When you step away from daily life to seek a journey that enriches the heart, few destinations offer as many layers as Japan. Beyond temples, shrines, and washoku, the country unfolds a landscape where sensibilities resonate across eras and genres—from contemporary architecture to a vibrant art scene.
Yayoi Kusama’s vivid Pumpkin poised by the sea on Naoshima, the hidden works of architects Kengo Kuma and Yoshio Taniguchi within Tokyo’s urban fabric, Kyoto’s dry landscape gardens reflecting Zen philosophy, and the story worlds evoked by the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka—each expresses something different yet rooted in the same cultural soil. Together, they invite you onto a “journey that deepens your sense of beauty and learning.”
Naoshima（なおしま）in Kagawa Prefecture, set in the Seto Inland Sea, is known worldwide as a “sanctuary of contemporary art.” If you tend to picture historic temples or pop-culture anime when you think of Japan, this island will refresh that image in the best possible way.
Flourishing as a maritime hub since the Edo period, Naoshima lets its preserved old townscape coexist naturally with avant‑garde art, so the entire island feels like a singular work of art（＊1）. Kusama’s large polka‑dotted Pumpkin rests along the shore, while museums and site‑specific works by renowned architects are dotted across the island—drawing you into an art experience far from the everyday.
Naoshima’s emblematic Chichu Art Museum and Benesse House were both designed by Tadao Ando, whose spaces are defined by a finely tuned dialogue between art and environment.
Opened in 2004, the Chichu Art Museum was conceived as “a place to contemplate the relationship between nature and human beings.” To preserve the Seto Inland Sea’s vistas, most of the building is embedded underground, its quiet presence melting into the landscape and embodying a distinctly Japanese respect for nature.
Inside, Claude Monet’s paintings and James Turrell’s works with light are on permanent view. Though underground, natural light pours in through skylights, shifting with the time of day and season, so the artworks and spaces change their expression. Here the architecture itself becomes a canvas of light and shadow, letting you engage with art within scenes that transform over time（＊2）.
Benesse House, opened in 1992, uniquely combines museum and hotel under the concept of “coexistence of nature, architecture, and art.” Set on a hill overlooking the Seto Inland Sea, it presents not only paintings and sculpture but permanent indoor–outdoor installations created in response to Naoshima’s environment.
Ando’s open architecture and the island‑wide artworks resonate with one another, creating a rare site where nature, art, and architecture truly fuse—an approach that continues to draw global attention（＊3）.
Naoshima once struggled with smoke damage from a smelter and with illegally dumped industrial waste. But residents and artists worked together to overturn that image, pioneering a creative regional revival that blended “environment, nature, and contemporary art”—elements that might seem mismatched at first.
Tourism surged especially after the Setouchi Triennale began in 2010; between 1990 and 2018, the number of visitors to Naoshima Town multiplied dramatically（＊4）. The former “industrial‑waste island” reborn through art became a model not of mere sightseeing, but of sustainable place‑making that now draws attention both in Japan and abroad.
These efforts have earned high international recognition. In 2025, Naoshima was the only destination in Japan selected for the BBC’s “25 places to travel this year,” cited for offering outstanding travel experiences while supporting the local community and safeguarding nature and cultural heritage through tourism（＊5）.
Tokyo, Japan’s capital, is where traditional aesthetics meet cutting‑edge modern design at every turn. In a forest of skyscrapers, you might suddenly glimpse the vermilion torii of a shrine or a building with refined wooden latticework（木格子／きごうし）. The cityscape may feel like an improbable mix at first.
Yet this very collage is Tokyo’s allure. In everyday spaces where tradition and innovation echo each other, you can sense how Japanese culture is inherited and reinterpreted in the present.
From Edo‑period wooden architecture to postwar modernism, Tokyo layers eras upon eras—making it a deeply rewarding destination through the lens of architecture alone.
World‑renowned architect Kengo Kuma is celebrated for designs that make bold use of timber, moving fluently between “tradition” and “modernity.”
His National Stadium in Tokyo is emblematic: although a stadium, it weaves in the essence of Japanese architecture. The exterior’s stacked eaves, reminiscent of a five‑story pagoda, and the great roof structured like a lattice of cedar gathered from across Japan—set like rafters（垂木／たるき）—make it a truly singular expression of “architecture in wood.”
The roof’s curve features mukuri（むくり）, a gentle convex swell derived from sukiya‑zukuri（数寄屋造り）. With its deft handling of traditional details, the stadium has struck many overseas visitors as “almost like a vast temple”（＊1）.
Though thoroughly contemporary, the stadium’s warmth of wood makes many spectators feel a calm as if they had stepped into a forest—right in the middle of the metropolis.
Architect Yoshio Taniguchi, famed for museum architecture including MoMA’s expansion, was a global master. Eschewing ornament, his work creates serene, dignified spaces through simple forms and meticulous detail.
In Tokyo, the Gallery of Hōryūji Treasures at the Tokyo National Museum (Ueno) and the Crafts Gallery of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo（former building）show how Taniguchi’s linear proportions and orchestration of light, water, and space create a crystalline environment where you can focus on the art. Just stepping into the galleries lets you forget the city’s bustle and meet the works at an unhurried pace.
One of his signature buildings, the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, has been praised as “a museum that blends minimalism with functionality to leave a serene impression”（＊2）—architecture as a quiet supporting actor that lets the art take center stage.
Kyoto, the ancient capital, preserves many gardens that embody traditional Japanese beauty. Among them, the dry landscape gardens known as karesansui（枯山水）express mountains and waters using only stone and sand. Their quiet presence has long captivated people around the world.
