has welcomed intellectuals and artists for generations.
Scattered throughout the forest, these spaces have an atmosphere that differs slightly from that of urban art museums. Rather than simply “going to see” an exhibition, the experience is more akin to opening one’s senses in a tranquil environment.
Among them, the Karuizawa Hiroshi Senju Museum of Art is known as a place where architecture, nature, and the world of the artworks become one.
This museum was designed specifically to showcase the works of Japanese painter Hiroshi Senju.
The architecture was designed by Tatsuya Nishizawa, an architect who, as part of the duo SANAA with Kazuyo Sejima, won the Pritzker Prize and is highly acclaimed worldwide.
The first thing you notice upon visiting this museum is the closeness between the architecture and nature.
Beyond the curved glass walls, over 150 varieties of colorful foliage plants spread out, and soft natural light pours in abundantly through four atriums, quietly creating a sensation as if you were standing in the middle of a forest.
Another distinctive feature of this museum’s interior is the floor.
The floors inside the museum are not perfectly level; instead, they feature a gentle slope that follows the natural contours of the land.
As you walk through the space, you feel a sense of physical relaxation, as if your consciousness is quietly drifting away.
A break from the ordinary changes the way you think
In today’s world, where we have grown accustomed to overly organized spaces, buildings are typically constructed with perfect horizontal lines and straight angles.
Yet in this museum, the natural undulations of the terrain are incorporated directly into the space, and there are no perfect horizontal lines or straight angles. The space created by these curves feels as though it somehow eases the tension in one’s mind.
It is often said that art is something to be felt rather than thought about, and indeed, when standing before a work of art, our senses instinctively respond first.
Yet, strangely enough, as we engage with the artworks and the space, everyday events and work matters—which should have been in a completely different realm—suddenly come to mind, and there are moments when answers unexpectedly reveal themselves.
Perhaps art does not stop our thinking; rather, it transforms the very nature of our thoughts.
As I walk slowly across the slightly sloped floor of the quiet museum, gazing at the artworks, I realize that the scattered thoughts in my mind have quietly settled into order.
In Karuizawa, it is not just nature but these cultural spaces that quietly thrive.
Time spent in the forest and time spent engaging with art…
Perhaps it is the overlap of these two experiences that makes a stay in this town feel a little different from a mere vacation.
When you want to step back from your busy daily life and take some time to organize your thoughts.
This is one of the places I hope you’ll remember at such times.
Places featured in this blog
===================
Karuizawa Hiroshi Senju Museum of Art
815 Nagakura, Karuizawa-machi, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano 389-0111
[Hours]
9:30 AM–5:00 PM (*Last admission at 4:30 PM)
[Closed]
Closed on Tuesdays (except when Tuesday is a national holiday, during Golden Week, and from July through September)
Winter Closure: December 26 through the end of February
===================
