🎨 Yayoi Kusama Art Museum
📍 Address: 107 Bentiancho, Shinjuku, Tokyo
📅 Opening hours: All year round (Thursday-Sunday) 11:00-17:30

95-year-old Japanese national treasure artist Yayoi Kusama, whose works have made the world crazy, check out the art galleries/galleries in Japan where you can see Yayoi Kusama's works and come on an art tour.
Although it has long been said that Aunt Kusama is a outdated Internet celebrity, but the world's only Kusama Yayoi Art Museum is still to take a look, when I learned about this talented artist in college, I can finally come to Tokyo to play card Kusama Yayoi even has some meaning of worship. Yayoi Kusama fans can rush, don't like the mother-in-law style can not go, anyway, I was very happy to watch!


In October 2017, Yayoi Kusama Art Museum opened in Shinjuku District, Tokyo, Japan, with one floor underground and five floors above ground. The second and third floors are dedicated to Kusama's artworks, while the fourth floor is dedicated to Kusama's well-known immersive installations, such as the Infinity House of Mirrors series, which has been widely acclaimed on tour around the world.

Although in Shinjuku, it is closer to Kagurazaka and Waseda. The surrounding area of the museum is relatively desolate, so you can only enter the museum half an hour in advance. A 5-story white building, contrary to Kusama's demonic, visually striking art style, the building is simple, clean and a little cute.

However, I personally feel that the surrounding area of the 1st floor is relatively small. My mother-in-law bought the hanging ornaments at Mori Art Museum, which feels more surrounding than Kusama Yayoi Art Museum.

The theme and content of the exhibition will be changed every half year, connecting the 1-5 floor of the suspended staircase can only go up and not down, downstairs you can take this elevator with mirrors and red polka dots on all sides, it is very good to take photos! Photography is not allowed on the second and third floors of the museum, and the works are very interesting, especially the 2-meter-high paintings hanging all over the wall. The installation art on the 5th floor can be photographed, and the most recent is pumpkins! I love it.

"Pumpkin" is based on Kusama's childhood memories of being born in a Japanese countryside filled with pumpkins. Kusama uses bright yellow and black lines on the pumpkin body, while drawing black dots, these small dots like a sun, to provide the source of energy for her creation, because of this pumpkin, Kusama is also known as the "polka-dot Queen", and has become famous around the world.

She also created a pumpkin sculpture that is more than a meter tall, and even if you haven't been to the Seto Inland Sea Festival, you may have seen this pumpkin on the Internet. Now we go to the coast of Naoshima in Japan can be seen from a distance, the yellow polka dot pumpkin faces the sea, it is known as "the pumpkin at the end of the world".

🎃 Pumpkins are not only works of art, but also a cultural symbol. In Japanese culture, pumpkins represent good harvest and good luck. Through the creation of pumpkins, Kusama Yayoi is the memory of her hometown and countryside, but also the spread and appreciation of Japanese culture.

Although I did not feel much connection with Kusama's art, because the exhibits are pure and there are not many people, the experience is much better than the previous retrospective exhibition, "multiplication and expansion" and "strong call for love" exist in the exhibits at the same time. The weather is fine today, the sky is unusually blue, and the yellow polka-dot pumpkin is fresh and vibrant.

The visual guide of the art museum is operated by Yoshiaki Sebe, and the paper products are excellent, and he specially took the pamphlet back.

Visit is a full reservation system, four daily periods a day, in advance of the official website after buying tickets to enter the two-dimensional code, basically 2-3 days in advance to buy. However, the opening time is not much, pay attention to check the official website schedule in advance.

Finally, I would like to share a passage from her autobiography (which often brings tears to my eyes) :

"In front of my eyes are the dazzling stars, as long as I look up, I seem to float away to a more distant place." I look out at the dazzling stars, and with my spiritual strength and the sincerity of my heart, I push away the chaos and confusion in the world, even if I only take one step forward, and go all out to the place where my soul is."