Adachi Museum of Art

Top choice in Western Honshū


Local businessman and art collector Adachi Zenkō founded this excellent museum, located east of Matsue in Yasugi. The collection includes over 100 paintings by Yokoyama Taikan (1868–1958) and a good selection of works by other major 20th-century Japanese painters. There's also a delightful 'pictures for children' gallery. But for many the real attraction is the stunning gardens, regularly voted among the best in Japan.

Sit and contemplate the perfectly clipped mounds of the Dry Landscape Garden – in the distance, mountains rise up as though part of the garden itself.

From Matsue, take the JR line to Yasugi (安来; ¥410, 35 minutes), where there's a free shuttle bus (20 minutes, every 15 to 40 minutes from 8.50am) to the museum. The bus also leaves from Yonago Station (12.25pm and 1.15pm, 45 minutes).