Adachi Museum of Art, Chugoku, Japan

5RSBar 5:00 PM Nov 7, 2010

Absolutely Incredible
I can not understand how anyone could rate this less than 5 stars. Although, It is very tough to get to when compared to the main sites on a regular tour of Japan. It took us 2.5 hours of train travel--both ways--plus 20 min shuttle, plus wait times to pay the most expensive garden entry fee in all of Japan (even at the current half price rate for foreigners), but I would have paid twice as much and spent days getting to it. It was without a doubt the best garden I have ever seen. We were the only Gaijin I saw all day and the place was rather crowded which might be avoided if went at opening because everyone there seemed to be on a tour bus. Apparently, there are 7 gardeners working 14 hours a day 6 or 7 days a week on this garden and all of the staff (waitresses, ticket takers, etc) meet in the morning--every morning--before opening to help prepare the garden, but it looks like they would need a staff of 100s to keep it looking like it does... If you have any desire to see Japanese Gardens then this is a must see.

4Terry Erasmus 5:00 PM Jun 15, 2013

A garden of unbelievable beauty
I travelled to the Adachi museum from Matsue city centre using the JR rail which was easy to navigate as the station names are clearly marked and in English. At the station I pretty much got onto the free shuttle bus on arrival. A short ride is all it takes to get to the museum. Once there proceed through the reception area and head along the route which is clearly signposted and will lead you through the entire museum, the best vantage spots for the garden and also the collection of art housed by the museum. I would have given this attraction a higher score as the garden is 11/10 but the fact that only the titles of the artwork is in English and the explanation and history of the artists is only in Japanese brought the score down. Considering that this is an internationally reknown attraction, is clearly very well looked after and well planned I find this strange. Another thing.... if you intend to catch the free shuttle back then make sure you take a card which can be found at reception, for the time you intend to return. I did not know this until I saw everyone else getting onto the bus having them. I ran back and got one. Fortunately it was not a busy time and I managed to get a seat, perhaps at another time I would not have been so lucky. I guess the little speech the driver gave before dropping us off informed passengers of this, but again, these instructions were only given in Japanese. Be sure to visit the Adachi Museum the garden is really spectacular. I am not a huge fan of Japanese painting but the collection is considerable, I also understand it is notable, so if youre into Japanese art then you are bound to be satisfied here too.