The Miho Museum, designed by I. M. Pei, is built largely underground into a mountainside near Shigaraki, with a tunnel-and-bridge approach modeled on the story of Peach Blossom Spring. Its collection spans ancient Egyptian, Greek, West Asian and South Asian antiquities alongside Japanese art, shown in galleries lit by Pei's signature glass-and-steel skylights. Shigaraki itself, a short bus ride away, is one of Japan's Six Ancient Kilns and has produced stoneware since medieval times, its main street lined with kiln workshops and the tanuki (raccoon dog) figures the town is known for.
| Distance | 30 km south of Otsu |
|---|---|
| Travel time | 1 hr by JR to Ishiyama Station then 50-min bus to the museum |
| Address | 300 Momodani, Tashiro, Shigarakicho, Koka, Shiga 529-1814 |
How to get there
- Mode
- JR + Miho Museum shuttle bus
- Duration
- 10 min train + 50 min bus
- Cost
- ¥210 ($1.30) train + ¥820 ($5.20) bus one way
- Notes
- Limited daily departures from Ishiyama Station; museum open only spring/summer/autumn seasons
- Mode
- Rental car
- Duration
- 45 min
- Cost
- ¥6,000–10,000 ($37.80–63)
- Notes
- Best for combining the museum with Shigaraki's pottery kilns and shops
Location
300 Momodani, Tashiro, Shigarakicho, Koka, Shiga 529-1814
34.8827, 136.1128 View on map
Highlights
- Miho Museum tunnel entrance — a curved walkway and suspension bridge leading to the museum, part of the architectural experience itself
- Miho Museum permanent collection — antiquities from Egypt, Greece, Persia and South and Southeast Asia
- Shigaraki Ceramic Art Park — exhibition space and studios dedicated to the town's stoneware tradition
- Shigaraki's kiln-lined main street — working pottery studios and shops selling local stoneware, including its trademark tanuki figures