Art and nature fuse atop remote Japan mountain

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A nature reserve frames the front gate of the Miho Museum near Kyoto. — Yao Minji



To the Chinese, the Valley of Peach Blossoms described in the 5th century fable by Tao Yuanming is a fantastic, hidden utopia of great beauty. A Shangri-la.

In the ancient story, a fisherman stumbles upon the valley while rowing up a mountain stream through peach orchards in full bloom. The stream leads him to a mountain cave, where a thin ray of light draws him to a paradise on the other side.

I felt the power of the tale as I walked through the curved, dimly lit steel tunnel at the entrance of the Miho Museum, a private art museum in the mountains of Shiga Prefecture, about an hour’s drive from Kyoto. I was on a side-trip from overcrowded temples in that ancient Japanese capital.

The museum, named after founder Mihoko Koyama, a wealthy textile heiress and spiritual movement leader, was designed by the renowned architect I.M. Pei after he retired from full-time practice in 1990.

The Chinese-American architect, most famous perhaps for the glass pyramid at the Louvre, took on smaller projects after retirement, allowing himself greater artistic creativity. Koyama and her daughter had only one stipulation for the design of museum — that there be no obstruction to the total assimilation of the surrounding nature reserve.

When Pei first visited the site, deep in forested mountains, he told Koyama and her daughter, “This is Shangri-la.”

He related the tale of the “peach blossom valley” to them and said he wanted to re-create the fisherman’s experience of discovery.

As I strolled through the silvery tunnel, the entire world — sound, smell, light and the sense of distance — seem to disappear. I was fixated by a shining halo of light ahead that grew brighter and larger with each step.

At the end of the tunnel, the ray of light turned into different shades of red and green. My ears were serenaded by birdsong, and I was assaulted by the fragrance and tender breezes of nature.

I understood the sudden and utter joy of the fishermen when he emerged from the dark narrow cave and found a paradise before his eyes. Like him, I was transported.

The Koyamas asked Pei not to obstruct nature, so the site’s location in a nature reserve came with restrictions such as height, slope and the size of the roof.

The restrictions pushed Pei to be more creative. Eighty percent of the museum lies underground at the top of a mountain. The futuristic tunnel was built to connect two hills.

There’s a documentary, playing on loop in the museum, that shows the construction process and how the mountain was carved out.

Indeed, this is a museum where the architecture and setting tend to overshadow the substance of the art exhibits it holds.

The museum, which opened in late 1997, honors the ancient concept of Japanese gardens, which are known for their careful design of trees and flowers to worship nature.

The slope leading to the tunnel is filled with cherry blossoms that come into full splendor in April, and the valley between the tunnel and the museum is awash with various shades of red maple leaves in October.

The museum, hidden behind the trees, is almost unnoticeable at a first glance. The exterior of the building, especially the roof, reflects traditional houses in the area. The small lobby above the ground is like the tip of an iceberg. Only later does a visitor realize the vast size underneath.

The museum is divided into east and west wings, respectively displaying Oriental and Western art.

A glass circle in the middle of the front gate frames the natural landscape into an elegant painting, echoed by the four window glasses on the other side of the lobby that capture a slanted, ancient pine tree on the cliff outside.

The tree, like many plants surrounding the museum, was specifically placed and encouraged to grow at a slant to fit an artistic frame. The effect is reminiscent of the stone-carved windows in the Chinese classical gardens of Suzhou, where Pei was born and spent his childhood.

Although most of the museum building is underground, it hardly feels so when inside. Skylights bring in daylight through trees above, and a glass roof floods the interior with brightness and warmth. The concise space frame spotted with elegant triangles made of glass and steel easily reminds one of the glass pyramid at the Louvre.

It is often difficult to decide where to look. Should one focus on gracefully framed nature through the side glass windows on the side? Should one behold the trees and mountains peeking through the modern geometric shapes on the top? Or should one just settle for the history and culture of art behind the French limestone in the various exhibition halls?

When Koyama commissioned the museum, it was mainly to house her collection of Japanese tea ceremony objects. Pei convinced her to consider a more international collection. That led her to travel around the world, though she was in her 80s and confined to a wheelchair. On her trips, she acquired antiques, including a 2nd-century stone Buddha from Pakistan, 300-year-old Persian goblets, ancient Egyptian statues of deity and prehistoric Chinese bronze wine vessels and ceremonial objects.

Koyama died in 2003 and her work was taken over by her daughter Hiroko.

Like many Japanese museums, Miho also has a café integrated with the environment and with Koyama’s personal beliefs. She founded the Shinji Shumeikai spiritual movement in 1970 to spread the teachings of philosopher Mokichi Okada.

The group, based on the same mountain, is dedicated to the pursuit of beauty through art, nature and very strict ecological farming.

Members of the movements practice “natural agriculture” at their nearby headquarters, and food from their endeavors is served in the café, cooked with little flavoring other than salt and homemade soy sauce. The tofu is particularly good. It’s rich and smooth, with a texture almost like ice cream.

Admission: 1,100 yen (US$9.75)

Address: 300, Tashiro Momodani, Shigaraki, Shiga

How to get there: From Kyoto, 15 minutes on JR to Ishiyama Station, then take bus 150 to Miho Museum for 50 minutes.

Tip: The museum is closed because of snow until March 17. The next exhibition is from March 18 to June 18.

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