Art Museum / Museum

I was planning to go cheer for Ene-1 at Suzuka Circuit early the next morning, so arriving the day before was a must. Since I was already going to be in the area, I thought about doing some sightseeing near Suzuka, and had planned to hike Mt. Gozaisho, which I'd been curious about for its unique rock formations. However, the weather forecast for the weekend was rain nationwide. I was almost ready to give up, but then it looked like it would be spotty sunshine only around Osaka. Osaka felt a bit too far, but Nara wasn't bad distance-wise, and even if it rained, there are plenty of cultural assets to enjoy indoors, so I decided to head there.

The Tokyo National Museum is one of my absolute favorite spots. Not only do they always have incredible special exhibitions that you just can't miss, but their regular exhibits are huge and feature all sorts of planned displays too. Everything there is just amazing, and I honestly never get tired of visiting! Today, I decided to pop into the Horyuji Treasure Gallery to check out the Gigaku masks, 31 of which were designated as National Treasures all at once on September 26, 2025.

When I went to see the special exhibition "Unkei: A Space of Prayer - Kofukuji's Northern Octagonal Hall" at the Tokyo National Museum, one more thing I really wanted to check out was the "VR Experience: Kofukuji National Treasure Ashura Statue." While the VR works at TNM's Museum Theater are in a theater format, meaning no interaction, they let you see pieces you normally wouldn't get a chance to. But what's even more valuable is that you can get incredibly close to see the intricate details and enjoy the artwork from angles you usually can't. So, it's one of my favorite spots to visit whenever the featured content changes.

I stumbled upon Shimoguri no Sato when I was looking at a map to find Yarodo, one of the trailheads for Mt. Hijiri in the Southern Alps. After some research, I found it's described as Japan's Tyrol, a place of stunning beauty with a small village clinging to the side of a mountain. I'd wanted to visit someday.

So, there was this exhibition called "Grand Palais Immersive: Eternal Mucha" at Hikarie Hall. It was hyped up with phrases like "Drown yourself in Mucha, an overwhelming immersive space" and "Bathe in Mucha, an immersive experience that delights all your senses in knowing Mucha." I got a little curious, so I decided to go check it out!

I visit Hokkaido quite often, but looking back, I realized I haven't really spent much time in the northern part of the prefecture. My wife suggested, "Doesn't a Sturgeon House sound interesting?" so we decided to head out to Bifuka Town. Right near the... […]

A flashy flyer at the hotel caught my eye. It looked like there was a food sample exhibition at a place called Enkei Theater in Kurayoshi, and the building itself seemed interesting, so I decided to check it out. The Enkei Theater, as its name suggests, is a unique circular, or rather cylindrical, building.

I needed to kill some time near Tottori Sand Dunes, so I was browsing Google Maps for something interesting to do. That's when I stumbled upon the Watanabe Museum, which claims to house one of Japan's top samurai collections. Sounded pretty cool, so I decided to check it out.

My main reason for heading to the Tokyo National Museum was to see the Ancient Mexico exhibition. Many of the exhibits were super interesting, with their mysterious shapes, the meaning behind their eerie ritual tools, and Mayan scripts. There was just so much to see and enjoy.

After visiting Koishikawa Botanical Garden, I was wondering what to do next when I suddenly remembered I wanted to see the Toyokan (Asian Gallery) at the Tokyo National Museum. It wasn't too far, so I decided to take a leisurely stroll. Turns out, I could pass through the Yanaka area and also stop by Geidai (Tokyo University of the Arts), where the Gogeisai — re:stArt — festival was happening. I figured it would be fun, so I quickly left the botanical garden.