Unlike many Western gardens animated by colorful flowers and fountains, karesansui pares elements back to the minimum. Facing a white‑sand garden that seems almost empty, you discover a rich inner landscape unfolding in your mind.
This is where you feel how “blank space”（余白）and “ma,” the interval（間）, belong to Japanese ideas of beauty. In a world brimming with information and stimuli, Zen’s search for truth in the heart of stillness carries a universal appeal that will likely resonate with you.
Kyoto’s Ryōan‑ji is home to a world‑famous dry landscape garden believed to date from the late Muromachi period (15th century). Its rectangle of raked white sand and fifteen carefully placed stones is simple, yet its meaning has sparked debate for centuries.
One well‑known observation is that from any viewing angle, one stone is always hidden behind another—so you can see only fourteen at once. In East Asia, the number fifteen symbolizes completeness; letting you perceive only fourteen is read as expressing the idea that “nothing in this world is perfect”（＊1）.
This “beauty of imperfection” holds the essence of wabi‑sabi（侘び寂び）.
Ryōan‑ji’s garden became an icon of the “Zen Garden” during the mid‑Shōwa‑era Zen boom in the West. In 1975, Queen Elizabeth II visited and praised it as “wonderful,” which greatly raised its international profile（＊2）. In 1994, it was inscribed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto,” making it a must‑see for many international visitors（＊2）.
After immersing yourself in the silence and beauty of a karesansui garden, treat yourself to a restorative pause at one of Kyoto’s refined cafés and shops.
Near Ryōan‑ji, the long‑established wagashi maker Sasaya Shōen（笹屋昌園）, founded in the Taishō era, runs a café whose signature dessert is an elegant, artful parfait inspired by karesansui. On a white dish, matcha and kuromitsu trace ripples in “sand,” while seasonal fruit, an（sweet bean paste）, and ice cream are composed with care—so you feel as if you’re savoring a miniature rock garden（＊3）.
Shopping in Kyoto also shines where tradition meets the contemporary. Visit historic tea‑utensil shops or galleries of Kyōyaki ceramics to encounter masterful craft firsthand; in the Kawaramachi and Gion districts you’ll also find tasteful boutiques and contemporary art galleries.
In galleries housed in renovated townhouses over a century old, you might see exhibitions and sales by emerging ceramicists and textile artists. Select shops around town carry fashion accessories and home goods that reinterpret Kyoto’s aesthetics for today—letting you discover pieces where heritage and freshness live side by side.
For example, a craft gallery near Gion exhibits and sells around a hundred pieces—vivid blown‑glass tableware, vases, and accessories—each showcasing techniques and color sensibilities unique to its maker（＊4）.
The Ghibli Museum in Mitaka, Tokyo, lets you step bodily into the worlds created by Studio Ghibli, known for films such as My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. Yet this museum is not simply a showcase of characters.
It’s designed so that you, as a visitor, explore, discover, and drift into the story as if you were a character yourself—an experience cultivated through details at every turn.
Hayao Miyazaki, the museum’s director, built it on the conviction that “this should not be a theme park where visitors go around taking photos with characters, but a place that conveys what is truly beautiful and the joy of creating.” That vision suffuses every corner.
Stained glass in windows and ceiling lights scatters color throughout the interior. Miyazaki hopes “children will feel how beautiful stained‑glass light can be,” and that they’ll “notice the shapes of the grasses growing in the museum’s garden”（＊1）.
Even breezes in the garden and dappled sunlight filtering through leaves are meant to be enjoyed as part of the “exhibits,” so the structures and little mechanisms inside and out are designed with that in mind（＊1）.
True to this philosophy, what you see is not off‑the‑shelf but hand‑crafted with care. Even the stained‑glass lamp shades are made one by one by artisans; their subtly different forms cast subtly different light, wrapping you in a warmth mass‑produced items can’t provide（＊1）.
After a dream‑like visit, turn that feeling into something tangible with a little gallery‑and‑shop stroll.
Start with the museum shop “Mamma Aiuto,” named after the sky‑pirate gang. Alongside beloved Ghibli character goods, you’ll find exclusive items available only here（＊2）. Scan the shelves and window displays—cute, cool, and one‑of‑a‑kind pieces chosen with care fill every corner, so browsing feels like a treasure hunt.
From finely crafted figurines recreating film scenes to unique jewelry you can buy only here, to warm hand‑made goods and sweets, it’s all irresistibly pick‑up‑able. True to the concept “Turn your museum memories into something you can take home,” when something catches your eye, bring it with you—it will become a keepsake that brings back the joy of your Ghibli day（＊2）.
Step outside into leafy Inokashira Park and follow the “Path of the Wind” toward Kichijoji. You’ll come across stylish boutiques, small galleries, and makers’ studios—perfect for art lovers.
In Kichijoji, you can pop into rental galleries hosting solo shows by emerging local artists or spaces that exhibit and sell art by university students—an easy way to encounter what’s next. Some galleries stage group shows by glassblowers and ceramicists, presenting around a hundred colorful blown‑glass pieces—tableware, vases, and accessories—that brighten daily life（＊3）.
This special itinerary has led you through art and architecture across Japan: marveling at the harmony of nature and art on Naoshima, sensing the interplay of tradition and innovation in Tokyo’s architecture, finding calm in Kyoto’s Zen gardens, and rediscovering the warmth of craftsmanship and the joy of dreaming at the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. Taken together, these moments amount to a true “journey that deepens your sense of beauty and learning,” one memorable experience after another.